Question that has everyone stumped: why do help files stop working

[Dan D]

I have seen variations of this question asked in several threads but no one
seems to have an answer that works.

I originally had Microsoft Standard 2007 and then installed Microsoft
Professional 2007. The help files for the MS programs that I originally had
no longer work (Excel, Word, Powerpoint). The help files for the new
programs (Access, Publisher) do work. When, for example, I try to access
help from Excel (by clicking on the blue question mark), I get the following
error message:

"There is a problem with one or more installed help files. Please repair
your Office installation and try again."

I've tried repairing Office from both the old and the new disks and nothing
works. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling to no avail. I am using
Vista, and have all the latest Microsoft service packs installed.

Can anyone help out?

Here are other threads where the problem remains unsolved:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...en-us-office&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...en-us-office&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...en-us-office&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...en-us-office&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...en-us-office&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1

Here is a post where a similar problem is discussed, but I don't see a
solution that works here:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...en-us-office&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1

If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it!!!

 

[Beth Melton]

Close all Office applications and in the Registry try renaming the following
key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0

This is one of the items that doesn't get re-written when you repair or
uninstall. When you restart an Office application the key will be recreated
using the defaults. If you find it doesn't work then you can delete the
newly created key and rename the old one back to the original name.

~Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

 

[Dan D]

Hi Beth --

I deleted the key and opened Excel again. I got the welcome menu -- so i
know the default registry was reloaded. However -- I still get the help error:

"There is a problem with one or more installed help files. Please repair
your Office installation and try again."

Help still does not work.

Is it possible that it is not a registry issue?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Beth Melton]

Did you see this thread while searching for an answer to this issue?
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/conversation.aspx?messageid=32783136&threadid=32671329

The reference to this key sounds promising:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User
Shell Folders\Cache

~Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

 

[Dan D]

Hi Beth -- Sorry I missed your reply.

I tried to follow those instructions to the letter. I changed the data in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\Cache
to read
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files

However, the help files still don't work. Should I change the text in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\Cache to
something else?

Thanks!

 

[Beth Melton]

Is the path referenced in the key an unavailable location?

~Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

 

[jwkenobi]

I have seen a few things online that were suggested for this error that
you might want to try:

1) Reset the default web settings in IE. (Now, personally I have no
idea why this would work, but I figure it is worth a shot.)

2) Try completely uninstalling Office 2007, but using this KB:
_http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/971179.
This gets all of the registry keys that are not normally captured
when you just do an uninstall from Add/Remove Programs.
Reboot and reinstall Office. As soon as you get activated see if
Help will open for you.

3) A question more than a step to try: Can you access Windows Help
without any errors?

I hope this might work for you.
Jenn

 

[Dan D]

Thank you Jenn and Beth. Jenn -- The link that you provided in your second
suggestion did the trick.

For anyone who gets this "help files" error message -- I would suggest first
1) uninstalling Office and all the components with the Office 2007 CD -- then
2) follow the steps in this link:

KB:
_http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/971179

Thanks again everyone!