WinXP Help & Support menu

[glenmere]

When I attempt to access the Help & Support menu, I receive the following error message: "Windows cannot find "helpctr.exe". Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again." When I searched for the file helpctr.exe I find it located in Windows\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries. So I find the file in the system but why won't it execute the menu?

Thanks, John

[Paul Komski]

Hi Glenmere.

It's not obvious but if you RClick on helpctr.exe and choose Open, does this start up the help and support page normally.

[glenmere]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply. To answer your question, yes the file does open if I click on the Exe file directly. The menu just doesn't open from the Start Menu. Can you offer any suggestion. Thanks, John

[Paul Komski]

A workaround rather than a cure:-
R-click the file and choose send to desktop, create shortcut. Rename the shortcut as you wish. Drag it into the Start Menu or anywhere else you like.

Just why the system icon is non-functioning is unclear. Have you by any chance changed any partitions since the OS was installed. The only comparable thing I have seen is for the basic help/support page to open but to then not show any results; this is when an image has been restored to a partition different from the original installation (if memory serves).

You could try restoring your system to an earlier date or (although its a bit of overkill) you could run a repair installation of XP if you have the installation cd and know the product key.

[glenmere]

Paul, I appreaciate your input on my problem. I did as you suggested and created a shortcut on my desktop and it does work ... I am able to access the Help & Support Menu in this manner. I realize its a workaround but I'm willing to live with it. I don't know why this menu doesn't execute the way Microsoft intented it to. I have not changed any partitions as you mentioned.

Thanks for your help, John

[mjc]

I'm not sure if HSC is one of the ones TweakUI for XP (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp) can repair or not, but it can repair many of the default items.

[malcore]

Hi glenmere ,

Have you tried opening the "run" command and typing in helpctr -regserver (space between the first r and the dash) ?? Should fix your problem.

[Paul Komski]

Can you run regedit and see if the path in the registry key:-
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths\HELPCTR.EXE

..matches the actual site of the file under PCHealth. This is part of the fix for the same problem in WinME but it looks like it should be similar in WinXP.

Don't edit the registry unless you are sure about what you are doing.

[malcore]

No need to fiddle in the registry for this in XP Paul , the command line I gave above will do it.

[jabarnutcase]

I would almost consider it a blessing. In fact, I found Help and Support within XP so useless and frustrating, I disabled it in "services".
Hmmmm.....Maybe that's the problem? :confused:

Any time I tried a search for a specific problem, I either came up with a Million unrelated answers, or a soultion that was too simple to work.

My answers to problems with XP have always come from a Google search....Or HERE at "the Guide" ;)

[Paul Komski]

Jabar.. "I would almost consider it a blessing" - LOL :D

malcore not at all sure but is the -regserver switch the same as the /regserver switch in windows?
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wmisdk/wmi/winmgmt.asp

[malcore]

Not sure on that one Paul . I'm not speaking from a deep knowledge of Window's various commands and switches, just from a similar experience I had. It looks to be one and the same. Is it possible the - and the / are interchangeable?

After many searches, I finally found the answer, which worked for the friend whose computer had the same problem. Can't remember where I saw it, maybe kellyscorner, but I saved the command for future reference.

jabar , yes lol, but even if Help and Support is disabled in services, it will start itself when called upon when you press on help anywhere within the OS.


EDIT I found the page. It was kelly korner. Have a look here (http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_h.htm) . Many fixes on this page for helpctr problems.

[malcore]

It does seem the / and the - are interchangeable and this is the same switch. Basically it re-registers the help center.

When it worked for me I used the -regserver command.

[Paul Komski]

Well found.

[glenmere]

Malcore, I tried your suggestion with the helpctr -regserver but I got the original error message: "Windows cannot find helpctr.exe" that I get when I click on the Help & Support Menu in the START command.

Paul, I tried your suggestion by checking the registry entry site HKey_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App\HELPCTR.EXE, but in this case the HELPCTR.EXE is NOT listed there at all. Can this be the problem? John

[Paul Komski]

No guarantees - but if you want to try this go ahead. Ensure you have a system restore point to go back to, before changing anything in the Registry, if you are unsure about working in this territory. Post back if you are unsure about anything or want clarification.

By right-clicking on the "App Paths" Folder in the Left Pane you can choose New Key. Rename the New Key to HELPCTR.EXE then right-click on its subkey, (Default), under "Name" in the right panel and choose modify. Then type in the "value name" field the path to the file. eg:-

X:\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe

.. but substituting X with your actual drive letter.

Reboot and see if it works. If not, you could then try Malcore's command again and if that fails I think we are into a full repair installation.

[malcore]

Take a look at the link I left in my above message. Many fixes there for various helpctr (and other) problems in XP. It will even guide you through re-installing helpctr rather than XP as a whole.

[glenmere]

I'm happy to report I found the solution! In malcore's messsage regarding looking at kelly korner for helpctr problems I found a list of suggestions to diagnose the cause. The item that solved the problem had me go to C:\Windows\inf\pchealth.inf, right click the file and choose install. I had to use my OS CD plus the Service Pack Files directory in Windows to reinstall the help.exe file which ultimately got it to work. I don't know what originally caused this problem ... I would expect some of the updates from MS that might have contributed to the disabling of the help center menu I'm just not sure.

I'd like to thank all of you who have contributed, Paul Komski, mjc, jabarnutcase and malcore for helping me with ideas and suggestions on how to solve this iritating problem. John

[malcore]

Great! Thanks for posting back with the fix.

Now that you know it is working, do like jabar said and go and disable it.:p