ARRRGH help windows help and suppirt not working

[alterion]

don't know if it ever worked or if i have intsalled something but the help and support centre in windows is not working. I have tried sevral fixes such as maulayy editing registry did nothing) and re-installing from the .inf file(also did nothing) i think the problem could lie in the fact that the file in the binaries is 710kb instead of 500kb. the exact message i get when trying to click on it is "windows could not open help and suppot beacuse a system serivce is not running. To fix the problem start the service called help and support"

[nichomach]

Have you run the System File Checker? Go to Start/Run/CMD and type in: SFC /Scannow. This option forces Windows to scan all protected system files immediately.

Restore winhlp32.exe

[alterion]

not tried that doing it now... see wether it finds anything other than my themse settings

[nichomach]

Can't promise it'll work, but best of luck.

[alterion]

no it did nothing...any other suggestions??

[nichomach]

Have you used a registry cleaner utility recently? If so, try the vb script here:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts/fixwinxphelp.vbs

FWIW, what it does is shown here:

'fixwinxphelp.vbs - Repairs the damage done by Toni Arts EasyCleaner
'© Doug Knox - Modified 3/25/02 to account for XP over 2000 upgrades
'Based on information provided by Bill James (http://www.billsway.com)

On Error Resume Next

'Declare variables
Dim WSHShell, MyBox, p, p1, p2, p3, p4, q1, q2, q3, q4, t
Dim jobfunc

'Set the Windows Script Host Shell and assign values to variables
Set WSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

p1 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\TypeLib\{FC7D9E00-3F9E-11D3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\1.0\0\win32\"
p2 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\TypeLib\{FC7D9E00-3F9E-11D3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\1.0\HELPDIR\"
p3 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\TypeLib\{FC7D9000-3F9E-11D3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\1.0\0\win32\"
p4 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\TypeLib\{FC7D9000-3F9E-11D3-93C0-00C04F72DAF7}\1.0\HELPDIR\"

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set q = fso.GetSpecialFolder(0)

q1 = q & "\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe\1"
q2 = q & "\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe\"
q3 = q & "\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe\2"
q4 = q & "\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe\"

'Describe the funtion of the script for a dialog box

jobfunc = "This VB Script has repaired the damage done" 
jobfunc = jobfunc & vbCR & "when you ran EasyCleaner on your Windows® XP" 
jobfunc = jobfunc & vbCR & "installation, by restoring the correct Registry"
jobfunc = jobfunc & vbCR & "values for Help and Support."

'This section writes the correct values to the Registry

WSHShell.RegWrite p1, q1
WSHShell.RegWrite p2, q2
WSHShell.RegWrite p3, q3
WSHShell.RegWrite p4, q4

WshShell.Run("helpctr -regserver")

Set Wshshell = Nothing

t = "Confirmation"
MyBox = MsgBox (jobfunc, 4096, t)

[alterion]

nope i havn't saw that already... thanks though... anymore for anymore

[sERTz]

nope i havn't saw that already... thanks though... anymore for anymore

Have you tried turning on the service through administrative tools? that happened to me one time when i downloaded a program... the program disabled some of my services andi had to manually turn them back on.

[Xaneden]

My suggestion with anything like this is simple:

Reinstall Windows.

I know that may not seem ideal, but it usually works out to be a quicker solution than searching around for fixes to something that sounds like a corruption.

[Brodieman]

I'd try enabling the "Help and Support" Service first... as it's quicker and easier than re-installing windows (unless you have a ghost image and don't mind backing up for files)

1) Goto Run
2) Type "services.msc" (without the " marks)
3) Locate "Help and Support" in the list of services and double click
4) Set startup type to Automatic
5) Click the Start button..
6) Close the services mmc

Let us know if this helps

[alterion]

i'll try that last fix.. but for re-installing windows do you have to format your hdd? iif so i would have to hook my pc up to my parents one so that i could write some backup cd's (newpc has only dvd-rom drive). thanks alot for all your help

[Xaneden]

Well, an upgrade installation of Windows XP might fix the problem, but then again it might not. So I suggest you hook your PC up to your parent's PC and back up your files.

You could try installing Windows XP in the same partition but use a different system root (for instance, C:\WINXP instead of C:\Windows) but in my experience that tends to be a pretty buggy solution with older software.

[alterion]

ok i think i may have the problem.. under services i DONT HAVE a help and supprot service.. running or otherwise.. guess i will just have to re-install windows

[Xaneden]

Unlucky there Alterion.

If you need any help with the reinstallation/networking backup process, don't hesitate to ask.

[alterion]

right fuggar all of this i'm doing a complete windows re-install and backup. I'm not having my PC running funny. trying to update windows didn't work cause of a 3rd party krenl conflict and it directed me to a support page on microsoft that did not exist. . WHY dosn't half life 2 run on linux or mac's??? it would make my life so much eaiser if it did. on the positive side i've found somewhere which is about to get some e431s in stock in silver so i can get my monitr today and get off this gateway 15" CRT. I think all my problems may have stemmed from Style xp... which is a very bad program. i will open up my pc and connect it to my old gateway p166 for the gd-rewriter and floopy drive now.