Fix Windows Help File Association...?

[LEDAdd1ct]

Calling all Windows experts! :)

I pulled IE from my system, and installed xCHM so that I can still view help files. However, when I try and view help files/browse help in certain programs, I get this:

Does anyone know a way to fix this? I am sure there is some way to either get xCHM to view it or to get my current browser (K-Meleon) to view it properly.

LEDAdd1ct

 

[mechBgon]

1) what version of Windows?

2) as a test, try having Windows Explorer open it, at the prompt you're showing there. Any good?

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

1) I am running XP SP2
2) Nothing happens when I click any of the three dialog buttons. It just goes back to the main window.

I know that by reinstalling Internet Explorer and its associated components, it will work, but that is something I will not do. What I would like to figure out is if there is some registry tweak/setting that will allow either K-Meleon or xCHM (see here http://xchm.sourceforge.net/) to open the file. *scratches head*

 

[mechBgon]

Is K-Meleon set as the default program for the Open action on .html files? If not, try that next.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Yep, K-Meleon is set to open *.htm and *.html.

 

[mechBgon]

Yep, K-Meleon is set to open *.htm and *.html.

Then I'm out of ideas for now, sorry :thinking:

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Okay, thank you anyway mech! If/when I figure out a solution, I'll post it here.

 

[Mike Painter]

It's trying to download something from the Internet and the file is looking for a specific MSFT function to do this.
There may be a workaround based on some versions of Windows sold in Europe but you may have an unstable system at this point.
There are a lot of things that will not run without it.
Office 2007' help files are HTML driven and usually start on the web.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

I think you are on the right track about a European version possibly working; the court ruling said that Microsoft must release a verison of Windows without IE, right? I would assume that means the capacity to view help files without spewing an error in the absence of IE or one of its components.

 

[Mike Painter]

I think you are on the right track about a European version possibly working; the court ruling said that Microsoft must release a verison of Windows without IE, right? I would assume that means the capacity to view help files without spewing an error in the absence of IE or one of its components.

That's my guess, but again, the typical help file seems to be going away in favor of HTML or XML based up to date web based information.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

It definitely does not go to the Internet. I wish I knew more about software! I'll pull up some articles about what other people did to fix it; the thing is, I want to fix it *without* reintroducing ActiveX or IE files.

 

[TooManyGizmos]

All I can suggest is this Microsoft link about WinHlp32.exe files that now won't open.

Don't know if it will help ?

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Hi, TMG! Thank you for the link. I found out what was going on, and the answer is two-fold: I know what the problem is, but I do not know how to fix it.

I installed xCHM, which is a third-party tool that allows you to view .CHM files, the files that are freqently [always?] targeted when you click on "Help" inside a given program. Although I don't regularly rely on Help, it is one of those things that occasionally comes in handy. However, when I removed Windows help/Internet Explorer, I also crippled the viewer that is supposed to open those .CHM files. That explains the problem as demonstrated in the screenshot above.

Now, here is what I discovered with the help of some folks on MSFN. I installed xCHM viewer, and told Windows to use it to view .CHM files. Many programs on my computer obey this new assoiciation, and when I click "Help," the file opens correctly in xCHM. However, *certain* programs act stupidly, and ignore the setting; instead of attempting to open the help files with xCHM as instructed, they continue to try and use the crippled Windows component, resulting in the error as seen above. The problem, therefore, is not with xCHM or Windows; the problem is that certain programs are not "listening" to me/the Windows registry, and opening the .CHM file with xCHM. I have no idea how to *make* the offending programs follow the directions as outlined in the registry to open the help file with xCHM.

At this point, it appears that when necessary/needed, I should be able to open the file manually by opening xCHM first, and then using the "File"/"Open" sequence on the menu to pull up the help file I need. However, it would be nice to have the programs use the utility (xCHM) instead of the broken one (Windows Help).

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=135582

 

[rookiedaddy]

Perhaps you can try this:
1. make a copy of xchm.exe and name it hh.exe
2. copy both the hh.exe (which is the xchm.exe) and neccessary dlls (mingwm10.dll?) onto your Windows folder
3. try if it works

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Awesome suggestion; I'll try it shortly and post the result(s)!

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Perhaps you can try this:
1. make a copy of xchm.exe and name it hh.exe
2. copy both the hh.exe (which is the xchm.exe) and neccessary dlls (mingwm10.dll?) onto your Windows folder
3. try if it works

Absolutely bizarre! I disabled Windows File Protection, made a backup of hh.exe, overwrote it with xchm.exe, rebooted, and tried it. Same thing! I checked Process Explorer, and it is not showing hh.exe as being active. My guess is that it is using other components; how it is able to run without invoking an .exe is beyond my [limited] knowledge.

*scratches head*

 

[rookiedaddy]

my bad... didn't look closely that the offending program you are referring to is WinRar...
From process explorer, WinRar is loading hhctrl.ocx to display the WinRAR.chm help file, instead of shelling out to hh.exe. Looks like you may have to re-introduce ActiveX (and IE) back for it to work. :oops:
I believe other programs that has integrated htmlhelp (using hhctrl.ocx) will have similar behaviour in your system, e.g. Snag-It. While others like XnView which rely on Windows explorer's file association will work.

EDIT: a full IE may not be neccessary, you can start by trying the neccessary dll that's loaded by looking thru process explorer, one of them is ieframe.dll

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

rookiedaddy, thank you very much; what you say makes perfect sense. Indeed, some programs which "shell out" work perfectly, while others, which use the hhctrl.ocx component, give the weird behavior as shown in my initial screenshot.

Of course, that is the issue: I do not want ActiveX on my computer.

1) Is there a simple way to "tell" programs not to use hhctrl.ocx and use the program I specify?

2) If not, I think I will simply leave things as they are. I feel much more secure without ActiveX/IE on my machine, and the explanation as to why this happened even though I specified xCHM as the default program is more important to me than fixing it (i.e., I assign great value to an accurate explanation even lacking the solution).

 

[rookiedaddy]

I don't think there is a simple way to do this if the program binds to the API object model of this ActiveX (hhctrl.ocx) either directly or indirectly.

Frankly, I still like the old WinHelp (.hlp)for its speed and simplicity. The latest Microsoft Document Explorer is even more resource hogging and it lacks the "user-friendliness" of .hlp and .chm where one can simply double-click the file and start reading. :shrug:

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Sheesh, leave it to Microsoft to turn something as simple as a help file (.chm or .hlp variant) and make it slow and bloated! :sick2: And I agree with you, the .hlp files open like lightning and work great. I think Redmond needs a lesson in, "if it ain't broke, please do *not* try and fix it!"

I don't know what an "API object model" is, but I get the general idea. I will leave things as they are. Thank you (and others) for your help.