RoboHelp 9 will not open

[LeaBlakley]

Good afternoon,

I have an installation of RoboHelp 9 that will not open.  This has occured under Vista as well as Win7.    I have reinstalled it in the past and it works for a period of time and then the symptoms return.  Any help or insight very appreciated.

Thanks,

Leann

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

The shortcut just doesn't start it up at all? Sounds like you either don't have enough rights or you've got a heavy-duty virus scanner that's shutting down any "unknown" exe's. Have you tried "Run as Administrator"?

[LeaBlakley]

Thanks for your reply.  Yes, no splash screen or anything, just a flicker and then nothing.   I am the administrator.  LOL  Heavy duty virus scan can be suspect, but why whould it work for a period of time and then bomb out?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

It might have some sort of "learning" function on newly-installed programs; if not identified as "safe" within a time frame it may then shut it down. Anybody else having this issue at your place? Do you have an IT department that could help you out?

[LeaBlakley]

There is a department that maintains the virus and network security settings.  Acceptions can be set up in the virus software.  Do you know which executables will need to be excluded?

[LeaBlakley]

There are only 4 installations of it.  It is the primary user that is having problems.  Which makes sense, because the others rarely ever open it, if at all.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

On an XP machine it launches "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\RoboHTML\RoboHTML.exe"; on Win7 it's probably "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\RoboHTML\RoboHTML.exe" or something like that.

Is there source control involved as well? Each user should be checking out and working on any projects in their c:\projects\[project_name]\ folder, not on any network location.

[LeaBlakley]

I will see if I can get that .exe excluded temporarily to test the theory and then hopefully permanently.  I will double check on the project location.  I know they like it in a shared location, but that has given us problems in the past.  I'm off tomorrow and it's unlikely I'll get to this today, but I'll post Monday as soon as I know the outcome.

Thank you!

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

If they work on a RH project on a network drive, it will become corrupted (eventually - you may dodge a bullet for a while, but it's still coming to get you)

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

Hi there,

1. Do you have any other Adobe Product installed in your machine, if yes, are you able to use them?

2. PLease take backup of registry before you rename the folder  from Registry Select HKey Current User and Hkey Local Machine, under Software>Adobe> "Robohelp Html" Rename all Robohelp folder.(Please make sure just rename it.)

try launch the product if that doesn't work and try to install it on a new user account. Also if possible try and install with the new copy of Robohelp from Adobe.com

Please let me know if that helps.

Regards

Priyank

[LeaBlakley]

Hello everyone!  Just to update:  I removed the virus program and that did not correct the program...  One scenario down; thank you for the suggestion Jeff. 

Priyank, what I did find out and I'm hoping you can help me understand the why of it.  RoboHelp.exe is the way our user opens the program.  I tried to open RoboHtml and it opened and informed me that the product was not activated.  Strange since there were no error messages when the product was installed and the user never recieved any messages that the activation clock was ticking down against them.  I had to open a feature that we never use to fix out we weren't activated properly.  Once I activated thru the RoboHTML exe, RoboHelp again worked.  How do i know for sure the product is properly activated?

Thanks,

Leann

[RoboColum_n_]

Hi Leann.

Robohelp.exe is completely different to Robohtml.exe. RoboHelp is made up of various components that include RoboHelp for Word and RoboHelp HTML. The basic difference between them si the editor used to auther the content. RoboHelp for Word (robohelp.exe) launches a plugin to Microsoft Word. The author basically authors in Word. RoboHelp HTML authors using a WYSIWYG interface that creates HTML code.

As RoboHelp for Word is very old, I doubt whether it actually requires activating. However as it comes as part of the suite including the much used RoboHelp HTML, I wouldn't be surprised that activating that dis the trick.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Not quite sure what you mean that the user opens RH as RoboHelp.exe? They haven't been using the shortcut or Start menu program path? Activation is part of the installation procedure, I seem to remember. Does your install have restrictions on internet connections? I've heard of having to contact Adobe Support to get manually activated in isolated installs.

Anyway - you can check via the Help menu within RH - you should see Deactivate... as an option if already activated. FYI - if ever uninstalling, always deactivate first, then uninstall.

[LeaBlakley]

It is probaly very wasteful that we purchase the entire suite just for the Word add-in, but that's all that it's used for.  

And yes, the normal way the user opens the program is thru the RoboHelp shortcut, but that's what was bombing out, so I went looking thru the program for other .EXEs to try which led me to the activation screen.  Thanks for the deactivate reminder.  I hadn't done that in the past when this problem occurred. 

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Sorry, I'd entirely forgotten that there was the RH for Word version included (thanks Colum) - the majority of people don't use it anymore and it has its own forum discussion thread that I don't bother following. There's no "suite" to purchase when it comes to RH HTML and RH for Word - they're both included when you buy RH (you also get RoboSource source control thrown in for free too), but you have to choose what parts you want installed.

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

Hi there,

If your talking about Robohelp for Word, then you need to check it in Start>Robohelp 9>Robohelp for Word. If you cannot see there then it is not installed. As Jeff mentioned it is included in Robohelp package and you don't need to purchase suite for that. However when you will install the Rh in your machine, you will need to click on Robohelp component and check Robohelp for Word, by default it is not selected. So if it is not in your machine run the installer once again and check Robohelp for Word.

Thanks