In recent years Microsoft has tried to shed its image as producing “insecure” operating systems. Virii and trojans can be attached to many different file types and attack your computer in various ways, but the rise of the Internet has provided many new methods, so Microsoft has made quite a few changes in this area. But as you might expect, part of the process of making Windows “more secure by default” also breaks some existing systems and software. One example of this is the Microsoft Help system.

A number of years ago Microsoft changed the format of the standard “Help File” from the .HLP format to the newer .CHM format, where CHM is short for “Compiled HTML”. Being a form of HTML, each of the “pages” in a CHM help file are displayed using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer software, just in a special way so it doesn’t look like that’s how it’s being done. Microsoft no doubt felt there were lots of good reasons for them to now do things this way, but one of the (hopefully) unforseen problems was that all the “security risks” that come with browsing the web could now also be applied to .CHM files. That is to say, while it is not very likely, somebody could craft a special .CHM file that could do damage or pose a security risk to your computer, and all they’d need to do is get you to download the file and view it.

So, sometime after the .CHM file format was in general use, Microsoft tightened up the security in Internet Explorer, but because the new Help Viewer application uses IE to do its displays, changes to IE affected how the Help Viewer functioned. It was now possible that you would try to view a help entry in your software and rather than seeing the text you were supposed to see, you’d see some sort of security message or other error instead, basically telling you that the help file was not properly accessible. Because ManuSoft is typically installed on your server and not on your actual PC it is more likely that you’ll see an error message accessing our help files because Windows will decide (incorrectly in this case) that a file on your server is somehow inherently more insecure than a file on your local hard drive. And that’s just one possible scenario where things go wrong.

So, if you’re having trouble viewing the online help in ManuSoft, what can you do? Below are a few steps to try:

1. The file could be “blocked” because you downloaded it from the internet. Locate the .CHM file on your hard drive, right click it and select Properties. At the bottom of the dialog there may be an option to “Unblock” the file. If so, select it then try reading help again. Note that ManuSoft has 3 help files, named Manual.chm, Tutorials.chm and Seminars.chm and you may need to check all three.
2. Download the “Fixhelp” registry file from the Miscellanous Files section of the ManuSoft Support Web Site, extract the file, then double-click it to merge it with your System Registry. Try opening the help again. This fix works by adjusting the “zones” from which the HTML Help application will allow content to be displayed. Seehttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/892675 for more information (specifically Example 2, and in this case we raise the MaxAllowedZone to 1.)
3. Another possibility is that the PC has somehow got confused about what is part of the “INTRAnet”, and what is part of the “INTERnet”. If it thinks your local server is part of the “INTERnet”, then it places higher security on it, and that can stop Help (and other things) from working. For example, this typically means that every time you launch ManuSoft you also get a warning confirmation prompt before the program is actually started. To check for this, open a Widows Explorer Menu and select a network drive like M: or N:. Down in the bottom-right hand corner it will say either “Internet” or “Local Intranet”. (If you’re not getting a bottom status bar at all, click on the “View” menu, then select “Status bar” to tick it.) Seeing “Local intranet” is good, seeing “Internet” is bad. If it says “Internet” we need to go into “Control Panel”, then “Internet Options”, then go to the “Security” tab. Select “Local intranet” from the list of “zones”. This zone should already be set to “Medium-low” security, but click on “Default level” if it is not. Then click on the “Sites” button to get a further dialog box. Computers that are having a problem typically have the “Automatically detect intranet network” option ticked. Untick that option and leave the other three ticked. Click OK then OK again to close everything. If you reopen a Windows Explorer display and check a network drive again, you should see that zone has changed. And hopefully now Help will function correctly too.
4. A final posibilitiy is that the folder and/or file security on the server is set in such a way that the user has insufficient permissions to view the files. Checking and correcting these permissions can be a complicated process and describing it all is beyond the scope of this entry, so I recommend you contact your network/server support person to check these settings.

Naturally, if you are still having problems with your help files after all the above then you should contact ManuSoft Support for further help.