HELP/F1 does not start / show up

[Thomas]

Suddenly the HELP System does not work anymore. Neither starting
Run|Help&Support nor hidding the Help-Button in an Application works.
In Microsoft Office, for example, only the empty grey help-window is
shown.

I suspect that CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner may be the cause, which I
have run shortly.

Any idea how to restore this?

Thanks
Thomas

 

[Malke]

Suddenly the HELP System does not work anymore. Neither starting
Run|Help&Support nor hidding the Help-Button in an Application works.
In Microsoft Office, for example, only the empty grey help-window is
shown.

I suspect that CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner may be the cause, which I
have run shortly.

First, see if "CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner" has an Undo function and if
it does, use it.

Second, do a Google Groups search in this newsgroup for "registry
cleaners" and see what most professionals have to say about them.
(Short answer: if you don't know how to hand-edit the registry, stay
out and don't use a registry cleaner.)

Third, if the first suggestion doesn't work, see MVP Kelly Theriot's
fixes here: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/top10faqs.htm

Malke

 

[Bob I]

System restore to before you crippled it. Remember, you are always able
to do a reinstall after you use a registry cleaner.

 

[Thomas]

Unfortuately I have not done a backup, so there is nothing to undo.

Tried all of the tips in kellys-korner but this did not help.

Perhaps this gives a hint what could be wrong:

When i run 'hh windows.chm' i get the message "file could not be
opened: MkMSITStore:C:\WINDOWS\Help\windows.chm'. The same happens
with any click on those .chm files.

Thomas

 

[Malke]

Unfortuately I have not done a backup, so there is nothing to undo.

Tried all of the tips in kellys-korner but this did not help.

Perhaps this gives a hint what could be wrong:

When i run 'hh windows.chm' i get the message "file could not be
opened: MkMSITStore:C:\WINDOWS\Help\windows.chm'. The same happens
with any click on those .chm files.

Thomas

You went through *all* of the steps, including running the System File
Checker? There are a *lot* of fixes for Help on Kelly's site. Please
post back if you actually ran through the whole thing including the
System File Checker.

Malke

 

[Thomas]

Malke, thanks for you patience.

I've done this steps with no results:

- Repairs Windows XP Help and Support after running Easy Cleaner
- helpctr -regserver
- make sure that the Help and Support Service is running --> ok, is
running
- replaced WINHLP32.CNT, WINHLP32.EXE, WINHLP32.HLP
- run SFC /Scannow. It finished without notice but left in the event
log those 2 entries (translated from german into english):
"c:\windows\system32\ntvdmd.dll has an invalid signature. this file was
restored to preserve system stability. The file version of the system
file is 5.1.2600.1560."
and a second later:
"c:\windows\system32\ntvdmd.dll has an invalid signature. this file was
restored to preserve system stability. The file version of the system
file is 5.1.2600.0."

What else can be done?

Thomas

 

[Malke]

Malke, thanks for you patience.

I've done this steps with no results:

- Repairs Windows XP Help and Support after running Easy Cleaner
- helpctr -regserver
- make sure that the Help and Support Service is running --> ok, is
running
- replaced WINHLP32.CNT, WINHLP32.EXE, WINHLP32.HLP
- run SFC /Scannow. It finished without notice but left in the event
log those 2 entries (translated from german into english):
"c:\windows\system32\ntvdmd.dll has an invalid signature. this file
was restored to preserve system stability. The file version of the
system file is 5.1.2600.1560."
and a second later:
"c:\windows\system32\ntvdmd.dll has an invalid signature. this file
was restored to preserve system stability. The file version of the
system file is 5.1.2600.0."

Thank you for the detailed explanation of what you've done. I think I'd
do a Repair Install at this point. Here's a link explaining the
process:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

A Repair Install should leave all your data/programs/settings in place,
but it would be wise to back up all your important data first since one
of the Laws of Computing is that Stuff Happens.

Oh, and when you get everything sorted I'd suggest uninstalling the
registry cleaner.

Malke

 

[PD.Lees]

Thomas,

Suddenly the HELP System does not work anymore. Neither starting
Run|Help&Support nor hidding the Help-Button in an Application works.
In Microsoft Office, for example, only the empty grey help-window is
shown.

I suspect that CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner may be the cause, which I
have run shortly.

In addition to the suggestions that you've already received, here are a
few more things to try:

1) Use MJ's Help Diagnostics to check that all the help viewer
components are properly installed and registered.

http://helpware.net/downloads/index.htm#MJs

The only section of the MJ's Help Report that is relevant to your
problem is the one headed "HTML Help Run-time Components".

2) Delete or rename the file hh.dat, which you should find in this
hidden subdirectory:

\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\HTML Help

The hh.dat file stores user-specific information on all the HTML Help
files on your system (favourite topics, changes that you've made to the
size and position of a help window, etc.), and can cause the files to
misbehave if it has somehow been corrupted. Windows will create a new
version of hh.dat when you next open any .chm file.

3) Empty your Temporary Internet Files directory (in Internet Explorer,
Tools > Internet Options > General tab > Delete Files). A full TIF
directory can cause the help files to misbehave.