Attempt to generate WebHelp (Primary Layout) after updates hangs and then shows "Not Responding"

Question

Hello!  I am attempting to generate after making a number of updates to topics in a large project using RoboHelp 7.  RoboHelp 7 was recently installed on my machine by an IT staff person. It has been several years since I worked with this project in RoboHelp and at that time we used RoboHelp 5.  I have attempted to generate WebHelp but the application hangs and shows "Not Responding" about half-way through Updating files.  When I look at the folder (test folder on my computer's Desktop) to which I try to generate, about 2/3 of the topics and subtopics actually show in the folder even though the generate process failed. I have tried to work with IT but no one there knows RoboHelp. I cannot identify (don't know how exactly) where the problem is and how to remedy. Can someone please offer some guidance?  I'm very rusty with RoboHelp's processes...it seems as though something has gone missing but I don't know what to look for and where to start looking!  A co-worker has also recently had RoboHelp 7 installed on his computer (per IT remote install) and has helped update topics other than those I've updated in the project. He also encounters this problem when he tries to generate the project on his workstation.

Answer 1

Thank you, Peter!  The project is a large policy manual which resides on a shared network drive but we place a copy of the project's "working" folder on our computer desktops to allow updates and maintenance.  When we generate the project after making updates, the compiled project loads into a separate subfolder in that "working" folder and a member of our IT department pulls the files out of that folder to "deploy" the manual to our users. This process has worked for over four years, however, for most of that time, there has been only one person doing the work and that person is now out of the office for an extended period of time.  I rather got tossed back into the fray at the last minute when it was decided that a set of updates was needed by November 1--a deadline that has not been met, of course.
Since posting the plea on the forum, I've had ongoing contact with an IT staff who tells me the best solution right now is to save the files we each updated, request a file restore back to the last known good state, and then try to re-incorporate our changes to the clean version. In the interest of time, we are pursuing that...your additional thoughts and feedback about the situation would be most welcome.