Windows 7 or Vista or XP on RH8?

[luviola10]

I'm trying to decide between keeping Windows 7 or changing to Vista or XP because of problems with Windows 7. Can anyone recommend one of these operating systems?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I'd vote for XP - the problem is getting a copy of it these days.

[luviola10]

Hi Jeff, thanks for your response on this. I have to present a case for

going to XP rather than staying with Windows 7. Can you give me a reason? I

saw that Vista and XP are still listed under critical issues on Adobe

support with documents addressing how to handle each one.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

XP's been around a long time and is in the process of being dropped by MS (that's why I said it might be hard to find a copy). Vista has ended up being a more intermediate stage now that Win7 has come out. What issues are you referring to with XP & Vista and Adobe? I know that Win7 64bit version isn't an Adobe "supported" version (yet), but that will change as time goes on. What issues are you having with Win7? I haven't seen you post anything about it.

[luviola10]

Jeff, thanks for your advice. I was having a problem with Windows Explorer

crashing until I deleted the CPD file and we did a reinstall of RH8 without

the server and RH for Word components. I've since installed 10 critical

Windows updates and haven't had a crash but it's been 1 day only.

Per your advice, I installed the 8.0.1 and 8.0.2 updates from Adobe

downloads. I have checked to see if my RH8 registered these updates, but it

still looks like RH8.0. I did shut down after I downloaded the two Adobe

updates. And when I went to the Help file in RH8, it said two updates were

ready to install. ONe, the Adobe Reader 9, I had already installed this way

a couple times. The second update, 8.0.1, said it could not be done. Can you

help--I don't know what I have!

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

First, are you running the 32 or 64 bit version of Win7?

Are you running as a local admin?

Are your RH projects located on your c:\ drive (not on a network)?

To check if the RH updates installed, check the Help > About screen - you should be running 8.0.2.0208; your Add/Remove listing in Win7's Control Panel may not each update separately - mine in XP only shows the 8.0.2 version even though I know I upgraded RH a couple of times.

[luviola10]

First, are you running the 32 or 64 bit version of Win7? 32

Are you running as a local admin? yes

Are your RH projects located on your c:\ drive (not on a network)? c:drive

no network

To check if the RH updates installed, check the Help > About screen - you

should be running 8.0.2.0208; your Add/Remove listing in Win7's Control

Panel may not each update separately - mine in XP only shows the 8.0.2

version even though I know I upgraded RH a couple of times.can't find RH

updates, but ADobe Reader. Although the windows updates I did on FRiday are

there.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

What version did the Help > About RH HTML screen show?

[luviola10]

8.00.203

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

So I don't think that the 8.0.1 update went through - try running it again, but make sure that you go into Windows Explorer and give yourself full rights to your c:\ drive. I found (starting with Vista) that even though you are a local admin, you still had to give yourself rights to the c:\ drive (this wasn't the case in XP - a local admin automatically had full rights).

[luviola10]

Jeff, an 8.0.2 update is available. Should I update both or just 8.0.2

(would that cover the updates in 8.0.1?)?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

No, RH updates are sequential, not cumulative, so you have to load them in order (8.0.1 first, then 8.0.2, etc.)

[luviola10]

thanks

[MergeThis]

You have whatever is listed in the "Currently installed programs" pane in the "Add or Remove Programs" window (from Control Panel).

Chances are, if it says that, then you already have it. For example, with these entries:

Adobe RoboHelp 8 (you could install 8.0.1, then 8.0.2).

Adobe RoboHelp 8.0.1 (you could install only 8.0.2).

Adobe RoboHelp 8.0.2 (you could install nothing).

Good luck,

Leon

[luviola10]

I'll stick with Windows 7 at this point. I just don't know by saying the XP has been around longer and is more stable is persuasive enough to get the IT group to change to XP.

[fortangela1000]

Well, it's official...Windows 7 and RoboHelp 8.0.2.208 do NOT play well together. I basically rebuilt a WebHelp project from scratch. I created a brand new project and began the wonderful task of importing all my topics. I'd say I got about 2/3 through when BAM. A CRASH. Adobe RoboHelp 8 has stopped working. Blah Blah Blah. Then "The instruction at 0x64d0ada0 referenced memory at 0x00021993. The memory could not be read." I now cannot close my project or generate WebHelp. All the problems I've had with RH8 and Windows 7 has caused me almost a month of getting behind and I am sick of it. I can't wait to explain this to the new company that acquired us. It makes ME look completely incompentent even though I've been using RH for years. Thanks Adobe. Maybe I should go back to printable manuals.

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

For some folks (myself included) RoboHelp 8 works mostly fine on Windows 7 64 bit.I say "mostly fine" as I have seen a crash here and there, but nothing really unusual about it. All apps crash on me from time to time. It's just a Windows thing I think.

Now I don't use RoboSource Control and I've seen suggestions here that RSC could play a role in crashing. So are you using RSC?

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 moments from now - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcererStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[luviola10]

I'm only doing an HTML, not webhelp but now I"m worried. I'm on Windows 7,

RH8.0.2.208. I have enough problems with my project which hasn't really

started because of my lack of content. So I've been testing how Word is

importing into RH8 HTML.

[fortangela1000]

I don't use RH Source Control. In fact it was completely uninstalled as part of troubleshooting the crashes. I am Windows 7 32-bit. I've done everything suggested to me. Patched. Deleted cpd and xpj files and opening project using the hhp file. I'm starting to think it might partially be a project size issue, Although, it never was before the Windows 7 upgrade. Or maybe a security issue. Windows continues to add security in such a way that one app can't talk to the OS without 'special' permissions. I am not an Administrator, other than on my own box. The 'Powers that Be' do not dole out those permissions, regardless of the need. And then it would appear that the registry gets dirtied up quite easily with RH/Win7. Why is that? It would be nice to have a FREE non-malware reg cleaner provided by Adobe for this issue. Or to know what all the files are that can be fixed (ha) without having to do an uninstall/install again. Not everyone has easy access to their install software, ya know.  I have so many unanswered questions and have reached a level of maximum frustration. I have 3 projects (1 FlashHelp of about 200MB, 1 WebHelp fo about 100MB, 1 HTML Help of about 20MB) and I'm getting realy tired of working 16 hour days to try to fix them constantly. Hey now...let's talk Css and lists with RH. NOT. I have a trial version of another HAT software on my home laptop and my projects work splendidly. Too bad my company won't purchase them while we're transitioning to a new owner.

[fortangela1000]

luviola10. I've had no problems with my HTML Help, oddly enough. I guess that's because it's WINDOWS Help. You may be safe.

[Peter Grainge]

The instruction at 0x64d0ada0 referenced memory at 0x00021993

That can be a sign of importing a topic from the output files rather than the source. Do you see a red square in the topic?

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Peter Grainge]

LUVIOLA 10

It looks like you are now OK since 802 was properly installed. If that is not the case, then what problems are you having now?

ANGELA FORT

In my previous reply to you I suggested that the error message you first reported looks like one that can arise when output topics are imported rather then source files. - Did you look into that and was that what had happened?

In another post you mention the registry getting "dirtied up". Can you be more specific on that please? There are good non-malware registry cleaners available. I have used RevoUninstaller and others have reported good results with it.

You suggest maybe your problems are project size related and that does look like a possibility. How many topics and images are there in the 100mb webhelp project?

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Peter Grainge]

ANGELA

I just started catching up on emails and saw in your offline email that you were using the unpatched version of RoboHelp 8. That could be very relevant. See Opening Projects on my site.

Also did you get my email reply?

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[fortangela1000]

Hi Peter!

So much has happened in the last week. Our company was acquired by IHS, so things have been rather chaotic around here. Since I applied the 2 critical patches, I've been importing my HTMLs, re-doing the DHTML's, the TOC, etc. The silver lining here is that I can now use this opportunity to re-create the WebHelp as I envision it (now as I inherited it some years ago). I am the only documentation person here and do all the FrameMaker guides (installation, localization) and the 3 online helps. Thank goodness we are only doing one software release this year! Since the patches I've had far less crashes. But there are times when I get the infamous Adobe RoboHelp 8 has stopped working and it kills the app. I can usually tell when this is going to happen, as it starts acting a bit jumpy. Page content disappears, until I close the page and re-open it, or it takes a longer than normal time to save...that sort of thing. But comparatively speaking, it's like night and day.

I am truly indebted to you! Thank you so much for your help. I do want to obtain some sort of agreement for some sort of case-by-case support, but everything is on hold around here until the acquisition dust settles. Heck. I don't even know if I will be using this tool in the future, as I have no idea what they use for documentation.

Thank you again!

Angela Fort

Technical Documentation Specialist

IHS (formerly Syntex Management Systems, Inc.)

[luviola10]

Peter,

yes, the install went ok.

On another topic, are there any standards or best practices in place for

deciding how large to make a RoboHelp8 HTML project? Is there a size one

shouldn't go over without beginning a second project?

Also, if you have a project in an older version, say RH7, and you want to

see the styles that were used as you create a new project in RH8, where

would you look--to the .css files in the older version? Is there a way of

importing style sheets from an older version of RH to RH8?

Thank you,

Gloria Ryan