We hope that we helped you resolve your problem with the HLP file. If you don't know where you can download an application from our list, click on the link (this is the name of the program) - You will find more detailed information on where to download the secure installation version of the required application.
A visit to this page should help you answer these or similar questions specifically:
- How to open a file with the HLP extension?
- How to convert an HLP file to another format?
- What is the HLP file format extension?
- What programs support the HLP file?
If, after viewing the materials on this page, you still have not received a satisfactory answer to any of the questions presented above, this means that the information presented here about the HLP file is incomplete. Contact us using the contact form and write what information you did not find.
What else could cause problems?
There may be more reasons why you cannot open the HLP file (not just the lack of an appropriate application).
Firstly- the HLP file may be incorrectly linked (incompatible) with the application installed to support it. In this case, you need to change this connection yourself. To do this, right-click on the HLP file that you want to edit and click the option "To open with" and then select the program you installed from the list. After this action, problems with opening the HLP file should completely disappear.
Secondly- the file you want to open may simply be damaged. In this case, it would be best to find a new version of it, or download it again from the same source (perhaps for some reason in the previous session the download of the HLP file did not finish and it could not be opened correctly).
Do you want to help?
If you have additional information about the HLP file extension, we will be grateful if you share it with users of our site. Use the form located and send us your information about the HLP file.
HLP file summary
According to our records, there are one file type(s) associated with the HLP extension, the most popular of which is formatted as Windows Help File. The most common connected application is Microsoft Windows, released Microsoft Corporation. Additionally, one different program allows you to view these files. In most cases these files belong to System Files.
The HLP file extension is supported by Windows and Mac. These file types can be found primarily on desktop computers and some mobile devices. The popularity rating of HLP files is "Low". This means they are not common on most devices.
Interested in learning more about the HLP file extension? To learn about the program that opens HLP files, as well as other troubleshooting tips, it is recommended that you refer to the file details provided below.
Popularity of file types
File Rank
Activity
This file type is still relevant and is actively used by developers and application software. Although the original software of this file type may be overshadowed by a newer version (eg Excel 97 vs Office 365), this file type is still actively supported by the current version of the software. This process of interacting with an old operating system or outdated version of software is also known as " backward compatibility».
File status
Page Last updated
HLP File Types
HLP Master File Association
Help file used by Windows Help, a tool used to create Help files. The HLP file contains indexes for Windows programs and the Windows operating system.
Try a universal file viewer
In addition to the products listed above, we suggest you try a universal file viewer like FileViewPro. The tool can open over 200 different file types, providing editing functionality for most of them.
License | | Terms |
Troubleshooting problems opening HLP files
Common problems opening HLP files
Microsoft Windows is not installed
By double clicking on the HLP file you can see a system dialog box telling you "This file type cannot be opened". In this case, it is usually due to the fact that Microsoft Windows for %%os%% is not installed on your computer. Since your operating system doesn't know what to do with this file, you won't be able to open it by double-clicking on it.
Advice: If you know of another program that can open the HLP file, you can try opening the file by selecting that application from the list of possible programs.
The wrong version of Microsoft Windows is installed
In some cases, you may have a newer (or older) version of the Windows Help File. not supported by the installed version of the application. If you do not have the correct version of the Microsoft Windows software (or any of the other programs listed above), you may need to download a different version of the software or one of the other software applications listed above. This problem most often occurs when working in an older version of the application software With file created in a newer version, which the old version cannot recognize.
Advice: You can sometimes get a general idea of the version of an HLP file by right-clicking the file and then choosing Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Mac OSX).
Summary: Either way, most of the problems that occur when opening HLP files are due to not having the correct application software installed on your computer.
Install optional products - FileViewPro (Solvusoft) | License | Privacy Policy | Terms |
Other causes of problems opening HLP files
Even if you already have Microsoft Windows or other HLP-related software installed on your computer, you may still encounter problems opening Windows Help Files. If you are still having problems opening HLP files, it may be due to other problems preventing these files from being opened. Such problems include (presented in order from most to least common):
- Invalid links to HLP files in the Windows registry (“phone book” of the Windows operating system)
- Accidental deletion of description HLP file in the Windows registry
- Incomplete or incorrect installation application software associated with the HLP format
- File corruption HLP (problems with the Windows Help File itself)
- HLP infection malware
- Damaged or outdated device drivers hardware associated with the HLP file
- Lack of sufficient system resources on the computer to open Windows Help File format
Quiz: Which operating system first used a hierarchical file system (for example, file folders)?
Right!
Multics was the first OS to support directory hierarchy (e.g. "Home" -> "Documents" ->
Close, but not quite...
Multics was the first OS to support directory hierarchy (e.g. "Home" -> "Documents" -> "Work"). Almost every modern operating system has been heavily influenced by Multics.
Most popular operating systems
| Windows 7 | (48%) | |
| Windows 10 | (42%) | |
| Windows 8.1 | (5%) | |
| Windows XP | (2%) |
Event of the day
The Microsoft .doc file format was an industry standard for word processing as early as 1980. The format was used by Corel Corporation's WordPerfect before becoming proprietary to Microsoft Word in 1983.
How to fix problems opening HLP files
If you have installed on your computer antivirus program Can scan all files on your computer, as well as each file individually. You can scan any file by right-clicking on the file and selecting the appropriate option to scan the file for viruses.
For example, in this figure it is highlighted file my-file.hlp, then you need to right-click on this file and select the option in the file menu "scan with AVG". When you select this option, AVG Antivirus will open and scan the file for viruses.
Sometimes an error may occur as a result incorrect software installation, which may be due to a problem encountered during the installation process. This may interfere with your operating system link your HLP file to the correct application tool, influencing the so-called "file extension associations".
Sometimes simple reinstalling Microsoft Windows can solve your problem by linking HLP correctly with Microsoft Windows. In other cases, problems with file associations may result from bad software programming developer and you may need to contact the developer for further assistance.
Advice: Try updating Microsoft Windows to the latest version to ensure you have the latest patches and updates.
This may seem too obvious, but often The HLP file itself may be causing the problem. If you received a file via an email attachment or downloaded it from a website and the download process was interrupted (such as a power outage or other reason), the file may become damaged. If possible, try getting a new copy of the HLP file and try opening it again.
Carefully: A damaged file can cause collateral damage to previous or existing malware on your PC, so it is important to keep your computer up-to-date with an up-to-date antivirus.
If your HLP file related to the hardware on your computer to open the file you may need update device drivers associated with this equipment.
This problem usually associated with media file types, which depend on successfully opening the hardware inside the computer, e.g. sound card or video card. For example, if you are trying to open an audio file but cannot open it, you may need to update sound card drivers.
Advice: If when you try to open an HLP file you receive .SYS file error message, the problem could probably be associated with corrupted or outdated device drivers that need to be updated. This process can be made easier by using driver update software such as DriverDoc.
If the steps do not solve the problem and you are still having problems opening HLP files, this could be due to lack of available system resources. Some versions of HLP files may require a significant amount of resources (e.g. memory/RAM, processing power) to properly open on your computer. This problem is quite common if you are using fairly old computer hardware and at the same time a much newer operating system.
This problem can occur when the computer is having trouble keeping up with a task because the operating system (and other services running in the background) may consume too many resources to open the HLP file. Try closing all applications on your PC before opening Windows Help File. By freeing up all available resources on your computer you will provide the best conditions for attempting to open the HLP file.
If you completed all the steps described above and your HLP file still won't open, you may need to run equipment update. In most cases, even when using older versions of hardware, the processing power can still be more than sufficient for most user applications (unless you're doing a lot of CPU-intensive work, such as 3D rendering, financial/scientific modeling, or intensive multimedia work) . Thus, it is likely that your computer does not have enough memory(commonly called "RAM" or random access memory) to perform the task of opening a file.
Try refreshing your memory to see if this will help you open the HLP file. Today, memory upgrades are quite affordable and very easy to install, even for the average computer user. As a bonus, you you'll probably see a nice performance boost while your computer performs other tasks.
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I see two or more solutions depending on your requirements:
- Convert WinHelp (HLP) to HTMLHelp (CHM) or PDF
- Running WinHelp files on Windows 10
Convert WinHelp (HLP) to HTMLHelp (CHM):
- Run your command prompt as administrator (please note - samples for German here)!
Extract the downloaded .msu file to a temporary directory
md msu-extracted
expand Windows8.1-KB917607-x64.msu /f:* .\msu-extracted
cd msu-extracted
md cab-extracted
expand Windows8.1-KB917607-x64.cab /f:* .\cab-extracted
Depending on your language settings, find the appropriate MUI file, for example, use "cs-", "de-" or "en-". People using the x86 variant need to run "dir x86**de-."
cd cab-extracted
Navigate to the specified path for your language "... de-de...", For example:
Cd amd64_microsoft-windows-winhstb.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.20470_de-de_1ab8cd412c1028d0
Here we will find “winhlp32.exe.mui”. Now we need to replace e.g. %SystemRoot%\de-de\winhlp32.exe.mui with our new file:
Takeown /f "%SystemRoot%\de-de\winhlp32.exe.mui" icacls "%SystemRoot%\de-de\winhlp32.exe.mui" /grant "%UserName%":f ren %SystemRoot%\de- de\winhlp32.exe.mui winhlp32.exe.mui.w10 copy winhlp32.exe.mui %SystemRoot%\de-de\winhlp32.exe.mui takeown /f "%SystemRoot%\winhlp32.exe" icacls "%SystemRoot% \winhlp32.exe" /grant "%UserName%":f ren %SystemRoot%\winhlp32.exe winhlp32.exe.w10 cd .. dir *.exe /s
Find the correct path, starting with either amd64 or x86 and navigating to it:
Cd "amd64_microsoft-windows-winhstb_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.20470_none_1a54d9f2f676f6c2" copy winhlp32.exe %SystemRoot%\winhlp32.exe
You don't need to replace _none_ in the last cd (re-test and work on 2017-09-01).
It seems to me that the workaround described above resets after a major Microsoft Windows update.
Are you having trouble opening .HLP files? We collect information about file formats and can explain what HLP files are. Additionally, we recommend programs that are most suitable for opening or converting such files.
What is the .HLP file format used for?
As an abbreviation for "Help" file extension .hlp refers to the Microsoft Windows Help (WinHelp) file type and format ( .hlp). WinHelp is a proprietary format developed by Microsoft for storing built-in help files in the Microsoft Windows operating system. Long outdated, the WinHelp format has been replaced by the more advanced CHM (Compiled HTML Help from Microsoft) system.
File .hlp contains operating system or application help resources compiled in a special binary format from RTF and BMP source files. In the Microsoft Windows environment, the file handler .hlp The WinHelp executable module ("WinHlp32.exe") is used. The latest Microsoft OS to natively support WinHelp is Windows XP, while later OSes (Windows 7, 8) do not natively support WinHelp files. To provide users with the ability to open files .hlp On such OSes, Microsoft provides a standalone WinHelp installer.
There are third party file conversion tools called WinHelp ( .hlp) into CHM and HTML, as well as decompilation into RTF. Several universal document viewers also support direct opening of HLP files. Despite the obsolescence of WinHelp, the files .hlp are still found in many legacy Microsoft Windows applications.
In addition to WinHelp, the extension .hlp also commonly used by various programs to refer to generic help files ( .hlp). Depending on the user using such a file .hlp applications it can be either text or binary. However, most older Windows applications tend to use the WinHelp format.
Programs for opening or converting HLP files
You can open HLP files with the following programs: This page explains how you can easily convert a .hlp file to a PDF file using the free and easy-to-use PDF24 Creator. The described conversion method is free and simple. PDF24 Creator installs a PDF printer and you can print your .hlp file on this printer to convert the file to PDF.
What is needed to convert an HLP file to a PDF file or how can you create a PDF version of your HLP file
HLP files or files with the .hlp extension can be easily converted to PDF using a PDF printer.
A PDF printer is a virtual printer that can be used just like any other printer. The difference from a regular printer is that a PDF printer creates PDF files. You are not printing on a physical piece of paper. A PDF printer prints the contents of the source file into a PDF file.
This way you can create a PDF version of any file that can be printed. Just open the file using a reader, click the print button, select the virtual PDF printer and click the "Print" button. If you have a reader for the HLP file, and if the reader can print the file, then you can convert the file to a PDF format.
A free and easy-to-use PDF printer from PDF24 can be downloaded from this page. Simply click on the download button to the right of this article to download PDF24 Creator. Install this software. Once installed, you will have a new printing device registered with Windows, which you can use to create PDF files from your .hlp file or convert any other printable file to PDF.
Here's how it works:
- Install PDF24 Creator
- Open the .hlp file with a reader that can open the file.
- Print the file on a virtual PDF24 PDF printer.
- The PDF24 Assistant opens a window in which you can save the new file as a PDF, send it by email, fax, or edit it.
An alternative way to convert an HLP file to a PDF file
PDF24 provides several online tools that can be used to create PDF files. Supported file types are being added as they become available, and the HLP file format may also already be supported. The conversion service has various interfaces. Two of them are as follows:
Online PDF Converter from PDF24 supports many files that can be converted to PDF. Simply select the HLP file from which you would like to get a PDF version, click the "convert" button, and you will receive a PDF version of the file.
There is also an E-Mail PDF Converter from PDF24 which can also be used to convert files to PDF format. Just send an email to the E-Mail PDF Converter service, attach the HLP file to this email, and in a few seconds you will receive the PDF file back.
