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Keith Lee
Keith Lee
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CS6 Help Doesn't Work in Local mode

May 10, 2012 5:15 PM

Hi,

 

I have downloaded the trial and installed it Mac OS Lion. The help application does not work; the omly thing that it will display is the settings window. After downloading local content and clicking done, the window disappears, but when you click on the application icon, it again reappears. Simply put, I cannot view the help at all in the Help application, even though I have set it up to always use local content. Anyone else run into this?

 

thx

8817 Views   33 Replies   Latest reply: Sandeep Gupta, Feb 13, 2013 1:12 AM
 
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  • Mark Nichoson
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    1. Mark Nichoson,
    May 10, 2012 5:13 PM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    Hi Keith:  in CS6, the display of Help content defaults to your browser.  For example, click F1 (or help) from any CS6 app.  You should be taken directly to the appropriate help content in Safari (or Chrome or Firefox). 

     

    For more information about changes to the CS6 Help application, see the announcement here:About the Adobe Help Manager in CS6

     
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  • Kirsti Aho
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    2. Kirsti Aho,
    Jul 27, 2012 12:48 PM   in reply to Mark Nichoson
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    Hi, Keith,

     

    The reason you can't see Help locally yet is that we have not yet uploaded the local PDF.

     

    It will be avaiable in June.  We apologize for the delay.

     

    Update (July 2012):  CS6 help PDFs are now available.  You can install them with the Adobe Help Manager or access them directly here.

     

    Kirsti

    Adobe Community Help & Learning team

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    3. Keith Lee,
    May 11, 2012 11:10 AM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    Hello,

     

    I must say that it is discouraging that the method of delivering help docs changes every CS release, and it never really improves. In CS 5 it was ok, but I'm not a fan of online help as it is always slow as crap, especially when looking at the AS3 docs. Also, I'm not a fan of pdf docs either, because they are hard to navigate and clunky. The reference url posted mentions that html format will be available for download, so hopefully that is available soon.

     

    thx

     
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  • Mark Nichoson
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    4. Mark Nichoson,
    May 11, 2012 11:19 AM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    Hi Keith: you should be able to download the HTML for the AS3 docs now.  Open Adobe Help > Local Content.  Highlight the selection for AS3 and then click update. After its completed downloading, you should be able to hit F1 and invoke the local copy in your browser offline.

     

    as3-download.png

     
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  • XCode247
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    5. XCode247,
    May 13, 2012 12:29 PM   in reply to Mark Nichoson
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    I agree with other posters here.

     

    Any use of Web Browsers or PDF documents is a complete step backward and in the wrong direction, and is a slap in the face after spending thousands of dollars on a product.

     

    If we wanted to search for hours and hours in forums and/or ask a question and wait indefinitely for an answer, then everybody would be doing that... but we're not. I don't even want to research and discuss this problem here in this fashion.

     

    What we want is a traditional local help reference that we can read through without being connected to the internet especially when we spend thousands of dollars on a software product.

     

    Since Adobe has already had this as a natural part of the software, it has become a reason why we upgrade or purchase the product in the first place, we know that it comes with a help system.

     

    Now that I have purchased the upgrade I am very frustrated that its help attempts to connect online to dump me on a worthless search page, which by the way, does not filter properly for Adobe Illustrator content and instead returns a plethora of half-assed forum posts from people.

     

    This is very disappointing... I have not yet been able to read a simple help summary or to peruse offline the features list of this new software I have spent thousands of dollars on. A dissapointment.

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    6. Keith Lee,
    May 23, 2012 4:47 PM   in reply to Mark Nichoson
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    Hi,

     

    It's still broke for me on my Mac. The image you posted of the screen for the settings will not close. Each time I click done, the window will minimize but not close, so the Help application does not work at all for me. Clicking help within the application always brings up this screen and the help displays in Safari. Any ideas?

     

    thx

     
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  • Mark Nichoson
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    7. Mark Nichoson,
    May 23, 2012 5:24 PM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    Hi Keith:  we posted some 'placeholder PDF' files last week.  Those should appear as available updates within the Help Manager preferences.  Have you downloaded those yet?  If so, here's how to test the offline functionality:

     

    1. Make sure you have the PDFs downloaded.  The Help Manager UI should say 'current' in the status column.
    2. Under General Settings, click "Display local help content only" option. 
    3. From your product help menu, launch help or press F1
    4. The PDF should launch.  Of course, the PDF is a placeholder -- and the content is limited to "coming soon" message (plus our apologies) 

     

    If this is NOT working as described, there may be some corrupt configuration files at work here.   Can you try the procedure outlined here? http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/help-application-doesnt-updat e.html 

     

    You don't need to reinstall the help manager in this case though — just make sure that any cached files in the following directories are trashed: 

    • Mac OS: /[user name]/Library/Preferences/chc.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8C E.1
    • Mac : \Users\Shared\Documents\Adobe (Help and PDF directories within) 

     

    Once the cached files are purged, just double click on the Help Manager again (Applications > Adobe > Adobe Help) and it should work properly.

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    8. Keith Lee,
    May 24, 2012 1:10 PM   in reply to Mark Nichoson
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    Hi,

     

    I will try your suggestions for my Mac when I get home.

     

    However, today I downloaded all of the apps for Creative Cloud at work onto my PC, and next to none of the Help system works. For Flashbuilder, I selected to download all local help, but when help opens in my browser for Flash Builder, the links for the ActionScript docs still goes to Adobe, which is too slow to be usable.

     

    Also tried to open help from Photoshop, and it tells me I'm not connected to the Internet! Apparently, someone forgot to account for corporate users being behind a proxy server for internet access.

     

    Tried opening help from Flash, and got nothing.

     

    The old Help Application which ran insde of AIR was not a bad thing... why change it? The current strategy is not working at all, and if the only option we have is looking at pdfs offline vs. html, then the strategy has definitely taken a step backwards.

     

    thx

     
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  • Mark Nichoson
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    9. Mark Nichoson,
    May 24, 2012 2:01 PM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    Hi Keith:  For Flash Builder, you can download a standalone ZIP versions of the AS3 reference guide here: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/actionscript/documentation.html 

     

    The Flash error is a separate issue. The team issued a patch here: http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/downloads.html#flashCS6 

     

    One of the goals for the Help Manager is CS6 was better proxy support.  Let me check with the engineering team and find out why the Photoshop help content did not respect the proxy server.

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    10. Keith Lee,
    May 25, 2012 11:47 AM   in reply to Mark Nichoson
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    Hello,

     

    Ok, but since within the help manager I checked to download the actionscript api docs locally, why does it not integrate wit hthe local help for flash builder? In the attached image, all of the links in the red box still point to adobe's web site instead of locally stored docs.

     

    thx

     

    5-25-2012 2-45-01 PM.jpg

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    11. Keith Lee,
    Jun 5, 2012 5:30 AM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    Are there plans to fix this or do I need to log it as a bug? Not having it all integrated into local documentation is a pain.

     

    thx

     
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  • Mark Nichoson
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    12. Mark Nichoson,
    Jun 5, 2012 8:33 AM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    Hi Keith:  I will forward this onto the AS3 documentation team.  You are welcome to file a bug as well - couldn't hurt. Thanks for your patience.

     
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  • jrunrandy
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    13. jrunrandy,
    Jun 5, 2012 10:03 AM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    HI Keith,

    Although a lot of things changed with CS6, I verified that the Flash Builder bug goes back to at least 4.6 (predating CS6), so I created bug 3206147 to track it.

     

    There is an odd combination of moving and non-moving parts in this problem, so it might take a few weeks to fix it.

     

    (Note that this thread covers a lot of issues and products; my response addresses the local<>web linking problem in Flash Builder.)

     

    My apologies for causing this aggravation,

     

    Randy Nielsen

    Senior Content and Community Lead

    Adobe Systems Incorporated

     
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  • coyleart
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    14. coyleart,
    Jun 12, 2012 10:53 AM   in reply to Mark Nichoson
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    Thanks for these very clear instructions! I was able to get my Help up and running again for my Creative Suite CS6. I wish the documentation was better though. Even filtering for Adobe-only Illustrator content, it takes more than the usual amount of searching to find the standard help information about CS6, as I used to be able to do with CS5.

     

    I also spent a half hour on with tech support today and they wanted me to reinstall the whole CS6 suite, or let them "take control" of my system. I left with a link and a case number, less than satisfying. So your instructions here saved the day.

     

    I wish it hadn't taken me so much searching to finally find this, but glad I did.

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    15. Keith Lee,
    Jun 21, 2012 4:41 PM   in reply to jrunrandy
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    Hello,

     

    It is almost end of June, and the local help files are still not available. can we expect them soon?

     

    Also with regard to the help issue I mentioned in Flash Builder, will that be fixed with an help update?

     

    thx

     
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  • Kirsti Aho
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    16. Kirsti Aho,
    Jun 21, 2012 4:45 PM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    Hi, Keith,

     

    You can expect the PDFs soon!

    I'll take your other question to Randy.

     

    --Kirsti

     
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  • jrunrandy
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    17. jrunrandy,
    Jun 22, 2012 7:48 AM   in reply to Kirsti Aho
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    @Keith,

    Let me check. I spoke with a Production person about this last week, but I don't know where it falls on his schedule.

     

    Regards,

    Randy

     
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  • XCode247
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    18. XCode247,
    Jun 22, 2012 10:27 AM   in reply to Kirsti Aho
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    You have an excellent Offline Help Application.

     

    This thread is ABOUT the Offline Help Application which comes with the software.

     

    PDFs and Adobe Acrobat are NOT an excellent offline help system.

     

    If you are going to go through the trouble of creating PDFs which are NOT as effective for delivering help content, why not go through the trouble of creating content for your EXISTING Offline Help Application, which IS bundled with all the software but currently comes up blank when we try to use it.

     

    Are you saying that we now need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader and fumble with PDF files to use an inferior help solution to the one you already have?

     
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  • Todd_Kopriva
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    19. Todd_Kopriva,
    Jun 29, 2012 5:14 PM   in reply to XCode247
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    CS6 manuals (user guides, Help) are now available in PDF format and HTML for all applications in Creative Suite: http://bit.ly/cUSJa8

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    20. Keith Lee,
    Jul 2, 2012 9:48 AM   in reply to Todd_Kopriva
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    Hello,

     

    I have had the problem of the help failing to integrate on 2 different Macs and 1 Windows machine. The problem is that the window that pops up saying that the downloaded help is being integrated never goes away, as if it never finsihes. See attached image.

    Screen Shot 2012-07-02 at 12.44.52 PM.png

     
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  • Mark Nichoson
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    21. Mark Nichoson,
    Jul 9, 2012 8:04 AM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    Hi Keith:  I suspect that there some corrupt configuration files amiss here... Please try deleting the following directories:


    Windows: %appdata%/chc.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8CE.1 


    Tip:     To find this directory in Windows, copy the preceding phrase into the Windows Explorer file manager.


    Mac OS:     /[user name]/Library/Preferences/chc.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8CE.1

     

    Afterwards,  click on the Help Manager again to reinvoke the download.

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    22. Keith Lee,
    Jul 11, 2012 7:19 AM   in reply to Mark Nichoson
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    That does not help... I still see the same thing happenning.

     
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  • Unity2k
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    23. Unity2k,
    Jul 11, 2012 2:40 PM   in reply to Keith Lee
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    I'm still in the boat of not having access to local help. I have gone through Mark's instructions just above, I have been trying my best to be patient, but I'm starting to want my old help system back. In making Mark's suggestion for a fix, I am now out 1.8GB of local help content that was still hanging on from CS5.5 - I'm bummed by this ordeal.

     

    Why does this issue seem so unimportant?

     
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  • kdd6
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    24. kdd6,
    Jul 19, 2012 12:10 PM   in reply to Unity2k
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    This is an off post, because I use cs 5.5, but I have no local copy of help. The program, any of them, tell me to download a copy from the adobe web site. I have been searching with no luck. Where is it? I don't have Internet any more and I have to resort to the local library for Internet. I looked in the "Goodies" folder on the "other" disk and did not find a help file to install.

     

    Help in pointing me to the download area to obtain the file(s) would be much appreciated.

     

    Cheers!

     
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  • Todd_Kopriva
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    25. Todd_Kopriva,
    Jul 19, 2012 12:13 PM   in reply to kdd6
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    kdd6,

     

    You can download PDFs for all applications in Creative Suite 5.5 here: http://bit.ly/cUSJa8

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    26. Keith Lee,
    Sep 17, 2012 6:28 AM   in reply to Todd_Kopriva
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    Hi,

     

    I am having this problem again. The latest updates total around 45.7 MB according to the help manager's general settings panel, and they will download, but they will not integrate. Everytime now when the help manager is started it says I have updates, but after downloading they will not integrate. I have tried the steps listed in this thread to clear out the old files, but that does not work. There is a more detailed cleanup to perform in which someone from Adobe showed me, but I do not remember those steps and was wondering if they could be posted here.

     

    thx

     
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  • telebutch
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    27. telebutch,
    Jan 24, 2013 8:20 AM   in reply to Mark Nichoson
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    I'm having the same trouble that your reply relates to but I don't have the file below I can get rid of:

     

    Mac OS: /[user name]/Library/Preferences/chc.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8CE.1

     

    that I can't get rid of.

     

    I want the online help & that opens in Firefox fine but the "Adobe Help" app opens with "Adobe Help manager" screen & no matter what I do it opens everytime I use the Online Help in any CS6 or 5.5 app.

     
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  • Kirsti Aho
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    28. Kirsti Aho,
    Jan 24, 2013 7:45 PM   in reply to telebutch
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    Hi, telebutch,

    Just wanted to let you know that I've contacted a Help engineer to look at your problem.

    --Kirsti

     
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  • XCode247
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    29. XCode247,
    Jan 24, 2013 11:30 PM   in reply to Kirsti Aho
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    Adobe already has a help reader, one of the best in the world. The fact that you are giving out PDF files for help despite having a perfectly fine help reader built into the system is an absurd travesty. The PDF files are pithy and I'll-suited to a help system. That is why you have a help system and nobody has had the idiotic idea of using PDF files before.

     

    First, you decided to not have help documentation, so you shipped with a high quality Help reader that was blank and that redirected people to online sources like forums and question sites, which also are horrible at being documentation sources, and despite the fact people want to access the perfectly fine Help system that is there, that you have, while being OFFLINE.

     

    To solve this problem you created documents in (not in your help system), but in PDF, and then as a multitude of people pointed out there is no documentation in the perfectly fine and first class help system that you already have, you hurried to the solution of providing them crude PDF files that barely satisfy their needs.

     

    You should all be fired.

     
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  • Keith Lee
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    30. Keith Lee,
    Jan 29, 2013 6:15 AM   in reply to XCode247
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    I'm not in favor of pdf files either; they are a horrible method for a help system. I was told that supposedly this was due to customer requests, which I find hard to believe. The previous system in CS5 was much better than the mess in CS6. Plus the online documentation has links in it to other non Adobe managed sites, and half the time it seems that these links are dead. It's bad enough we can't get a descent help system, but now it looks like Adobe is relying on other people to document their own products.

     
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  • telebutch
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    31. telebutch,
    Feb 6, 2013 10:54 AM   in reply to Kirsti Aho
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    Hi  Kirsti,

    Did you find anything out?

    telebutch

     
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  • Kirsti Aho
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    32. Kirsti Aho,
    Feb 6, 2013 10:59 AM   in reply to telebutch
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    Hi, telebutch,

    I'm sorry no one has contacted you!  I sent your info to the engineering manager right after I posted. I will hound him to get back to you.  They're in a different time zone so you may not hear from them until tomorrow.

    --Kirsti

     
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  • Sandeep Gupta
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    33. Sandeep Gupta,
    Feb 13, 2013 1:12 AM   in reply to telebutch
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    Hi telebutch,

     

    Sorry for the trouble you are facing.

     

    The path on your local machine would be:

     

    /Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/chc.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8CE.1

     

    If the above folder does not exists, check if you have multiple volume mounts? If yes, the directory above may be created on the mount from where 'Adobe Help Manager' is launching.

     

    Another reason why 'Adobe Help Manager' keeps popping up is that its already running the system tray. Yoy may want to 'Force Quit' the application after setting the preferences, and trying another help invocation.

     

    If nothing works, a workaround to stop 'Adobe Help Manager' from launching everytime you launch help, may be to remove the application from your system. Open '/Applications/Adobe' in Finder and move 'Adobe Help Manger' to trash. Note that this may also mean that you will not be able to donwload any offline help - and all help incovations would need internet connectivity.

     

    Hope this helps and let us know if you still see issues.

     

    Regards,

    Sandeep

     
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