.chm files crashing when navigating to any page

Hello all,

I recently upgraded to Windows 10 Pro from Windows 7 Ultimate and have been trying to troubleshoot this error on my own for an entire day. I am usually very resourceful and almost never have to resort to creating a topic to solve my issue, but this one has me stumped.

This error only occurs after the .chm file is open in Microsoft HTML Help, no matter what program opened it—if any (note that it is any .chm file, though I will be using just one as an example). I receive the error once I click anything that would change the page (e.g., clicking an internal link on the page that's displayed, clicking one of the links in the content tab, or doing a search and then clicking on a result), but not a link to an external page that would open in my browser or other application. I should note that the page does successfully change, but the error appears.
The msgbox error I get is:

[Window Title]
Microsoft® HTML Help Executable

[Main Instruction]
Microsoft® HTML Help Executable has stopped working

[Content]
Windows is checking for a solution to the problem...

[Cancel]

which then stops checking and changes to this:

[Window Title]
Microsoft® HTML Help Executable

[Main Instruction]
Microsoft® HTML Help Executable has stopped working

[Content]
A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.

[Debug] [Close program]

Closing this msgbox proceeds to close the help file.


Things I have tried that have not made a difference:

• Running MJsDiag305b96, checking the report, and re-registering the correct dlls and ocx files (see attachment for the report) HelpReport.rar
• Downloading and installing HTML Help Workshop 1.3
• Making sure the location of the .chm file is not on a network location and does not include any special characters such as #
• Opening the properties of the .chm file and looking for an option to unblock the file (does not exist; also, files were created from the installation of programs)
• Downloading an older version of winhelp.exe and installing it (per Alan Copp's suggestion on this thread) (I later realized this program was completely unrelated, but the win 10 reinstall brought back the correct version)
• Taking ownership of the .chm file and giving full permissions access to all
• Moving the .chm file to the desktop and trying to run it from there
• Running sfc /scannow in an elevated command prompt
• Opening an elevated command prompt and running the command: C:\Windows\hh.exe "C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\AutoHotkey.chm"
• Reinstalling Win 10 Pro
• (Of course, rebooting after making significant changes)

Things I have tried that have made a difference (file encountered no errors):

• Running the .chm file in a different application entirely, such as CoolReader, KchmViewer, xCHM (which is working the best for me so far), Sumatra PDF, Okular (part of KDE), ChmFox, etc
• Opening an elevated command prompt and running the command: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\hh.exe "C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\AutoHotkey.chm"

From what I have found online, this latter one runs the 32-bit version of HTML Help. When I run the file in this way, I get none of the errors. However, even if I select the "Open With" on the .chm file, browse to C:\Windows\SysWOW64\hh.exe, and try to open it with that, it still crashes. I have to open it in command prompt for it to work. Furthermore, attempting to set the file associations in control panel to the same 32-bit hh.exe also does not work.

Does anyone have any clue as to what I could do to solve this?

I found a solution to the problem. It seems HHActiveX.dll in the "C:\Windows\System32" folder was either improperly registered or nonexistent. I was able to obtain a copy of the 64-bit dll by downloading a trial version of Adobe RoboHelp 10 (because I couldn't seem to find it for download anywhere else online).

After taking the file from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 10\Redist\x64" and placing it in the system32 folder, then using "regsvr32 /u HHActiveX.dll" and then "regsvr32 HHActiveX.dll" in an elevated command prompt, I was able to solve the issue. If for some reason anyone out there encounters this same issue, I've attached the 64-bit dll to this post. For the record, it's dated 7/4/2012, version 10.0.0.287.