Office Online Help Problem Not sure what else to do

Concerning Microsoft office 2003 Pro, when using any of the office
applications and typing something in the help search field in the top
right corner. The search results window opens and populates all the
results. When clicking on the online help results, they have the blue
circle with the "?" in it. The window opens and never populates it
just stays white, if there is local HTML help file it also opens but
it does populate. I have reinstalled Office 2003 PRO, reinstalled IE6,
set all settings back to default. Also searched forums and groups and
tried a lot of things but have not found out how to get this info to
populate. Also, if trying to use the Help and Support center button on
the Start Menu, should be linked to helpdtr.exe, I believe, if it is
clicked, the hour glass comes up for a second or two and then nothing.
I am sure it is connected but I just can't figure out what the problem
is. All of this used to work, and then it took longer for the
information to come in and now it just doesn't. So any thoughts or
ideas will be appreciated greatly.
Thanks,
Bob

I am experiencing the same problem with the online help in Office 2007 on a
Vista Home Premium computer. When I activate the online help option in the
help window, the Office online webpage opens in the browser and no topics are
shown in the help window. Additionally, in Word 2007, I cannot access the
online templates. The system works fine on an XP machine, but not on Vista.
It did work properly once on the Vista machine, but I cannot duplicate it
again. This is annoying. Microsoft help suggested to reinstall Office 2007,
but I am afraid that will not work either.
Any solutions to this problem?

All the reinstallations did not help with my problem

Same Problem Here! With Office 2007 Ultimate:

My fully activated Office 2007 Ultimate will not connect to the Internet
inside of the programs themselves. This specifically applies to the help
dialogs (they remain blank) and retrieval of anything from the web such as
templates. On the other hand, Outlook connects and downloads mail! And if
template/clipart downloads are initiated from IE, they do work and open in
the corresponding program.

This is very frustrating! And I certainly indicated to allow Office to
connect to the Internet when I installed and have checked that functionality
inside of each of the programs' options.

The help dialog says that it cannot connect in the body, but says
"connected" at the bottom of the window and eventually opens IE7 which
eventually opens the Microsoft Office 2007 Home, but not directly to the help
pages or to templates/clipart or any other corresponding subject such as
help. Ironically, even the "Troubleshoot your Internet Connection" option
results in IE opening to Office Online Home
Page.(http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx)

I have added the Office programs to Windows Firewall exceptions, just in
case. And I tried adding http://office.microsoft.com to the trusted sites
list, but then IE would freak-out and start a continual system of errors and
new tabs/windows that continually do not connect...and eventually crash IE.

Overall, I suspect malware, but this is a fresh install and the first thing
I did was install Avast! and I keep it constantly up-to-date, I have run Live
Onecare scanner, and checked the system with Spybot's new beta 1.5 (which is
basically a services update to 1.4 for Vista, which I installed only after
exhausting other options).

Also just in case, I have run CheckDisk (disk scan for errors) and
defragmented thinking there may be bad sectors or a tangled MBR...nope.

ANY help will be GREATLY appreciated!

Software Detail: Vista HPrem x86 retail installed fresh on formatted IDE
HDD, no RAID, Office 2007 Ultimate, Avast, ATI semi-problematic Vista beta
Radeon drivers, all software updated and fresh.

Same Problem Here! With Office 2007 Ultimate:

My fully activated Office 2007 Ultimate will not connect to the Internet
inside of the programs themselves. This specifically applies to the help
dialogs (they remain blank) and retrieval of anything from the web such as
templates. On the other hand, Outlook connects and downloads mail! And if
template/clipart downloads are initiated from IE, they do work and open in
the corresponding program.

This is very frustrating! And I certainly indicated to allow Office to
connect to the Internet when I installed and have checked that functionality
inside of each of the programs' options.

The help dialog says that it cannot connect in the body, but says
"connected" at the bottom of the window and eventually opens IE7 which
eventually opens the Microsoft Office 2007 Home, but not directly to the help
pages or to templates/clipart or any other corresponding subject such as
help. Ironically, even the "Troubleshoot your Internet Connection" option
results in IE opening to Office Online Home
Page.(http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx)

I have added the Office programs to Windows Firewall exceptions, just in
case. And I tried adding http://office.microsoft.com to the trusted sites
list, but then IE would freak-out and start a continual system of errors and
new tabs/windows that continually do not connect...and eventually crash IE.

Overall, I suspect malware, but this is a fresh install and the first thing
I did was install Avast! and I keep it constantly up-to-date, I have run Live
Onecare scanner, and checked the system with Spybot's new beta 1.5 (which is
basically a services update to 1.4 for Vista, which I installed only after
exhausting other options).

Also just in case, I have run CheckDisk (disk scan for errors) and
defragmented thinking there may be bad sectors or a tangled MBR...nope.

ANY help will be GREATLY appreciated!

Software Detail: Vista HPrem x86 retail installed fresh on formatted IDE
HDD, no RAID, Office 2007 Ultimate, Avast, ATI semi-problematic Vista beta
Radeon drivers, all software updated and fresh.

Does the help center button work on your start menu? Mine doesn't.

[Johnbes]

Hi, This is JohnBes from Microsoft. Thanks for reporting this issue, and we’re sorry you’re experiencing difficulty connecting to our online services . We believe the problem is related to an expired cookie from a Windows Live login, and we are actively in the process of researching this issue and will prop a server side update as soon as possible.

As a workaround in the meantime, you can try the following and let me know if it solves the connectivity issue.
1. Go to Office.Microsoft.com and determine if you are currently logged on to Windows Live. (You can verify a current login by looking at the top right of the Office Online home page. If the string “Sign Out” appears then you are logged in.)
2. If logged in, simply click on “Sign Out”.
3. Restart your Office 2007 apps and see if your Help connectivity is restored.

If you are not logged on or if this step does not work, try deleting your cookies.
1. Bring up IE, Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, under Browsing history, click Delete…
3. Then click Delete Cookies
4. Restart your Office 2007 applications and try Online Help again.
5. If necessary, you may have to restart your computer.

deleting the cookies solved the problem. thanks

[Johnbes]

Glad to hear it Zack. I'm curious, were you able to determine if you were logged into Window Live when reproducing the problem?

Thanks,
John

I tried the things that you suggested and neither one fized my
problem. Of course I am using 2003 not 2007. Any other suggestions
would be greatly appreciated.
Bob

[Jim701]

I have exactly the same problem - worked fine from installation but then around Aug Sept it stoped working with the identical error message that others have had. I too tried all the things you suggested JOHNBES but it did not work.
Could it have something to do with the security upgrade preventing Office Help accessing the Internet? A solution to this problem would really help.

Regards Jim