CC3 / Vista Issues and Solutions FAQ

[Hoseman]

---Last Update: June 10, 2007 9:30pm---

I am starting an FAQ thread (currently unofficial) regarding the issues that Vista CC3 users might encounter and the known solutions and workarounds. As we add more issues and solutions to the thread, I'll add them to the FAQ here on top. If this thread takes off, perhaps it'll get stickied. The list is not hyperlinked to the solutions (yet) because I don't think BBCode can handle page anchors. I'll work with Arcana to see what we can do about that.

Here is the list so far:

1. Cannot select a pre-defined template
2. Error when opening CC3 Help (Help, Quickstart Guide, and Tech Support)

SOLUTIONS

1. Cannot select a pre-defined template

This is a known problem and there is no current workaround to allow you to select pre-defined templates from the Open menu. However, you can locate the pre-defined template (FCT file) you want to use (in the /CC3/Templates/ folder), then copy it to some other location. MAKE SURE to make a copy...don't move it. Once you've made your copy, change the extension from FCT to FCW. You can rename the file at the same time as well. This is what the Open dialog does, except us Vista guys get to do it manually!

2. Error when opening CC3 Help (Help, Quickstart Guide, and Tech Support)

You might see the following errors when opening up CC3 help files (Help, Quickstart Guide and Tech Support links under CC3's Help menu).

"Internet Explorer cannot download / from Windows. Internet Explorer was not able to open this Internet site. The requested site is either unavailable or cannot be found. Please try again later."

You might not see the above errors, but the help window will say something about the help file is an unsupported version (if someone has the exact text, let me know).

The first half of this problem (if you see the download error) is not CC3 related (Help will also fail in IE7...try it). It is a problem with how XML, which underlies the new help system, is associated in Vista. You can read more on about the problem and the fix on Kristan Kenney's Blog. You'll need to run this registry patch, which will fix the association and allow Help to open...sort of. (I have attached the zip file to this thread in case the link goes down - Fix_Help_and_Support.zip)

That problem is fixed, but now you'll find out CC3 help STILL won't open (if your association above wasn't broken, then you'll be starting here). Its because CC3 uses the Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) which is no longer included in Vista! According to some Microsoft Knowledgebase article,

"Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) is a Help program that has been included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with the Microsoft Windows 3.1 operating system. WinHlp32.exe is required in order to display 32-bit help content files that have the ".hlp" file name extension.

However, the Windows Help program has not had a major update for many releases and no longer meets Microsoft standards. Therefore, starting with the Windows Vista operating system release, the Windows Help program will not ship as a component of the Windows operating system. Also, third-party programs that include .hlp files are prohibited from redistributing the Windows Help program together with their products."

You can, however, download and install Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) for Vista from Microsoft. Once you've done that, CC3 Help files (and others that use the older system) will work fine.

---Last Update: June 10, 2007 9:30pm---