"Help viewer cannot open this content"

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"Help viewer cannot open this content"

In iPhoto '09 Help window I would get the following error message when I tried viewing any topic:

"Help viewer cannot open this content"

Problem solved with help from "Apple Expert" phone support following these steps:

1. reboot in safe mode - I think this clears system cache and runs a disk repair utility
2. reboot
3. delete ~/Library/Caches
4. empty trash
5. log out
6. log back in
7. empty trash

Apparently the problem was caused by a corrupt cached file.

MacBook, Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Jan 2, 2010 9:58 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

LazloG

Level 1

5 points

Mar 14, 2010 2:44 PM in response to hdiaz55

Yeah, that didn't work.

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Answer 2

LazloG

Level 1

5 points

Mar 15, 2010 5:57 AM in response to hdiaz55

This worked for me.
From http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/helpviewer.html#Anchor-Reset-35882

Quit Help Viewer if it is open. Leopard users should click the red Close button in the upper-left corner of the Help Viewer window. Users of Tiger and earlier can press the Command-Q (Quit) keyboard shortcut.
Trash the following three files in your Home > Library > Preferences folder, if extant:

* com.apple.help.plist
* com.apple.helpui.plist
* com.apple.helpviewer.plist

Trash the following two folders in your Home > Library > Caches folder, if extant:

1. com.apple.helpui folder
2. com.apple.helpdata

Empty the Trash.
Test that Help Viewer is now operating normally.
Sell Apple stock before the market gets wind of this.

Message was edited by: LazloG

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Answer 3

Mar 21, 2010 5:12 PM in response to hdiaz55

This did the trick for me. Specifically, the steps outlined on Jan. 2, 2010 (above). Thanks. For once in my life I feel like a computer whiz.

Message was edited by: James Hutchinson1

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