BUG: MSDN Library Favorites Are Lost

The MSDN Library favorites are lost.

There are three known causes of this problem:

• Installing a new version of the MSDN Library does not transfer existing favorites from the previous version.
• Launching the MSDN Library from a Visual Studio product can result in lost favorites. If the MSDN Library is still open when the Visual Studio product is closed, any favorites created during that session are lost. Closing the Visual Studio product forces the MSDN Library to close without providing an opportunity for it to save the new favorites.
• Deleting or corrupting the Hh.dat file erases favorites.

The MSDN Library Favorites Utility can transfer favorites from one library installation to another. This utility is on the Start menu for the latest quarterly releases of the MSDN Library. The MSDN Library Favorites Utility became available for the first time with the English and Japanese versions of the July 2000 CD/DVD release of the MSDN Library. The utility will be included in future HTML Help 1.x-based Libraries and is offered as a download from this page.

When using the MSDN Library launched from a Visual Studio product, always close the MSDN Library first before closing the Visual Studio product. This allows the MSDN Library to save the new favorites information normally.

If the Hh.dat file is deleted or corrupted, there is no way to recover the favorites. When the Hh.dat file is deleted, the MSDN Library creates a new one with no favorites information in it. When the Hh.dat file is corrupted, favorites may be lost or behave incorrectly, forcing you to delete the Hh.dat file, so it can be re-created.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: