Viewing CHM Files Across The Network in Windows 7

Solution 1:

Quickest way - but not convenient - drag to your machine and open there.

Technical way - Go to properties and see if you have an unblock button.

This is usually caused by a NTFS flag set from another machine.

I have no idea why other files work but for some reason, .CHM files are affected... I guess it is to do with the way it caches the HTML pages.

Solution 2:

I also experienced this problem, on Windows 7, 64-bit. I had to add the UNC path (\\drive\share) to my Trusted Sites zone and set (in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions) MaxAllowedZone to 0x02, not 0x01. I hope that this helps someone else. Source: KB 896054, which has a handy table of which MaxAllowedZone settings enable which zones (higher numbers are more permissive). Another SuperUser question, number 69863, also tells how to turn off the "Open File Security Warning" nag message.

Solution 3:

Following 2 keys must be entered and then you can view CHM files on Windows 7:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions] 

"MaxAllowedZone"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]

"UrlAllowList"=\\\\[server name]\\[share name]\\[path];file://\\\\[server name]\\[share name]\\[path];

Added by an anonymous user (name CB): Note that on a 64-bit Windows 7 you will need to include:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\HTMLHelp]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]
"MaxAllowedZone"=dword:00000001

Solution 4:

I have encountered the very same problem.

What you can try:

Retype the address

... until the cows come home :)

Or use Help Explorer by KAMA Software.

You don't even have to install the program, you can use it portable: just extract the two folders bin and gre and run the executable helpexplorer.exe.

Note: Help Explorer is shareware. However, there are no restrictions, none whatsoever, which is fine because KAMA Software seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth, so licensing the software is rather difficult. Any information about how to register the software is appreciated.

I found the program quite a while ago when I was looking for a decent help file viewer and I've been using it ever since. Many technical ebooks are released as CHM and Microsoft's own viewer is a royal pain in the behind, HE is just what a proper viewer should be like: with a modern interface, history lookup, favorites and easy font size adjustment (zoom in/out with CTRL +/-) without changing the internet font settings ... and of course it doesn't cancel the navigation on network shares. :)*