Good troubleshooting approach
- thanks for the update
| Thank you Steve and Stefan.
|
| Being new to the newsgroups I didn't understand why I was getting 'page not
| found' messages when trying to get into the newsgroup thread listing. Three
| days later I realize I wasn't logged into passport, in spite of the button on
| the page stating "log out"...
|
| In the meantime here's how it came to closure:
|
| - spent time with Help Workshop learning how .chm files work
| - learned enough about Help to search my machine for copies of hhctrl.ocx,
| itss.dll, itircl.dll, hh.exe, shdocvl.dll
| - 2nd search revealed copies of hhctrl, itss, itircl in an application
| directory
| - used a tool (filealyzer - pepiMK software shareware) to look inside the
| files and compare. Found out that older versions from app directory matched
| versions reported by HTML Help at runtime.
| - Used msinfo32 to search for hhctrl.ocx, etc. and learned they had indeed
| loaded from app directory, not system32 directory
| - as a quickie copied system32 versions to app directory and rebooted - no
| joy. Hmm.
| - decided to uninstall app that hijacked Help components
| - rebooted, found Help unable to even open a file. Totally broken. Learned
| that msinfo32 uses HTML Help for its interface as that wouldn't launch
| either! I actually think this is progress.
| - I assume registry still wants to load Help components from now nonexistent
| app directory.
| - To get registry pointed back to system32 for Help components I reinstall
| XP Service Pack 2. The install log reports Help components installed and
| registered but Help still won't launch.
| - I run norton windoctor and get about 140 com/directx errors reporting
| missing objects, all associated with paths to directories belonging to the
| removed application
| - Study the registry with regedit32, study online documentation from MSDN,
| KB, TechNet take a leap of faith...
| - Use windoctor to point all misdirected CLSID entries for hhctrl.ocx,
| itss.dll, and itircl.dll from \orcad10\...\capture\ to \windows\system32\.
| The rest of the com/directx errors look like junk orcad10 uninstall should
| have removed. I delete them.
| - Reboot. Help (and msinfo32) work flawlessly across the board.
|
|
| the quick fix would have been, knowing the HTML help files to look for,
| 1. find out where they're loaded from using msinfo32. Not system32?
| 2. remove the app that redirected the clsid entires from system32
| 3. If uninstalling the app fails to remedy, scan the registry with windoctor
| and resolve the HTML Help file CLSID entries by pointing them back to system32
|
| The problem wasn't frontpage - It just looked that way because frontpage
| 2003 Help uses inter-.chm object references in a way that the older HTML Help
| components weren't designed for, or couldn't because they weren't being
| loaded from system32.
|
| Don't install the Cadence/OrCad design tools. They don't play nice.
|
| Thanks again.
|
| "Stefan B Rusynko" wrote:
|
| > 1) Have you installed all updates from Office Update
| >
http://office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/maincatalog.aspx?lc=en-us
| > 2) Did you contact PSS as per the 2nd dialog
| > 3) Have you installed the right version of OWC for FP 2003
| >
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...2C-402E-4F72-97A5-E0FD290D4B76&displaylang=en
| > and OWC VBA help
| >
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...28-7071-4979-8a67-3cffcb0c2524&displaylang=en
| > 4) Also check your version of Html help workshop
| >
http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2003/tools/BoxA02.htm
| > 5) Did you run a repair on IE
| > (see
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=318378 )
| >
| > --
| >
| > _____________________________________________
| > SBR @ ENJOY (-: [ Microsoft MVP - FrontPage ]
| > "Warning - Using the F1 Key will not break anything!" (-;
| > To find the best Newsgroup for FrontPage support see:
| >
http://www.net-sites.com/sitebuilder/newsgroups.asp
| > _____________________________________________
| >
| >
| > | Did as you suggested, Detect and Repair ran to successful completion.
| > |
| > | Without opening a website I tried context help in tools/options and same
| > | problem: unformatted page, broken graphics, clicking a link produces a script
| > | error.
| > |
| > | I know this much: the missing graphics and style come from MSOHLP11.CHM - in
| > | other words, go to the FP app directory office11\1033 and click on
| > | FPMAIN10.CHM. Note the text size, click through some links everything is
| > | fine. Close the help browser. Now, remove or rename MSOHLP11.CHM (it's in the
| > | same directory) and reopen FPMAIN10.CHM. You should see the text is the wrong
| > | size/style. Click through some links - you should see graphics are missing on
| > | some pages. Click a link next to a missing graphic and a script error should
| > | occur. This is exactly what's going on in context help within FP, only in
| > | this case we're starting at the top level index of the help file.
| > |
| > | It's as if when used in FP context help, FPMAIN10 can't find MSOHELP11 to
| > | resolve its external references. I did a bunch of trials with a copy of
| > | MSOHELP11 in different directories without success.
| > |
| > | dave
| > |
| > | "Steve Easton" wrote:
| > |
| > | > Ok.
| > | >
| > | > Reread it. I did notice you ran Detect and Repair with a Web site open.
| > | >
| > | > Try running it with only FrontPage open, but no pages or webs.
| > | >
| > | > --
| > | > Steve Easton
| > | > Microsoft MVP FrontPage
| > | > 95isalive
| > | > This site is best viewed............
| > | > ........................with a computer
| > | >
| > | > | > | > > Yes - you need to read the comments in the pdf file. It describes everything
| > | > > I've done together with screen shots of error messages including the one
| > | > > detect and repair produced...
| > | > >
| > | > > "Steve Easton" wrote:
| > | > >
| > | > > > Very unusual.
| > | > > >
| > | > > > Have you run "Detect and repair" from the Help Dropdown on the toolbar??
| > | > > >
| > | > > > --
| > | > > > Steve Easton
| > | > > > Microsoft MVP FrontPage
| > | > > > 95isalive
| > | > > > This site is best viewed............
| > | > > > ........................with a computer
| > | > > >
| > | > > > | > | > > > > I installed FrontPage 2003 a few days ago and eventually asked for context
| > | > > > > help from within a tools dialog (Site Settings). I found the HTML Help system
| > | > > > > very broken and unusable, as in spewing script errors, broken object
| > | > > > > references, broken page references, and missing graphics. If I open the help
| > | > > > > file from outside FrontPage, i.e., I navigate to the ...\office\1033
| > | > > > > application directory with windows explorer and open FPMAIN10.CHM directly,
| > | > > > > everything looks and works fine.
| > | > > > >
| > | > > > > I put commentary to pictures in a pdf on my website. If this sounds at all
| > | > > > > familiar -- or interesting -- take a look. It seems to me FP Help doesn't
| > | > > > > have a correct reference back to the application directory even though the
| > | > > > > error messages show the correct path. Maybe the HTML Help .dll's or .ocx are
| > | > > > > the wrong version. There's only one copy of each of the four files on my
| > | > > > > drive. I would have reinstalled IE (an HTML Help 'resource') but that's
| > | > > > > apparently not an option in XP. In other words, I'm flailing.
| > | > > > >
| > | > > > > Go to
http://home.comcast.net/~bimmersmith and take a look at Help System
| > | > > > > Rift.pdf for the story in pictures. Each page is commented. Access the
| > | > > > > comments via clicking the yellow callout on each page, or use the Comments
| > | > > > > tab on the left side of the Acrobat client window.
| > | > > > >
| > | > > > > Tally Ho!
| > | > > > > --
| > | > > > > -------
| > | > > > > ?
| > | > > >
| > | > > >
| > | > > >
| > | >
| > | >
| > | >
| >
| >
| >
