well got it working, and its a really small and easy fix. during instillation i had norton firewall say that java was trying to access the internet. this was a java.exe in the mays dir, so i allowed it and volia! after everything was done i had access to my help files again.
so just make sure that your firewall isnt blocking the java app that maya needs.
zeromachina
.:Humanity is a virus, help find a cure:.