Ok.
I know I'm in the wrong area, but it seems that "Microsoft Support" of any
kind has become rather amoebic and spread out over God Knows where, and I've
spent the last three hours just trying to find the right area to ask

We're running Win 2K3 R2. I've got two identical servers (IBM x3650) running
the 64 bit OS. On one of them, the "Help and Support Center" no longer runs,
from ANY application, nor via "F1", nor from the Start menu. I've checked the
"Data Execution Prevention" settings (which, by the way, won't let me change
the 64Bit executables) and I've checked the registry for application file
locations. I'm at a complete loss as to what happened.

What am I missing???????

Thanks.
-Al

If you recently installed Service Pack 2 for Windows 2003, then I would
uninstall/reinstall it as Help and Support can go MIA after it is installed.
(Note: There are posts on how to re-register it rather than
uninstall/reinstall SP2)

"Al" <Al@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4BE6D5F8-E070-4B43-A7A0-FEAB12B1B8EF@microsoft.com...
> Ok.
> I know I'm in the wrong area, but it seems that "Microsoft Support" of any
> kind has become rather amoebic and spread out over God Knows where, and
> I've
> spent the last three hours just trying to find the right area to ask
>
> We're running Win 2K3 R2. I've got two identical servers (IBM x3650)
> running
> the 64 bit OS. On one of them, the "Help and Support Center" no longer
> runs,
> from ANY application, nor via "F1", nor from the Start menu. I've checked
> the
> "Data Execution Prevention" settings (which, by the way, won't let me
> change
> the 64Bit executables) and I've checked the registry for application file
> locations. I'm at a complete loss as to what happened.
>
> What am I missing???????
>
> Thanks.
> -Al
>

Well, the service is running. When I double-click anything in the \binaries\
directory, it just does nothing. Other than, of course, the hcsupd.exe.

SP2 has been there a while. I can't for the life of me think of when it
first went missing. I don't use it often, but the other day I was checking
out a weird event log entry and when I clicked on the link, it did nothing.
At that point, I checked the "Help and Support Center" from the start menu
and got zilch.

I'm wondering if I actually should just unregister / re-register the
service(s).




"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

> If you recently installed Service Pack 2 for Windows 2003, then I would
> uninstall/reinstall it as Help and Support can go MIA after it is installed.
> (Note: There are posts on how to re-register it rather than
> uninstall/reinstall SP2)
>
> "Al" <Al@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:4BE6D5F8-E070-4B43-A7A0-FEAB12B1B8EF@microsoft.com...
> > Ok.
> > I know I'm in the wrong area, but it seems that "Microsoft Support" of any
> > kind has become rather amoebic and spread out over God Knows where, and
> > I've
> > spent the last three hours just trying to find the right area to ask
> >
> > We're running Win 2K3 R2. I've got two identical servers (IBM x3650)
> > running
> > the 64 bit OS. On one of them, the "Help and Support Center" no longer
> > runs,
> > from ANY application, nor via "F1", nor from the Start menu. I've checked
> > the
> > "Data Execution Prevention" settings (which, by the way, won't let me
> > change
> > the 64Bit executables) and I've checked the registry for application file
> > locations. I'm at a complete loss as to what happened.
> >
> > What am I missing???????
> >
> > Thanks.
> > -Al
> >
>
>
>

The service seems to be running. I've had SP2 in there for a while. I don't
know when it first went toes-up, but I noticed it the other day when I tried
to click on an event log entry and it went nowhere. After that, I tried going
to the Help and Support Center via the start button menu and got zilch!

I'm wondering if I actually should just unregister / re-register the
files/service(s)

This is driving me nuts!


"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

> If you recently installed Service Pack 2 for Windows 2003, then I would
> uninstall/reinstall it as Help and Support can go MIA after it is installed.
> (Note: There are posts on how to re-register it rather than
> uninstall/reinstall SP2)
>
> "Al" <Al@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:4BE6D5F8-E070-4B43-A7A0-FEAB12B1B8EF@microsoft.com...
> > Ok.
> > I know I'm in the wrong area, but it seems that "Microsoft Support" of any
> > kind has become rather amoebic and spread out over God Knows where, and
> > I've
> > spent the last three hours just trying to find the right area to ask
> >
> > We're running Win 2K3 R2. I've got two identical servers (IBM x3650)
> > running
> > the 64 bit OS. On one of them, the "Help and Support Center" no longer
> > runs,
> > from ANY application, nor via "F1", nor from the Start menu. I've checked
> > the
> > "Data Execution Prevention" settings (which, by the way, won't let me
> > change
> > the 64Bit executables) and I've checked the registry for application file
> > locations. I'm at a complete loss as to what happened.
> >
> > What am I missing???????
> >
> > Thanks.
> > -Al
> >
>
>
>

By the way...
Feel free to point me to those posts you were referring to..... I can't find
squat in here.....

Thanks....

-Al


"Al" wrote:

> The service seems to be running. I've had SP2 in there for a while. I don't
> know when it first went toes-up, but I noticed it the other day when I tried
> to click on an event log entry and it went nowhere. After that, I tried going
> to the Help and Support Center via the start button menu and got zilch!
>
> I'm wondering if I actually should just unregister / re-register the
> files/service(s)
>
> This is driving me nuts!
>
>
> "neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:
>
> > If you recently installed Service Pack 2 for Windows 2003, then I would
> > uninstall/reinstall it as Help and Support can go MIA after it is installed.
> > (Note: There are posts on how to re-register it rather than
> > uninstall/reinstall SP2)
> >
> > "Al" <Al@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:4BE6D5F8-E070-4B43-A7A0-FEAB12B1B8EF@microsoft.com...
> > > Ok.
> > > I know I'm in the wrong area, but it seems that "Microsoft Support" of any
> > > kind has become rather amoebic and spread out over God Knows where, and
> > > I've
> > > spent the last three hours just trying to find the right area to ask
> > >
> > > We're running Win 2K3 R2. I've got two identical servers (IBM x3650)
> > > running
> > > the 64 bit OS. On one of them, the "Help and Support Center" no longer
> > > runs,
> > > from ANY application, nor via "F1", nor from the Start menu. I've checked
> > > the
> > > "Data Execution Prevention" settings (which, by the way, won't let me
> > > change
> > > the 64Bit executables) and I've checked the registry for application file
> > > locations. I'm at a complete loss as to what happened.
> > >
> > > What am I missing???????
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > > -Al
> > >
> >
> >
> >

http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive...ce-pack-2.aspx
might be helpful.

"Al" <Al@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:703133DB-5ADF-4023-9676-D5F56950C888@microsoft.com...
> By the way...
> Feel free to point me to those posts you were referring to..... I can't
> find
> squat in here.....
>
> Thanks....
>
> -Al
>
>
> "Al" wrote:
>
>> The service seems to be running. I've had SP2 in there for a while. I
>> don't
>> know when it first went toes-up, but I noticed it the other day when I
>> tried
>> to click on an event log entry and it went nowhere. After that, I tried
>> going
>> to the Help and Support Center via the start button menu and got zilch!
>>
>> I'm wondering if I actually should just unregister / re-register the
>> files/service(s)
>>
>> This is driving me nuts!
>>
>>
>> "neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:
>>
>> > If you recently installed Service Pack 2 for Windows 2003, then I would
>> > uninstall/reinstall it as Help and Support can go MIA after it is
>> > installed.
>> > (Note: There are posts on how to re-register it rather than
>> > uninstall/reinstall SP2)
>> >
>> > "Al" <Al@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> > news:4BE6D5F8-E070-4B43-A7A0-FEAB12B1B8EF@microsoft.com...
>> > > Ok.
>> > > I know I'm in the wrong area, but it seems that "Microsoft Support"
>> > > of any
>> > > kind has become rather amoebic and spread out over God Knows where,
>> > > and
>> > > I've
>> > > spent the last three hours just trying to find the right area to ask
>> > >
>> > > We're running Win 2K3 R2. I've got two identical servers (IBM x3650)
>> > > running
>> > > the 64 bit OS. On one of them, the "Help and Support Center" no
>> > > longer
>> > > runs,
>> > > from ANY application, nor via "F1", nor from the Start menu. I've
>> > > checked
>> > > the
>> > > "Data Execution Prevention" settings (which, by the way, won't let me
>> > > change
>> > > the 64Bit executables) and I've checked the registry for application
>> > > file
>> > > locations. I'm at a complete loss as to what happened.
>> > >
>> > > What am I missing???????
>> > >
>> > > Thanks.
>> > > -Al
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> >

Like I mentioned. The service was running..... I found the issue though.
Apparently, the help system got corrupted (probably during an install of one
of the Microsoft Tool Kits). Here's what I had to do to fix the bugger.

Stop the service

go to the "\WINDOWS\pchealth\helpctr" directory
clobber the "installedskus" directory
pay the same homage to the "packagestore" directory
go to the "binaries" directory
re-do the service with the following commands:

start /w helpsvc /svchost netsvcs /regserver /install
start /w helpsvc /register

then just restart the "helpsvc" service.

That worked!!!!!!

The Help and Support Center works and I can even pull it up from within
applications and the "Event Viewer" (which is how I noticed it missing in the
first place).

Thanks for your replies though! I appreciate your help!

Have a good one.

-Al

"neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:

> http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive...ce-pack-2.aspx
> might be helpful.
>
> "Al" <Al@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:703133DB-5ADF-4023-9676-D5F56950C888@microsoft.com...
> > By the way...
> > Feel free to point me to those posts you were referring to..... I can't
> > find
> > squat in here.....
> >
> > Thanks....
> >
> > -Al
> >
> >
> > "Al" wrote:
> >
> >> The service seems to be running. I've had SP2 in there for a while. I
> >> don't
> >> know when it first went toes-up, but I noticed it the other day when I
> >> tried
> >> to click on an event log entry and it went nowhere. After that, I tried
> >> going
> >> to the Help and Support Center via the start button menu and got zilch!
> >>
> >> I'm wondering if I actually should just unregister / re-register the
> >> files/service(s)
> >>
> >> This is driving me nuts!
> >>
> >>
> >> "neo [mvp outlook]" wrote:
> >>
> >> > If you recently installed Service Pack 2 for Windows 2003, then I would
> >> > uninstall/reinstall it as Help and Support can go MIA after it is
> >> > installed.
> >> > (Note: There are posts on how to re-register it rather than
> >> > uninstall/reinstall SP2)
> >> >
> >> > "Al" <Al@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> > news:4BE6D5F8-E070-4B43-A7A0-FEAB12B1B8EF@microsoft.com...
> >> > > Ok.
> >> > > I know I'm in the wrong area, but it seems that "Microsoft Support"
> >> > > of any
> >> > > kind has become rather amoebic and spread out over God Knows where,
> >> > > and
> >> > > I've
> >> > > spent the last three hours just trying to find the right area to ask
> >> > >
> >> > > We're running Win 2K3 R2. I've got two identical servers (IBM x3650)
> >> > > running
> >> > > the 64 bit OS. On one of them, the "Help and Support Center" no
> >> > > longer
> >> > > runs,
> >> > > from ANY application, nor via "F1", nor from the Start menu. I've
> >> > > checked
> >> > > the
> >> > > "Data Execution Prevention" settings (which, by the way, won't let me
> >> > > change
> >> > > the 64Bit executables) and I've checked the registry for application
> >> > > file
> >> > > locations. I'm at a complete loss as to what happened.
> >> > >
> >> > > What am I missing???????
> >> > >
> >> > > Thanks.
> >> > > -Al
> >> > >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
>
>
>