unusable Help for over 8 months

[The Mage]

I just posted the following comment on a KB article:

--------------
Hello, I've had a problem using Help on Windows 2000 for
over 8 months now. It is time you posted a fix for it.
The only kb article that has any reference to the error
is:

312456
And I quote:
"
The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Windows 98
"

Version of my hhctrl.ocx file:
5.2.3735.1

Under more information, it says:
"
To obtain the latest update for Windows HTML Help, visit
the following Microsoft Web page:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?
url=/library/en-
us/htmlhelp/html/hwMicrosoftHTMLHelpDownloads.asp

"

Where it says:
"
Windows XP, 2000, ME, and 98 users should not run
Hhupd.exe. Any urgent updates will be handled by means of
service packs or Windows Update.
"

Trying to figure it out myself, I tried Start,Run,"regedit
c:\winnt\system32\hhctrl.ocx" and was told this was not a
registry script.

Okay, it's time for you to shine. Show me the light..
post a new KB article telling us all with this problem
what to do!!!

Thank you.

----------

Of course, I run Windows Update very very regularly. I am
a volunteer at a Senior Center Computer Lab and never go
more than two weeks without trying Windows Update to look
for patches.

I have mentioned this to them before, and apparently
someone took a look because it was near the middle of May
and the kb article seems to have been updated around
then.

However, no new kb article has been posted, so, either I'm
the only human on earth having this problem, or the fix is
obvious to smarter people than I, or they haven't had time
to fix this yet. If you know how to fix this, please let
me know. Thanks!

The Mage

 

[Pete Lees]

Hello, I've had a problem using Help on Windows 2000 for
over 8 months now. It is time you posted a fix for it.
The only kb article that has any reference to the error
is: 312456

Here are a few 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) Check the file type associations in Windows Explorer (Tools > Folder
Options, File Types tab). The application used to open .chm files should be,
for example:

"C:\WINNT\hh.exe" %1

3) 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, search history, 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.

4) Empty your Temporary Internet Files directory. A full TIF directory can
cause HTML Help files to misbehave.

5) Try unregistering and then re-registering the HTML Help ActiveX control
(hhctrl.ocx). To do this, open a Command Prompt window and then enter the
following two commands:

regsvr32 /u <drive>:\winnt\system32\hhctrl.ocx
regsvr32 <drive>:\winnt\system32\hhctrl.ocx

 

[TheMage]

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".)

Whew! Thanks! I tried it and the problem turned out to be that
"itss.dll" was not registered. MJs' was able to register it.
Actually that's a cool site, and their products might be useful for
tutorial writing also.

I checked into the other things too. It's a bit annoying that when I
tried to check which exe was used to open a chm file, I was only
getting "Windows HTML Help Executable" and no reference to which
actual file it was or from whence it hails.. But it works, so at
the moment I can live with it.

Thanks again!

The Mage

 

[TheMage]

I just wanted to announce on a public forum that I am beginning to
feel sorry for Microsoft because it is so targeted by malicious virus
and worm creators. I think the attacks will make Microsoft ultimately
stronger. I can use Linux and Mac, like all computer savvy people,
and I can see how cool they are, but they're not being subjected to
the firestorm of coding cruelty.

Whenever I post to a microsoft.public.* forum, I always get pelted
with 6-8 virus or spam emails per day and the assault lasts for about
3 months. It has the effect of making me very sympathetic to the much
maligned Microsoft company. What point are the virus creators trying
to make? That anyone who uses Microsoft is fair game? How is that
going to help? Maybe the spam bots aren't listening, but I hope Mr.
Gates is.

For the record, I'm sorry to think of the cruel practices Microsoft
has used to quell competition, but pelting me with viruses isn't going
to stop that. I don't work for them, and if I were a more novice
user, I'd probably be turned off to ALL computers if I got hit with a
virus after trying to use a forum for help.

The Mage

 

[Gary Smith]

Whenever I post to a microsoft.public.* forum, I always get pelted
with 6-8 virus or spam emails per day and the assault lasts for about
3 months. It has the effect of making me very sympathetic to the much
maligned Microsoft company. What point are the virus creators trying
to make? That anyone who uses Microsoft is fair game? How is that
going to help? Maybe the spam bots aren't listening, but I hope Mr.
Gates is.

When you post to a newsgroup, don't use a real email address, at least not
in the From: header. Addresses in the signature section rarely get hit.