Help and Suport Center error message

qwerty246,

See if any of the procedures under "Why doesn't Help and Support work?" here restore Help and Support.

As to your second question, the Windows XP Reinstallation CD contains a complete copy of Windows XP but it is an OEM copy. Thus, it is the functional equivalent of a retail copy but subject to OEM licensing restrictions.

Dennis,

I tried the following from the link you sent me:
1. Ran the fixwinxphelp.vbs script.
2. Go to Start/Run and type in: helpctr -regserver
3. Go to C:\Windows\inf\pchealth.inf. Right click and choose install.
4. Made sure help service is running in services.msc.
5. Restore winhlp32.exe for XP or XPSP1 (Line 57) from http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm. One interesting note, I noticed winhlp32.exe was 8 Kb while winhlp32sp1.exe and winhlp32.exe downloaded from Kelly's Korner were 261 Kb. I tried replacing winhlp32.exe, but my system didn't let me. Also, I'm not sure what this file has to do with helpctr.exe in C:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries. I'll need to think about that some...
6. I extracted the following files as directed: Winhlp32.cn_, Winhlp32.ex_ &
Winhlp32.hl_
7. I verified the 4 registry values to be correct for this key {FC7D9E00-3F9E-11D3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}

None of these worked!

I even went to http://windowsxp.mvps.org/startmenuhelp.htm and imported the registry fix to no avail. [I really thought this would work.]

I the end I copied a link of helpctr.exe from C:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries to the Desktop. It's a solution, but as an engineer, it's not an elegant solution.

If you have any other suggestions...

Thanks for your help,
qwerty246

If the shortcut to helpctr.exe works the it would seem that help center itself is OK and that it is the button on the start menu that is broken. I don't know which registry key that is, but I did a search through my registry (XP SP2) for \binaries\helpctr.exe and found the following entries that you might check:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FC7D9E02-3F9E-11d3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\InprocServer32
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FC7D9E06-3F9E-11d3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\InprocServer32
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FC7D9E08-3F9E-11d3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\InprocServer32
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FC7D9E09-3F9E-11d3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\InprocServer32
all have default data set to C:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HCP\shell\open\command
has default set to %SystemRoot%\PCHEALTH\HELPCTR\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe -FromHCP -url "%1"

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{FC7D9000-3F9E-11D3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\1.0\0\win32
has default set to  C:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe\2

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{FC7D9E00-3F9E-11D3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\1.0\0\win32
has default set to C:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe\1

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MsRcIncident\shell\open\command

has default set to %SystemRoot%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe -Mode "hcp://system/Remote%%20Assistance/RAClientLayout.xml" -url "hcp://system/Remote%%20Assistance/Interaction/Client/rctoolScreen1.htm" -ExtraArgument "IncidentFile=%1"

(I think the last is the one for when you click a link to MS, e.g. in event viewer)

 

J,

Woo hoo!! I think I found it with your help. There is no entry in the registry matching:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HCP\shell\open\command
has default set to %SystemRoot%\PCHEALTH\HELPCTR\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe -FromHCP -url "%1"

Thanks a bunch. I'll do some research to figure out how to create the folders and registry entry. How hard can it be?

I truly appreciate the time you took to investigate this.

Paul

I am not sure that is the relevant entry, do you have the main key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HCP at all? If not, I would hesitate to create it and its subkeys and their values as it may be your system is different from mine. I have XP home, SP2 with later updates

If you do have that key, please post what it contains. The easiest way to do so is to navigate to it in the left pane (tree) of regedit, left click on

 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HCP to 'open' it, click  file menu, click export, in the saveas give the file any name you like, with.reg extension. Then in Windows explorer open that file in Notepad and copy/paste all its contents here. I can then compare it with what I have (don't worry if the file's contents are not exactly what you see in the right pane of regedit; for example 'default' shows up as @ in the file).

You said you tried Start/Run and type in: helpctr -regserver , click OK, right? [note space between r and -]

 

Message Edited by JRosenfeld on 12-24-2004 01:11 AM

J,

I'm running XP Pro SP1 which I have kept up to date except installing SP2. I've held off installing SP2 for 2 reasons: 1. to let some of the bugs get worked out on it and 2. known issues with some software I have. These have been cleared up [I hope] so I plan on installing SP2 some time in the next week or so. I've been waiting for Christmas break to install it in case there are issues, etc. That being said, here's what is in the HPC key:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HPC]
@="H/PC"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HPC\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft ActiveSync\\wcesview.dll,-120"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\HPC\DisconnectedIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft ActiveSync\\wcesview.dll,-120"

I have software [RegRun Suite Gold 4.0] that will allow me to do a registry backup if I try adding the key and things go, shall we say, badly.

Oh, yes, I tried helpctr -regserver.

If you think trying to import the keys is a bad idea please let me know. Heck, for all I know, installing SP2 may fix the issue. BTW, I also tried to 'repair' XP using the reinstallation CD. Frankly, I can't think of much I haven't tried.

Any suggestions are welcome.

qwerty246