Cannot open the SQL Server Books Online file SQL80.col

Can someone please help? I am going out of my wits with this issue!
I have Un-Installed SQL-Server, Deleted ALL References, Re-installed, Re-applied Sp3a, Downloaded and applied the Help Update for this year. I have found and tried verious HH.EXE and HHCTRL.OCX files as mentioned in some other posts and other websites.
Nothing seems to help.
I have the following configuration:
Dell Inspiron 8200
Win XP Pro
SQL Server 2000 PERSONAL Edition
Visual Studio 6
Visual Studio .NET
I have the latest with the latest Service Packs and updates for everything. I still get the error:
Cannot open the file: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\80\Tools\Books\SQL80.col
I believe there might be a problem with the PERSONAL Edition installation. The SQL80.COL file did NOT exists after the FULL install even thought all the other chm's and chi's. I copied it from another computer I have that works fine but with Small Bu
siness Server. Still no good. I know it has something to do with HTML Help but no clue as to what.
Thanks,
Jacob
A couple of things you can check -
On the machine with the problem, check the following
versions of these files and compare them with versions where
BOL is working:
hhctrl.ocx
hh.exe
Out of date versions of these can cause problems.
Also, right click on the books online shortcut, select
properties and check the target. Verify that the paths for
hh.exe and SQL80.col point to the correct locations and have
the correct paths. The target should look something like the
following - depending on the locations for your files:
C:\WINDOWS\hh.exe "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL
Server\80\Tools\Books\SQL80.col"
-Sue
On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 07:16:03 -0700, jrusso
<jacob@.imaging101.com> wrote:

>Can someone please help? I am going out of my wits with this issue!
>I have Un-Installed SQL-Server, Deleted ALL References, Re-installed, Re-applied Sp3a, Downloaded and applied the Help Update for this year. I have found and tried verious HH.EXE and HHCTRL.OCX files as mentioned in some other posts and other websites.
Nothing seems to help.
>I have the following configuration:
> Dell Inspiron 8200
> Win XP Pro
> SQL Server 2000 PERSONAL Edition
> Visual Studio 6
> Visual Studio .NET
>I have the latest with the latest Service Packs and updates for everything. I still get the error:
> Cannot open the file: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\80\Tools\Books\SQL80.col
>I believe there might be a problem with the PERSONAL Edition installation. The SQL80.COL file did NOT exists after the FULL install even thought all the other chm's and chi's. I copied it from another computer I have that works fine but with Small B
usiness Server. Still no good. I know it has something to do with HTML Help but no clue as to what.
>Thanks,
>Jacob
|||Out-of-date versions of the hhctrl.ocx file is probably the cause. You
should delete all copies of hhctrl.ocx on the disk that are not in the
\system32 folder. Make sure you have the latest version of the hhctrl.ocx
file (you can get this from Windows Update).
Some users have had success by re-registering the hhctrl.ocx file using
these instructions. From a command prompt window, type
regsvr32 /u hhctrl.ocx -- to unregister
regsvr32 hhctrl.ocx -- to re-register
Also, it sounds like you don't have the most recent version of Books Online.
You should download the January 2004 version from
www.microsoft.com/downloads. Enter SQL Server as the product and Books
Online as the keywords.
Regards,
Gail Erickson
SQL Server Doc Team
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
"Sue Hoegemeier" <Sue_H@.nomail.please> wrote in message
news:m5ka80hulvik2a9g0ga68029q3tcd1t3md@.4ax.com...
>A couple of things you can check -
> On the machine with the problem, check the following
> versions of these files and compare them with versions where
> BOL is working:
> hhctrl.ocx
> hh.exe
> Out of date versions of these can cause problems.
> Also, right click on the books online shortcut, select
> properties and check the target. Verify that the paths for
> hh.exe and SQL80.col point to the correct locations and have
> the correct paths. The target should look something like the
> following - depending on the locations for your files:
> C:\WINDOWS\hh.exe "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL
> Server\80\Tools\Books\SQL80.col"
> -Sue
> On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 07:16:03 -0700, jrusso
> <jacob@.imaging101.com> wrote:
>
|||I finally got it working!!! Windows XP is fabulous in most cases... but in this one it was a major pain in the important place.
It turns out that each time I replaced the HH.EXE and the HHCTRL.OCX, Windows XP would AUTOMATICALLY PUT THEM BACK !
Additionally, HHCOLREG.DAT was also critical in this process...
I searched and DELETED ALL Occurences of all three files. I Emptied the Recycling Bin. Then I copied all three files from a working system into the appropriate directories. When Windows XP said the files had been replaced I chose to Ignore the warning
s. I also followed Gail's advice and Unregistered and Re-registered the HHCTRL.OCX.
The HTML HELP files that finally worked were version 5.2.390.0
Thanks to all for your help and suggestions!
Jacob
sql