.:Computer Defense:.

I must say I was a little confused today when I clicked on help in Hex Workshop and the help window I was used to in XP popped up (I bought a new computer last week, running Vista), however instead of displaying the help file, I received a message that WinHlp32.exe wasn't supported in Vista. There was even a link to a KB article.

It seems that WinHlp32.exe is a program designed to assist with only 32-bit help files (.hlp). 16-bit help files are handled by WinHelp.exe. For some odd reason, this still exists in Vista. Microsoft claims that their reason for removing WinHlp32.exe is:

"The Windows Help program has not had a major update for many releases and no longer meets Microsoft standards. Therefore, starting with the Windows Vista operating system release, the Windows Help program will not ship as a component of the Windows operating system. Also, third-party programs that include .hlp files are prohibited from redistributing the Windows Help program together with their products"

Now this can't help but make me curious... WinHlp32.exe no longer meets standards but somehow WinHelp.exe does? I somehow doubt that they are still maintaining WinHelp.exe. Anyone with a 95, 98 or 2K system up and running, I'd love to know the version of WinHelp.exe. On Vista it is version '3.10.0.425'. I also find it odd that they are prohibiting third parties from distributing the Windows Help program and are instead suggesting they move to .chm, .html and .xml file formats.

The fact that they are prohibiting it makes me think there's a glaring vulnerability that they aren't overly eager to patch... At the same time though, Microsoft is offering the file for download to Vista users. This update downloads a .msu (Windows Update Standalone Installer) which installs a single update (not available through Microsoft Update) - Update for Windows (KB917607). As soon as the installation was complete, the Hex Workshop help file opened without problem. If it's really that easy, considering how much was included in Vista... could one last file not be included?

I'm curious to see what will happen as knew .hlp vulnerabilities come to light. Will my copy of WinHlp32.exe that I've installed on Vista receive security patches now? Anyways... I find it very odd that this file was't included and that third parties can't redistribute it.