Craziness in Autocad after installing 3ds max on the same machine. Please help.

[actrask]

Hey guys, I've got a really weird issue going on.

I have Autocad 2011 installed and it's been working fine. Last night I installed 3ds max (which works fine). This morning I came in, and when I open my floorplan.dwg this is what I get:

I've ran the repair utility for Autocad, uninstalled 3ds max (and all the components in throws on there), rebooted the computer. Still the same issue.

What's happeneing, and why would installing 3ds max cause this?

Thanks in advance,

-Andrew

Oh the machine is running an i5 processor, 64-bit, 8GB of ram. Let me know if need more specs.

[dmfrazier]

It's not immediately obvious to me (and perhaps others) what "craziness" you are trying to illustrate with the screenshot.

Are there objects appearing that were not in the drawing before installing 3ds max?

If so, then I would venture to guess that the 3ds max install "enabled" AutoCAD to display some custom objects that were always there but had been "invisible" due to your ObjectARX settings and previous lack of "enablers".

[pendean]

Looks to me as though XREF (or standard) layers that were previously turned off are now on perhaps. Your screenshot shows nothing more than a mismanaged file's content: elaborate please. Use LIST to find out more if needed.

[actrask]

So let me get this straight. You looked at that picture and thought, "hmm, everything seems A-OK here, what is this 'craziness' he's trying to illustrate."

...ffs man.

Anyway, thank you both for some insight.

[dmfrazier]

"So let me get this straight. You looked at that picture and thought, "hmm, everything seems A-OK here, what is this 'craziness' he's trying to illustrate."

...ffs man."

And if anyone did have that thought, would that indicate that there must be something so terribly wrong with him/her that it would be necessary and useful to point out what an idiot s/he must be?

That is not even close to what I thought.  What I thought was that I would really like to be more clear on exactly what the issue is, and since I don't do the kind of work that is illustrated in the image (and perhaps others looking at this post also do not), perhaps it would be a good idea to let the OP know that it isn't obvious to me (and perhaps to others).  In the meantime (anticipating that the answer to my question might be "yes, there are objects showing that were not showing before, and here is an even better image to illustrate exactly what they are"), in the spirit of generosity I thought I would offer a friendly guess as to what might cause such behavior.

So let me get this straight.  Did you come here to get free help from friendly strangers who generally want nothing more than to get a good feeling from being helpful to other (usually) friendly and (usually) appreciative strangers, or did you come here to be rude and apparently unappreciative?  Your closing "thank you" doesn't make up for the harm you have caused me and yourself with this unnecessarily inconsiderate response.

[morganism3]

No, the craziness is not obvious. I've worked on pics of oil rigs that have hundreds of layers with different notations for electricians, mechanics, welders, etc., going on all at the same time, where if you turn on all the layers the screen will look just as cluttered. No one here has any way of knowing what the file is supposed to look like versus what it looks like now.

[actrask]

Sorry guys, I didn't mean to come of like a ****. It just seemed like a snarky response to me at first glance. I didn't realize that words littering the screen at different orientations was a normal occurance in Autocad. I'm new.

I do appreciate the helpful responses. My sensitivity filter must only be working at 2% today.

However, I do thank you for the help whether you want to accept it or not.

[dmfrazier]

"It just seemed like a snarky response to me at first glance."

I can see how it could be interpreted that way (this has always been one of the shortcomings of written communications). But even if it was meant to be "snarky" (and it certainly was not), we are always better off in these forums assuming the best in the people who respond to posts (as hard as that can be at times).  Bad behavior of any kind (whether it's actual or just perceived) never excuses the use of bad behavior in response.  All that usually accomplishes is to make matters worse.  It would be better for everyone to ask for clarification or simply ignore the behavior.

"I didn't realize that words littering the screen at different orientations was a normal occurance in Autocad. I'm new."

In certain contexts it would be considered "normal".  In others it would not be.  "Normal" changes as you move through space and time.  We're all "new" (inexperienced) in one way or another from someone else's perspective.

"...whether you want to accept it or not."

I will always accept sincere thanks.

And I am eager to know what the ultimate resolution is.  Posting that will be your way of "paying it forward".

[pendean]

Are you able to answer the questions being posed then? We understand being frazzled/stumped but this is remote assistance, you need to dig deeper and help us understand what's going on.
If you can't then post that DWG file here for others to explore.

[actrask · Accepted solution]

Hi pendean,

Our IT guy came in last night. He got it fixed. His reason for the problem was, "The autocad profile was corrupt". 

I don't know if that makes any sense or not (I'm not an autocad guy). But the machine is now working. 

If that was the case; why would installing 3ds max corrupt an autocad profile?

Thanks guys,

Andrew

[actrask]

Here's the CAD file

[dgorsman]

Something that should prove helpful when judging responses by others: click on their name to jump to their forum profile.  Under that, you will find a list of posts they have made (aka focused lurking).  We've got all types here: dmfrazier and pendean are some of our best.  Some of the responses can be seen as a little... blunt... but its a common occurence for an online forum of a very technical nature.

[actrask]

They were trying to give useful responses in the end which is all that really matters. I don't mind a little back and forth.

...the oil rig comment still confuses me though. That screenshot actually looked like something you could build from?

Anyway, thanks again guys. 

OH (!) new info on the problem. The Autocad profile only got corrupted after uninstalling 3ds max from the machine.