Error: "Word 2010 or newer is required to run Doc-To-Help"

 Article #: GEN1013D  Product: Doc-To-Help   Version: 4, 5

Summary:

After installing/attempting to launch Doc-To-Help for the first time you may encounter the error message "Word 2010 or newer is required to run the add-in" despite having a version of Word that meets the described requirement. Below are some options that may correct this behavior.

Note: If you are using Doc-To-Help 5.0.0.1521 or newer, the error message has been changed to read, "MadCap Doc-To-Help has detected a conflict with your Microsoft Word installation. Sometimes this error occurs when remnants of a previous Word installation are still present."

 

Solution:

Option 1:

As of Doc-To-Help 5, the application is no longer launched via it's own independent executable file, instead Doc-To-Help is launched through the Word installation. If you encounter this error when attempting to access Doc-To-Help through Word, please try this:

  1. Close Word
  2. Navigate to the Doc-To-Help install location. The default location is:
    C:\Program Files (x86)\MadCap Software\DocToHelp
  3. Run DocToHelp.exe
  4. Open Word and attempt to access the Doc-To-Help features and see if the error still occurs

 

Option 2:

Sometimes this error occurs when remnants of a previous Word installation are still present on the machine after upgrading to a later version. If the previous solutions does not address the issue please try this:

  1. Close Word/Doc-To-Help
  2. Go Here
  3. Select the appropriate version of Word to uninstall
  4. Run the Complete Uninstall easy fix tool
  5. Open Word and attempt to access the Doc-To-Help features and see if the error still occurs

 

Option 3:

In some cases, the easy fix solution above does not work to remove all remnants of past Word installations, some registry entries may be left behind. In these cases there is a registry fix that may correct the behavior.

Note: It is always recommended to create a backup of any registry entries that you are attempting to edit manually.

  1. Close Word
  2. Open the Start menu search bar, type "regedit"
  3. Launch the Registry Editor
  4. Copy and paste the path below into the registry editor address bar
    "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{00020905-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\"
  5. Within this directory you should only see a single folder with a number that corresponds with your installed version of Word
    8.7 = Word 2016
    8.6 = Word 2013
    8.5 = Word 2010
    etc.
  6. If there are any other folders within this directory(other than the one that corresponds with your installed version), right-click on them and choose Export to save a back up of them and then delete them
  7. Open Word and attempt to access the Doc-To-Help features and see if the error still occurs

 

If none of the above solutions work to correct the behavior please contact MadCap Software Technical Support via telephone 1(888)623-2271 or email, here.

 

Attribution:

Last updated:

July 26, 2018

Author:

Steven Moreno

Contributions by:

MadCap QA