Problem

This article will review troubleshooting procedures for viewing Offline SOLIDWORKS Help files. These can be accessed under the "?" icon at the top right of the SOLIDWORKS window. To access help files Offline, please deselect "Use Web Help" under this menu.

If preferred, the Online Help files can be accessed from: https://help.solidworks.com/. This article will only list troubleshooting processes to fix offline help files, not online. Users who are using a system that does not have access to the internet can use the offline help files, which are "CHM" (Microsoft Compiled HTML Help) files.

While accessing offline help files, users may encounter one of the following problems:

• Memory errors
• Content displayed with incorrect formatting
• XML/HTML code is displayed instead of the actual content
• No content is displayed.

Solution

The most likely cause of any of the problems listed above is the "itss.dll" file. Registering this DLL manually should allow the Help files to open without issue. To register this file:

1. Open the command prompt (Start > Type "cmd").
2. Type the following command: regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\system32\itss.dll
3. Press Enter, and a message should be returned saying that the operation succeeded
4. Launch SOLIDWORKS to try accessing the offline help files again
5. If the issue persists, register other DLLs in the Command Prompt
6. Type the following command: regsvr32 %systemroot%\system32\hhctrl.ocx
7. Press Enter, and a message should be returned saying that the operation succeeded
8. Type the following command: regsvr32 %systemroot%\system32\ITSS.DLL
9. Press Enter, and a message should be returned saying that the operation succeeded
10. Type the following command: regsvr32 %systemroot%\system32\ITIRCL.DLL
11. Press Enter, and a message should be returned saying that the operation succeeded
12. Type the following command: regsvr32 %systemroot%\system32\HHACTIVEX.DLL
13. Launch SOLIDWORKS to try accessing the offline help files again