"Help" links don't work in Excel

[Guest]

When I try to search help - either online or offline - clicking links to the
desired info doesn't work. By trying to contact tech support, I can see that
I am missing the file "hhctrl.ocx" in Windows, with the suggestion that I
re-install Windows.

My question is: do I need to do anything to protect My Documents or other
items like OUtlook.pst before I go about re-installing Windows?

 

[Guest]

You might try system restore before you do something as drastic as
re-installing windows

 

[Guest]

If System Restore fails to help you, the steps I'd take to try to get things
running would be to first do a REPAIR installation of Windows. Only if both
the System Restore and Repair Installation fail to fix things would I even
begin to consider a complete re-install of Windows. There are even other
things to try first and the Windows help groups here at Microsoft would be a
good place to to get help with it: you could extract the needed file from the
..CAB file, copy it into the appropriate folder and register it with the
system using the Start | Run options.

If you get to the point of either using Repair, and most definitely if you
do an actual re-install of Windows, then the answer is YES about backing up
your data. While data loss doing a repair installation is rare, it is
possible. Data loss during a full re-install of Windows is virtually
guaranteed.

I'm hoping that the green check next to Mike's post means that the use of a
Restore Point in System Restore fixed things up for you and all of what I
just said turns out to be totally unnecessary.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I'm not sure I would jump to reinstall windows either. But if you're missing
hhctrl.ocx, you might be missing more files and reinstalling windows could be
the easiest/safest way to go.

But I'd look for hhctrl.ocx on my harddrive. (Windows start button|search).

For me (winxp home), I found it here:
c:\windows\system32

If you don't find it there, maybe you can find it in one of the .CAB files on
your Windows CD and extract and copy it there--(or "borrow" it from another pc
running the same version of windows????).

After that, you'll want to make sure that windows sees it--you'll have to
register it with windows.

Windows start button|Run
type this:
regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\hhctrl.ocx
(Change the location as required)

And see if it works.

Failing that, I'd go to Google Groups and search for "missing hhctrl"

You'll find lots of hits with lots of suggestions.

In fact, you may want to visit google first--to see if you see a better
suggestion.

 

[Dave Peterson]

If you don't find something helpful on google, you may want to post in a
newsgroup dedicated to windows.

Be sure to give them the version of windows you're running, too.

 

[Guest]

Same location for it in Windows XP Pro and Windows MCE - /system32

 

[Guest]

Thanks to all -- found a copy of the file in my sp2 files, and copied it from
there to system32, registered per recommendation, and help is working both in
Access and Excel. thanks very much

 

[Dave Peterson]

Glad you're up and running...

Thanks to all -- found a copy of the file in my sp2 files, and copied it from
there to system32, registered per recommendation, and help is working both in
Access and Excel. thanks very much