I would be EXTREMELY grateful if someone could help me. I've searched all
over the world for an answer but haven't found any mention of my problem
anywhere. I have MS Office Suite for Small Business on my computer (XP Pro)
but the help screens for all my products (Excel, Word, Outlook, etc.) are
blank. No error message, just blank. I believe they worked when I first
installed the package but at some point along the way the help function
stopped working.

When I click on the ? mark for help from anywhere in the suite the table of
contents comes up on the left and I can even input words into the search
function, but the screen on the right side of the Help box is blank. Again,
this is happening across all the MS products in the suite.

I have "repaired" the suite but it still isn't working. I thought it might
have something to do with my Zone Alarm firewall but it still happens when I
turn off my Zone Alarm.

I hope someone can help me. Thank you for your time.

Something to try with Office closed (you will probably need the original install disc)...

This will uninstall the help files and then reinstall them - and then maybe they will work.
In Control Panel | Add Remove Programs select the Office item and click change.
In the wizard, find "Help Files" and change it to "run on first use"
Make any other changes/corrections you want and OK your way out.
Start Office/Excel and enter something in the help search box.
You should then see a dialog saying the help files will be installed. Hope that fixes it.
--
Jim Cone
Portland, Oregon USA
http://www.realezsites.com/bus/primitivesoftware
(Excel Add-ins / Excel Programming)




"Bill F."

wrote in message
I would be EXTREMELY grateful if someone could help me. I've searched all
over the world for an answer but haven't found any mention of my problem
anywhere. I have MS Office Suite for Small Business on my computer (XP Pro)
but the help screens for all my products (Excel, Word, Outlook, etc.) are
blank. No error message, just blank. I believe they worked when I first
installed the package but at some point along the way the help function
stopped working.

When I click on the ? mark for help from anywhere in the suite the table of
contents comes up on the left and I can even input words into the search
function, but the screen on the right side of the Help box is blank. Again,
this is happening across all the MS products in the suite.

I have "repaired" the suite but it still isn't working. I thought it might
have something to do with my Zone Alarm firewall but it still happens when I
turn off my Zone Alarm.

I hope someone can help me. Thank you for your time.

Hi, Jim. Thank you very kindly for getting back to me so quickly!

Actually, I did try your suggestion before I wrote my question. I inserted
the original disk and looked everywhere for Help Files. They aren't located
anywhere on the disk under the name "Help" anything.

I looked under each individual program and also under "Office Shared
Features" and "Office Tools" at the bottom. I looked there first because help
screens aren't showing up on any of the MS Office programs so I figured the
problem would be in one of those two. However, neither of them (or anywhere
else on the original disk) have anything even remotely linked to the Help
feature. It must be called something else or lopped in with another file.

"Jim Cone" wrote:

Something to try with Office closed (you will probably need the original install disc)...

This will uninstall the help files and then reinstall them - and then maybe they will work.
In Control Panel | Add Remove Programs select the Office item and click change.
In the wizard, find "Help Files" and change it to "run on first use"
Make any other changes/corrections you want and OK your way out.
Start Office/Excel and enter something in the help search box.
You should then see a dialog saying the help files will be installed. Hope that fixes it.
--
Jim Cone
Portland, Oregon USA
http://www.realezsites.com/bus/primitivesoftware
(Excel Add-ins / Excel Programming)




"Bill F."

wrote in message
I would be EXTREMELY grateful if someone could help me. I've searched all
over the world for an answer but haven't found any mention of my problem
anywhere. I have MS Office Suite for Small Business on my computer (XP Pro)
but the help screens for all my products (Excel, Word, Outlook, etc.) are
blank. No error message, just blank. I believe they worked when I first
installed the package but at some point along the way the help function
stopped working.

When I click on the ? mark for help from anywhere in the suite the table of
contents comes up on the left and I can even input words into the search
function, but the screen on the right side of the Help box is blank. Again,
this is happening across all the MS products in the suite.

I have "repaired" the suite but it still isn't working. I thought it might
have something to do with my Zone Alarm firewall but it still happens when I
turn off my Zone Alarm.

I hope someone can help me. Thank you for your time.

Bill F.
You don't insert the disk unless asked for it.
You start with... Start (button) | Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs (double-click)
In the list displayed, find your version of Office and click it.
A "Change" button should appear - click it.
In the "Wizard" choose "Add or Remove Features"
In the next Wizard window, each application is shown as a separate item.
In the drop down list under each application name is a "Help" item
Change the Help item so as to run on first use.
'--
Hope the above is clearer.
Jim Cone



"Bill F."
wrote in message
Hi, Jim. Thank you very kindly for getting back to me so quickly!
Actually, I did try your suggestion before I wrote my question. I inserted
the original disk and looked everywhere for Help Files. They aren't located
anywhere on the disk under the name "Help" anything.

I looked under each individual program and also under "Office Shared
Features" and "Office Tools" at the bottom. I looked there first because help
screens aren't showing up on any of the MS Office programs so I figured the
problem would be in one of those two. However, neither of them (or anywhere
else on the original disk) have anything even remotely linked to the Help
feature. It must be called something else or lopped in with another file.


"Jim Cone" wrote:
Something to try with Office closed (you will probably need the original install disc)...

This will uninstall the help files and then reinstall them - and then maybe they will work.
In Control Panel | Add Remove Programs select the Office item and click change.
In the wizard, find "Help Files" and change it to "run on first use"
Make any other changes/corrections you want and OK your way out.
Start Office/Excel and enter something in the help search box.
You should then see a dialog saying the help files will be installed. Hope that fixes it.
--
Jim Cone
Portland, Oregon USA
http://www.realezsites.com/bus/primitivesoftware
(Excel Add-ins / Excel Programming)




"Bill F."

wrote in message
I would be EXTREMELY grateful if someone could help me. I've searched all
over the world for an answer but haven't found any mention of my problem
anywhere. I have MS Office Suite for Small Business on my computer (XP Pro)
but the help screens for all my products (Excel, Word, Outlook, etc.) are
blank. No error message, just blank. I believe they worked when I first
installed the package but at some point along the way the help function
stopped working.

When I click on the ? mark for help from anywhere in the suite the table of
contents comes up on the left and I can even input words into the search
function, but the screen on the right side of the Help box is blank. Again,
this is happening across all the MS products in the suite.

I have "repaired" the suite but it still isn't working. I thought it might
have something to do with my Zone Alarm firewall but it still happens when I
turn off my Zone Alarm.

I hope someone can help me. Thank you for your time.