14th June 2001

Windows ME has changed the face of several things, including the operating system's help engine. No longer does Help result in the familiar .CHM interface you've come to know and love. HELPCTR.EXE is the party responsible for answering your questions these days, but it's not immune from difficulties of its own -- sometimes failing to respond entirely because of an application registration problem. This can be fixed by clicking Start / Run and typing "helpctr -regserver" without quotes. This will re-register the application in the Registry and allow smooth operation once again. Using the "helpctr -url <url>" option takes you directly to a specific page if you know what you're looking for. For you system administrators, you can pass an Intranet help page to your users via this option, but the HelpCtr is only available in Windows ME, thus its use is rather limited. A complete list of the options can be had by running "helpctr -?" (sans quotes). Cases off to Lockergnomie Steve Hammond for bringing this tip to light! Now, since there's nothing terribly complicated about the Windows 98 help system, remember that F1 will always do the trick. Go ahead - - try tapping the key right now and see what happens. Do it in just about any program for immediate context-sensitive help.