Hey folks! I'm working with PowerShell 7.5.2 on Windows 11 Pro, and I've run into a snag while trying to update the help files using the 'Update-Help' command. I tried running it normally, and it failed, giving me errors about several modules. The error message pointed out that 'English-US help content is available and can be installed using: Update-Help -UICulture en-US.' But when I tried that, I got the same result again, which included the error 'hexadecimal value 0x08, is an invalid character.' Seems like a lot of modules aren't updating properly. Is there a fix or a resource I can check out for more help?
5 Answers
I encountered this issue just yesterday too! Apparently, saving help locally with Save-Help works without issues, but the parsing problem happens when attempting an installation. Removing those invalid characters could be a workaround for now!
From what you've shared, it looks like a connectivity issue might be at play. Out of the 70 bundled modules, 68 are failing to update. Running 'Update-Help -Scope AllUsers -Verbose' with admin privileges can help pinpoint the problem. The verbose output might give you more hints. I've encountered this before, and often that helps in figuring out what's going wrong.
Don't stress too much about it! Many default modules don't have valid addresses for help content anymore. The ones that do usually get updated by the second command you tried.
Got it! So I shouldn't worry too much about the failed ones then?
This seems to be a common issue. Here are a few things to consider:
1. Not all modules support updating help.
2. Some modules require elevated permissions to update.
3. Language settings may affect which modules can be updated.
4. Some of them just have broken URLs for their help content.
If you run 'Update-Help -force' or 'Update-Help -force -UICulture en-us' from an elevated prompt, it usually resolves a lot of these issues. But some modules may require manual intervention. You can check the documentation [here](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/update-help) for more details!
Totally agree! It's a bummer when those links are broken, especially for default modules.
I feel your pain! I've been getting that hex 0x08 error too. Seems like something happened recently with how these files are generated, as certain modules have invalid XML. You might need to edit those XML files directly if you're comfortable with it.
Thanks for the advice! I ran the command and found a few modules updated but many still failed with that 0x08 error.