How To Making Visual C++ 32-bit Edition Books Online Run Faster (114968)

SUMMARY

Microsoft Books Online may start slowly because its index file must be read from the CD-ROM drive. CD-ROM drives are usually much slower than hard drives. By putting part or all of the help files on your hard drive, you can decrease the time you spend waiting for Books Online to access information.

In the Setup of Visual C++ version 4.0, there are three options: leave all Books Online files on the CD, the CD-ROM installation; copy just the Books Online indices and some relatively small help file to the hard drive, the Typical installation; or, copy all Books Online files to the hard drive, a Custom installation that includes at least the Microsoft Developer Studio and the Books Online. The Typical installation is the default.

In Visual C++ version 2.x, the Setup program provides similar options: keeping all of the help on the distribution CD, copying just the indices to the hard drive, or copying all of the help files in their entirety to the hard drive. Copying just the indices is the default action.

The Setup for Visual C++ 32-bit edition version 1.0 does not afford these options. The remainder of this article explains how to place part or all of the online help onto a hardrive for Visual C++ 32-bit edition version 1.0.

This article assumes you are familiar with the registry editor, REGEDT32. For more information, type "start REGEDT32" at a command prompt and view the online help for the utility.

MORE INFORMATION

Windows NT keeps track of the locations of the Books Online files in the registry. Using the REGEDT32 registry editor, you can change these registry entries to allow you to keep the books that you access most frequently on your local drive.

It is recommended that any help files moved from the CD are located in a single directory, such as "MSVCNT\HELP", for simplicity.

All of the registry references have the root registry path of:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ 
      Software\ 
      Microsoft\ 
      Viewer

Make the following changes in the registry:

Change BOOKSONL\Path to refer to the location of the BOOKS.HDX and BOOKS.IND files. The .HDX index file allows the Books Online Viewer to start up while the .IND file is used in the Search Plus help file option.
Change VCXXBKS1\Path to refer to the location of VCXXBKS1.HLP. Books listed before the "C++ Language Reference" in the viewer window are included in this help file.
Change VCXXBKS2\Path to refer to the location of the VCXXBKS2.HLP file. All books in the viewer window that are not in VCXXBKS1.HLP are in this help file.
Change SDKBKS\Path to refer to SDKBKS.HLP. This help file contains all five volumes of the "Win32 Programmer's Reference."

NOTE: that Visual C++ 2.0 and later also have entries in similar places to hold Books Online information in the registry.

 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Viewer
 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Visual C++ 2.0

You can change these entries individually to place the most used portions of the Books online on your hard drive if you wish, but this will require that you experiment on your own. Microsoft does not directly support custom Books Online configurations past those offered in the Visual C++ 2.0 setup.