WebHelp not being displayed under Vista when using IIS

[Kathy313]

Hello,
I haven't found this issue in RH help, in the forums here, or in the Adobe KnowledgeBase.
(This is not the "extra" blank window issue that I found posts about from 2008/2007.)

We use RH7, and for one browser-based web-enabled application, are generating the help as WebHelp format, deployed on IE6. When this app and help are installed on or run on Windows Vista w/ SP1, the help sometimes does not display. (Click the Help button on the interface, and a blank page displays.) (Just one window, not an 'extra'.) When we View Source on the blank page, the /body/ section is empty! But, if we navigate in Windows Explorer to the folder on the C: drive where the help is physically stored, and double-click the startup page, the help displays properly. We're seeing the same symptoms whether running the app locally (still launched as a web page) or running remotely with a URL.

The blank page when launched from the app tells us there is a problem in the way the page is being served up. i.e. something on the PC's web hosting service isn't handling the WebHelp properly.

Turns out, when running Windows Vista, there is a Windows option for IIS that must be enabled, and then the WebHelp will launch correctly from the application. Our developers found this, and I'd like to pass this along to everyone.

Navigate: Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features on or off > Internet Information Services -> World Wide Web Services -> Common HTTP features
Locate "Static Content" and enable this feature.

This isn't a bug in RH or in WebHelp - but definitely an implementation issue/restriction that help authors and developers should be aware of. (Windows Vista SP1 w/ IIS enabled)

[Peter Grainge]

Not the same problem but maybe Snippet 57 on my site will give you some ideas.

[Kathy313]

Hard to tell from Snippet 57 if that is a similar problem or not. Not enough detail listed to determine.
Actually I'd like to see what Snippet 106 says ("FlashHelp opens with blank page"), but my PC has a registry problem and Flash won't run!! and new Flash can't install. (I've been round and round on that one w/ Adobe.)
So I can't see that Snippet. :(

Anyway, enabling the "Static Content" feature as I described above solved our issue. I wrote to describe not just the symptoms but also a fix.

[Peter Grainge]

Sorry, read it too quickly and mistakenly thought you had implemented a workaround. My thinking was that whilst there was no detailed information in that Snippet, it might prompt a thought. Having read your post again, it is quite clear you had found the correct solution, not a workaround. My apologies.