Hello Phillip!
I’m on a Mac, but hopefully I can remember what needs be done. The problem is that your default browser is the AOL version of IE. That version doesn’t get along with PSE2’s help system. (AOL’s fault not Adobe’s)
Hopefully you still have a plain vanilla version of IE or some other browser on your system. Using the system explorer, find an HTML file, right click on it and from the contextual menu "Open With" select the plain version of IE (or other browser) and have it set as the "default" for HTML files. If you can’t find an HTML file handy, the PSE2 help files should be found buried in something like the C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 2.0\Help folder. Some folks have, apparently, dropped a shortcut to first file "0_0_0_0.html" with it set to open in the plain browser on their desktop, prefering not to set the system wide default to the plain browser.
Hope I’ve got it right, or right enough that you can figure it out! 😉
Kyle
I think Kyle has it for the method that will let you access from a shortcut on the desktop. The other thing you can do is change the default browser for your system, which I assume is Win XP. To do that: Start>Control Panel>Network & Internet Connection>"Pick a Control Panel">Internet Options>Programs. There’s a box at the bottom of that screen with a checkmark in front of the statement "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser." Make sure there’s a checkmark there, because the AOL installation may have overridden it. If the box is already checked, uncheck it, click OK, back out, and then go in again to check the box and reset the default. This won’t interfere with your AOL connection at all. The Help files are in HTML, but you don’t need to be online to access them; they display in the local zone of the browser.
Thanks Beth! 🙂
I knew somebody who knows MS-Win would be along sometime!
Kyle
Just don’t tell my Macs this secret – they’d be hurt. 🙂
Thanks Kyle and Beth!
I opted for Beth’s method since i am a neophite Win XP user and it seemed easier to me.
I did find a checkmark in front of the "IE should check to see if it is the default browser" statement. I unchecked it and backed out by clicking OK. I went in again and checked it, clicked APPLY>OK.
I’m sorry to report that the problem persists.
If a install a non AOL version of MS IE with this box checked how will the system know which IE to select?
I can’t answer your question about how it will know which to use, but it does. 🙂 Well, maybe I do know come to think of it. If the Windows default is set to a plain vanilla, that’s what Elements will seek out. You access AOL through a specific AOL icon, so you’ll always get the right browser from there, too. However, I’m sorry to say there are some people who just simply can’t get Help and Tutorials to work properly under XP, regardless of whether or not they’re using a customized browser like AOL’s. You should already have a version of IE on your computer, since it comes with XP, so you may be one of the people who’ll need to use the desktop method Kyle posted. 🙁
I think somehow that Elements links to the default browser (ex IE) at installation. Even if You change htm/html files to open with ex Wordpad, Elements still try to open the (html) helpfiles with the default browser.
It might help to uninstall Elements, set a "clean" IE as default browser and then install Elements again.
I have´t tried this myself, (do´t use AOL in Sweden :-)) Good luck, if You try!
Mikael:
Appreciate your input. I’m going to obtain a ‘clean’ copy of MS IE and set it as a default browser. I’ll let you know the results.
