One of these suggestions may help.

Clear the Temporary Internet Files
=======================

Close all Internet Explorer windows
Type INETCPL.CPL in Start, Run dialog
Click the Delete Files button
Select Delete all offline content and click OK
Click OK to close the dialog

Clear the contents of the TEMP folder
==========================

Type %TEMP% in Start, Run dialog. Select all files in the Temp folder and
delete them. Some files in the TEMP folder may be in use. If so, ignore the
error and continue deleting the remaining files in that folder.

Register the core modules using these commands
=================================

regsvr32 ole32.dll
regsvr32 hhctrl.ocx
regsvr32 itss.dll
regsvr32 msxml3.dll
regsvr32 mshtml.dll /i
regsvr32 jscript.dll
helpctr.exe -regserver

Another step, suggested by Pete Lees [MVP]
=========

You could try deleting the file hh.dat, which should be in this directory:

%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\HTML Help

Hh.dat is a database file that saves such session information as the window
position and favorites for the HTML Help viewer. The database file is
automatically updated every time the HTML Help Viewer is used. If the
database file does not exist, it is re-created. When updating the HTML Help
viewer, the information in Hh.dat is not necessarily compatible with the new
viewer, which can cause it to become corrupt.

Additional references:

PRB: HTML Help Viewer Causes Access Violation:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=235405

PRB: Hh.exe Causes an Access Violation When Opening .chm Files:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=235062

Reboot, and then try opening a CHM file.
Type in Start, Run: %Windir%\Help\access.chm

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

Windows XP Troubleshooting
http://www.winhelponline.com


"casner" <casner@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news7566D3C-61C9-42B5-B1BF-64677B648C3A@microsoft.com...
I get a strange error dialog when I go to the .chm files and try opening
them. If I try to click on Help from within most programs, I get the
hourglass for one second, then nothing.