In the help files on MS Access 2000, there are a number of topics that appear in the index and search results, but when I try and view the help associated with the topics, there is nothing there…
Can anyone suggest what might be wrong?
What should I do to repair the problem?
Thanks in advance.
Gp
P.S. It has prompted me to repair the problem, using the Office disks, which I have done, but that doesn’t seem to resolve the problem…
Gp
So it gives you an error message and tells you to repair the installation when you try to view the help files? What is the error message it gives?
Also, how exactly are you trying to view the helps files? Are you just going to the top “Help” menu, then choosing “Microsoft Access Help” and then clicking on a topic on the left side menu?
Has it worked in the past?
Finally, when you first installed office, you didn’t select Custom Installation and then specify not to install the help files did you?
I’m sure it must be something fairly easy to solve. Just need a little more information. 
This is not a direct answer to your question but may help none the less…
The help in Access 2000 is far inferior to the help in Access 97. I keep both versions instaled just so I can refrence the help in 97 - the 2 versions are quite similar and the information in the help files GENERALLY works in both versions. If you have 97 I would suggest retaining it for that purpose.
A very good source for help in Access (all versions) can be found at;
I believe registrations is required but free.
Hope this helps
Racer1 - Some of the topics in Help (accessed from the Help menu as you describe) work fine as they always have, but many no longer do. I have just upgraded from Win ME to 2000 if that makes a difference, and I only ever do Typical Installs (and then add things to it as required). Interestingly I only get the offer to repair if I use the Office assistant - otherwise, when I click on a help topic, it is as if I did nothing…
zoid - thanks for the suggestion, I will check it out…
Gp
Ok…
Here’s something I just found while searching an MS Access newsgroup:
Original Question…
Hello,
I have Office 2000 with sr2 installed Running on Win xp pro
Why is it when I go to find help on many items in Access; there is not help. EX: I tried finding help on “Table” First it says no help is available. Then I go to the Answer wizard and find table in the list, however, many of the items in the list do nothing when I click on them (the right pane does not change from the previous item). This is very annoying; is there a fix for this problem?
Reply one…
You’re durned tooting it’s annoying! Microsoft has messed up the Help indexing VERY badly. A2000 was much worse than A97; I’d hoped they would recover some ground with AXP but it’s even WORSE.
I still have Access97 installed on my system, both because of clients who still use it, and because it has usable help. The Help system in AccessXP has excellent content, in the main… but it’s damn near impossible to find that content.
Wish I had a better answer!
Reply two…
I tried to remember the Contents of Help so that I can get to the right topic without using the messed-up index / search.
For Objects / Methods / Properties, I use the ObjectBrowser to navigate to the correct topic.
Is it me, or do the problems these guys describe sound suspiciously similar to yours? It may just be one of Micro$oft’s bugs (or features as they like to call them). The people above seem to suggest workarounds very much like zoid’s.
I also searched Microsoft’s TechNet site to no avail. My advice would be to first try the workaround mentioned above, but if that is no good, back up all your work, uninstall access, reinstall access cleanly, and then download and install all the MS Office service packs (releases) from the Microsoft homepage. Although the guy above says he had SR2, they contain many other Office fixes so they are worth it.
Sorry I couldn’t be much help. Good luck!