LabVIEW help not opening

[lars]

This is frustrating. When I try to open LabVIEW help, I get a popup box that says "File not found: mk:@msitstore:<somefilename>." I know this is a windows problem but I cannot find a solution anywhere. I've looked at the security updates and MS knowledgebase. I've reregistered and replaced my hhctrl.ocx file, I've looked at the registry, etc. I've tried every solution I could find and .chm files still won't open, which includes pretty much all the LabVIEW help. What else can I try???

[NathanT]

lars,
       Please try doing a repair on LabVIEW.  Also, what version of LabVIEW and Windows are you using?  What happens when you go directly to C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 8.2\help and try to open one of the .chm files?  Do you have this issue on any other computers?  Please attach a screenshot of the error.

Thanks,

Nathan

[lars]

It's definitely a generalized Windows problem. I've been all over the web looking for fixes besides re-registering hhctrl.ocx and was hoping someone here might have tried a different fix. It's looking like I'll need to rebuild Windows to get this fixed (i.e. Delete everything and start over.)

The error I posted shows up whenever I try to open any .chm file. HTML help opens fine. I've tried installing the MS Help Editor program again and it didn't help any. I've tried deleting the help system directories and letting Windows recreate them and that didn't help either.

[NathanT]

Lars,
      Was it working fine before?  If so, do you know what might have changed?  I did some searching and found out that you can also try reinstalling the html help dlls and then re-registering them.  Other than that, I think the issue might be to the point where you need to backup all of your important files and format your harddrive.   Let me know if the html help dll approach helps you.

Thanks,

Nathan

[lars]

I'm not sure how long the problem has been present which only complicates fixing it. I've done the dll trick two or three times to no avail. We'll be trying to rebuild Windows next. If that doesn't work, it's format and reinstall time 

[NathanT]

Let me know how the repair goes.

[lars]

The final fix we arrived at was to rebuild WinXP. My IT department did a reinstall and repair on the operating system and was able to get the help system running again without disturbing the rest of the hard drive. Hope this information helps someone else out some day

[NathanT]

Lars,
      I am very glad to hear that you did not have to reformat your hard drive.  Thank you for letting us know what ended up working for you.

Have a great weekend,

Nathan