Missing Icons in XP Help and Support

[Bryan]

In Windows Xp Help and Support Center, I can't see some
of the icons on the help pages, all I get are red X's.
For example, when using the Control Panel applet and
selecting User Accounts; when I click on the Learn about
links, such as "Switching users", I get run-time error
messages indicating that an object is expected. Then I
see red X's instead of icons.

I tried reinstalling the help by performing the following
below. But it did not work. I also looked at Kelly's
Korner website but did not see the applicable link to
correct just this problem.

What is the proper fix and why do I have this problem?

Thanks

Bryan


Step I: End the Help and Support services if they run in
the background.

1. Click Start, click Run and type "taskmgr"(without
quotes). Click OK.
This opens Task Manager.

2. Click the Process tab. Stop all of the following
processing if running:

helpsvc.exe
helphost.exe
helpctr.exe

Step II: Reinstall Help and Support:

1. Click Start, click Run and type "cmd" (without
quotes).
Click OK. This
opens Command Prompt.

2. In Command Prompt, type the following command lines:
(Press Enter after
each
line.)

net stop helpsvc

cd /d %windir%\pchealth\helpctr

rd packagestore /s /q

rd installedskus /s /q

cd binaries

start /w helpsvc /svchost netsvcs /regserver /install

start /w helpsvc /register

 

[Pete Lees]

Bryan,

In Windows Xp Help and Support Center, I can't see some
of the icons on the help pages, all I get are red X's.

This sounds like the problem described in Microsoft Knowledge Base
article 822989, in which case Critical Update 811630 should sort it
out.

822989: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=822989
811630: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811630

 

[Guest]

Pete,

I installed the update but it did not do anything. The
wizard was rather strange. The progress bar went to
about 20% and then it indicated that it was finished. I
restarted the machine and the problem is still there.

Any suggestions?

 

[Pete Lees]

Bryan,

I installed the update but it did not do anything. The
wizard was rather strange. The progress bar went to
about 20% and then it indicated that it was finished. I
restarted the machine and the problem is still there.

If you installed the 811630 update successfully then your version of
the HTML Help ActiveX control (\windows\system32\hhctrl.ocx) should
now be 5.2.3735.0. Can you check that this is the case?

Here are some other 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 the file hh.dat, which you should find in this directory:

\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. A full TIF directory
can cause HTML Help files to misbehave.

4) See the following pages for further guidance on how to resolve
XP-specific help problems:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_h.htm
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/fixwinxphelp.htm

 

[Bryan Mandel]

Pete,

I checked the OCX version and it was the same you
indicated. I then proceeded to the path of least
resistance. I deleted the hh.dat and temp files and it
finally works.

Thanks for your patience and persistence in helping me
solve this issue.

Bryan