XP Help and Support not working.

[jwfilion]

I'm having a problem with Help and Support on my XP. I've never really needed it till recently. I know it did work years ago, but since then, it has failed and I am not proficient enough with computers to know why. When I pressed Start > Help and Support, I would get an error message saying Windows could not find the file " Helpctr.exe ". I went to Windows support site and read as much info as I could find. Followed directions and I thought I put the file in the right folder, but now I get a new error message below.



I tried finding a Help and Support Service in the Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services to turn it on, but cannot find it there. Am I looking in the right place? I would appreciate any help with this.


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[JJ 3000]

I'm not sure if this will work but you can try this:
Click Start then Run and type in   sfc /scannow   and press enter.
Have your Windows CD handy, as it will ask for it.

[Broni]

Go Start>Run, and type in:
%Windir%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\HelpCtr.exe
Click OK.
Does it open?

[jwfilion]

JJ 3000, Broni, sorry for the late reply, our server has been down. I tried both suggestions and neither worked. I keep getting the same error message.
At first, I thought it was just a case were the executable files were not in the proper folder and if I could just see the pathway when I pressed the Help and Support button, I would know where to put the file. As it turns out, I may have accidentally put the " Helpctr.exe " in the right place, because I no longer get that error message. If " helpsvc.exe " is the file for the Help and Support, is it possible to get that service running? I'm open for suggestions.

[Broni]

Download attached file to your desktop.
Unzip it
Double click on startmenuhelp.reg, and allow "merge".
Restart computer.

[recovering disk space -- attachment deleted by admin]

[jwfilion]

Broni, it merged, but nothing happened. There is no Help and Support listed in the services area. I followed the instructions on the MS Support website and put the help .exe in the right place, but now I can't turn it on. Can't find anything on that site about missing services. Could it be that I have not installed SP3 yet? Have been leery of it with all the problems I've heard of. I figured, one problem at a time.

BTW...I can't seem to get System Restore to work either.

[Broni]

Something fishy here. I just checked XP, and I have "Help and Support" service running, set to auto start.
The above service depends on Remote Procedure Call (RPC), so see, if you have this service running, and set to auto start.

[jwfilion]

Broni, I started the RPC and set it to auto. I even rebooted and it did nothing. Not to be flippant, but maybe Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, made a Help and Support file in a PDF format, so I could just download it and solve this problem myself! Well, I don't know what to do next, except play around with it. I did manage to get Windows to find the '' Helpctr.exe ", so who knows what else I can whip Bill Gates' mule into doing.
I still welcome ideas. Thanks.

[Broni]

Go Start>Run, type in:
sfc /scannow
Click OK.
Have Windows CD handy.
If System File Checker (sfc) will find any errors, it'll ask you for the CD.
If sfc won't find any errors, it'll simply quit, without any message.

[jwfilion]

Broni, I already tried this, as JJ 3000 suggested, without success, but I guess, since I've tried other stuff since, you think it might hopefully work this time. It didn't. Then again, maybe it did, to some extent.
Before I posted this problem, I tried to open Help and Support every way I could, including Start > Search > Information in Help and Support Center, without success. Well I must have done something right, as now I can open it through the Search facility! Yeah for me! Should I tempt fate and try to fix this properly or should I just count my blessings?

[Broni]

I can open it through the Search facility

How exactly?

[jwfilion]

Sorry, poor wording. I still can't open it, but I can search through the Windows XP Home Edition Help. I have never been able to do this before. I would get error messages. Below is the page that loads.

[Broni]

How exactly are you getting there?

[jwfilion]

Sorry, sometimes I get full of myself and forget I'm computer illiterate. I went to Start > Search > scroll down left panel to Information in Help and Support Center.



Again, this never opened before. I believe it mentioned something about a bad pathway?!

[Broni]

Search computer for HelpCtr.exe, and post its location.