Resolved Blank Help menu

[Ramacher]

This is driving me crazy. I've had this for a couple months now and still can't figure out how to solve the problem.

When I click the Help menu item on any app, it is blank. I can highlight and select whatever is supposed to be there, but for some reason they are blank.

I've found numerous posts on apple's discussion page and other sites where people have fixed their issue by deleting the com.apple.help*.plist files and folders in Home\Library\Cache and Home\Library\Preferences. I've done this and removed itunes helper from startup as recommended by one site but my help menus as still blank

The .plist files are still gone after restarting so i'm guessing that my macbook is not rebuilding the help .plist files.

It's a 2ghz Intel core duo macbook running 10.6.8. Any help would be appreciated

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Does it also happen in another, even temporarily created, user account?

 

[Ramacher]

Does it also happen in another, even temporarily created, user account?

Thanks for the suggestion but didn't work

I enabled the guest account, logged out and into it and same thing. Also now when i click on the finder help menu, then click in the first and only blank option (i'm assuming it's supposed to say help) a window opens up with "Help Viewer cannot open this content." Can't remember if it did that before or not.

Any other thoughts?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Do you still have your 10.6 Restore or Upgrade DVD? If so, insert it and boot from it (System Preferences > Startup Disk) and reinstall Mac OS X without changing anything in Disk Utility. Damaged system files will be repaired and your personal data and applications will not be deleted. But make a backup anyway, if you haven't already.

 

[Ramacher]

Do you still have your 10.6 Restore or Upgrade DVD? If so, insert it and boot from it (System Preferences > Startup Disk) and reinstall Mac OS X without changing anything in Disk Utility. Damaged system files will be repaired and your personal data and applications will not be deleted. But make a backup anyway, if you haven't already.

Man, I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that

My DVD drive is a bit messed up. The alignment on it is off so if I put a cd/dvd in, it's really hard to get out and usually end up scratching it in the process. Also It'll take me a while to actually find my Snow Leopard DVD.

I just googled for 10.6.8 and i'm currently downloading the update from apple. Hopefully that'll do it, if not I'll have to tear my room apart to find this DVD.

Thanks for your help

-----UPDATE---

So the update I dl'ed was just form 10.6.7 to 10.6.8 and didn't help.

I reinstalled Mac OS x and that fixed it. Thank you.