error 126 starting helpsvc

[jerry]

I have been fighting a problem with XP PRO SP2 for a few days. I can't
get the help center to start. This is ridiculous - you would think
this would be a critcal system that MS would make bullet-proof.

Anyway, I tried all the hints at Kelly's corner and the registry fixes
from Doug? witout luck. Never ran registry cleaner. Installed over
win2k SP2 + latest.

When I try to start the service in either control panel service or by
using "net start helpsvc" I get a 126 error. I tried reinstalling
PCHealth before and after XP SP2 without luck.

I never really use the OS level help so this is a big waste of time but
it is bothering me that something this simple and critical has become
sooooooo complex. What ever happend to press F1 and you get plain old
help???

thanks, all input appreciated. I am late to XP and I can't believe
after all the postings on this subject that there isn't an easy fix.

 

[Guest]

One of the library files (DLL) needed to run this application cannot be found.
Extract the helpsvc.exe file from your XP disk and put it in:
C:\Windows\pchealth\help
Start/Run/type MSCONFIG and click OK
Click the Expand file and file in the window to extract it from and where to
send it.

 

[jerry]

thanks for the quick response. helpsvc.exe is up to date and in
c:\winnt\pchealth\helpctr\binaries.

Where should it be? I tried it all over the place without luck.

in services, the path is:
C:\WINNT\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs

thanks again.

 

[David Candy]

It's missing a file or can't find it. It may not be the exe but a dll.

Type in a command prompt

net helpmsg 126

 

[jerry]

net helpmsg must use the same helpctr because I get the module not
found when typing "net helpmsg 126" though net ? returns the correct
response.

something is missing or in the wrong place, maybe not registered?
thanks again.

 

[David Candy]

get filemon from www.sysinternals.com and see what file it can't find.

Also type path and see if there are any errors in it. Post it here but you have to check that the folders referenced do exist.

 

[jerry]

Thanks for the filemon tip - great program. I am making progress and
can now get the service to start. msinfo32 and helpctr still do not
come up. I am getting strange path problems as below. It looks like
%systemroot% followed by the correct path is getting appended to other
path settings with the consequent PATH NOT FOUND error. So I can only
assume that either in the registry or some INI file something is
screwed up.

C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\OfflineCache\index.dat PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\OfflineCache\index.dat.orig PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\WINNT\System32\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpSvc.exe PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\WINNT\system32\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpSvc.exe PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\WINNT\system32\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpSvc.exe PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\WINNT\system\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpSvc.exe PATH
NOT FOUND

 

[jerry]

Thanks for the filemon tip - great program. I am making progress and
can now get the service to start. msinfo32 and helpctr still do not
come up. I am getting strange path problems as below. It looks like
%systemroot% followed by the correct path is getting appended to other
path settings with the consequent PATH NOT FOUND error. So I can only
assume that either in the registry or some INI file something is
screwed up.

C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\OfflineCache\index.dat PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\OfflineCache\index.dat.orig PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\WINNT\System32\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpSvc.exe PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\WINNT\system32\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpSvc.exe PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\WINNT\system32\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpSvc.exe PATH
NOT FOUND
C:\WINNT\system\%SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpSvc.exe PATH
NOT FOUND

 

[David Candy]

That's from filemon is it?

Type path in a command prompt and cut and paste what it says (right click the titlebar - Edit menu)

Look for a C:\autoexec.bat and a path statement in that file.

Start - Control Panel - System - Advanced - Envireonmental Variables

 

[jerry]

Yes, I cut only the path problems from filemon. I corrected the
original 126 problem by removing the helpdir entry from helpctr /
helpsvc. Not clean, but it starts now.

here are the path statements. It is intersting that they are
different. No autoexec that I can find

********* path from c:******************
C:\>path
PATH=C:\WINNT\system32;C:\WINNT;C:\WINNT\system32\WBEM;C:\Program
Files\Analog D
evices\VisualDSP;C:\Program Files\Analog
Devices\VisualDSP\System;c:\matlabr12\b
in\win32;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Roxio
Shared\DLLShared;C:\Program Files\C
ommon Files\Ulead Systems\MPEG;d:\AW\Maya4.0\bin;C:\Program
Files\Common Files\A
utodesk Shared\;C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control
Panel;C:\Program F
iles\Analog Devices\VisualDSP;C:\Program Files\Analog
Devices\VisualDSP\System;C
:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\Common\Tools\WinNT;C:\Program
Files\Micr
osoft Visual Studio\Common\MSDev98\Bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Visual Studio\
Common\Tools;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual
Studio\VC98\bin;d:\Program Files\
IMSI\FloorPlan 3D v8\Program
******************************************

*********************path from environment
variable***********************

%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\system32\WBEM;C:\Program
Files\Analog Devices\VisualDSP;C:\Program Files\Analog
Devices\VisualDSP\System;c:\matlabr12\bin\win32;C:\Program Files\Common
Files\Roxio Shared\DLLShared;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Ulead
Systems\MPEG;d:\AW\Maya4.0\bin;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk
Shared\;C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel;

***********************************************************************

It is intersting that they are different. No autoexec.bat that I can
find

 

[jerry]

I just realized they are different because one is system and the other
user which are appended to make the dos path.

 

[jerry]

Ok, check this one out. After tracking down all the registry errors
introduced by kelly's corner and Doug?, I finally found the problem.
there was no system level %systemroot% environment variable on my
system. Go figure. adding that fixed the problem.

System root subbed correctly in dos and looked ok in the environment
variable new/edit menu when referenced by for example %windir% but ???