Getting Help To Work In ArcGIS 9.3.1, 10 Running On Microsoft Windows Vista, 7

I am sure if you have been working with ArcGIS 9.3.1, 10 and running this on Microsoft Windows Vista, 7 you would have come across issues when using help!

When you start ArcMap or ArcCatalog, pressing F1 launches the ArcGIS Help Library. This is a useful library to navigate through to find information.

Currently this works on Microsoft Windows Vista, 7.

Pressing F1 after ArcMap or ArcCatalog has been started also displays this dialog window. This is standard Microsoft Windows Vista, 7 dialog indicating that the help was created in Windows Help Format. This is an older format which is not installed by default on Microsoft Windows Vista, 7.

The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn’t included in this version of Windows. However, you can download a program that will allow you to view Help created in the Windows Help format.

For more information, go to the Microsoft Help and Support website.

As per the support article this can be easily resolved by visit downloading WinHlp32.exe for Microsoft Windows Vista, 7.

Download WinHlp32.exe for Windows Vista
To obtain the WinHlp32.exe download for Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=82148

Download WinHlp32.exe for Windows 7
To obtain the WinHlp32.exe download for Windows 7, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=166421

Download WinHlp32.exe for Windows Server 2008
To obtain the WinHlp32.exe download for Windows Server 2008, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=114216

Download WinHlp32.exe for Windows Server 2008 R2
To obtain the WinHlp32.exe download for Windows Server 2008 R2, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=166422

After installing WinHlp32.exe, launching ArcMap or ArcCatalog and pressing F1 won’t display the extra dialog as seen above. Context help is now available throughout ArcMap or ArcCatalog.

This is great as if you pressed F1 on a field before having WinHlp32.exe installed you would get the pop-up as shown above. While all of the help is available online here: http://help.arcgis.com/en/…, it makes a massive difference been able to access help in line when working with dialogs.