AutoCAD Mechanical Freezes upon "open, save, save as" etc.

[jchang48375]

Hi there:

I have had this unsolved issue with my AutoCAD mechanical 2011 for sometime now - and it has rendered the program unusable.

System:

AutoCAD 2011 for Windows 7 64-bit - updated with SP-1

Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit

12 GB of RAM -

Everytime I click a menu itme under "file" (such as open, close, save, save as) - AutoCAD would going into a "busy" mode and then freezes. No way around it except to shut down the program.

I have minimised / disabled lots of Windows gizmos, such as Aero / updated with the latest graphics driver  - but only to NO AVAIL.

I have read a few places where users also posted the similar scenario - but I haven't found any solutions.

Can someone here please shed some light and share some paths I might try to solve this issue.

I haven't been able to use the program for a long time.

Anything is highly appreciated,

cheers,

Jimmy

[neilbergstedt]

I am having the same issue. It worked fine for a while then it quit working.

        Neil Bergstedt

        Engineering Tech SR.

[michaelsu]

Hi Jimmy,

Can you check whether your Graphics card driver is certified? If so, please update to the latest driver.

For certified cards, please check here.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/hc?linkID=9240618&id=6711853&siteID=123112

Thanks,
Michael Su
SQA Engineer
Autodesk

[jchang48375]

Hi Michael:

I have a Nvdia GeForce 9800GTX + and have installed the proper driver from AutoDesk. However, I am still unable to use AutoCAD at all whereas I can't open new, old, or save any files.

I have turned off the Aero feature and clean-reinstalled AutoCAD 2010 / 2011 (according to the procedure found on Autodesk website). No progress at all.

Please advise other options for me to investigate. I don't want to give up AutoCAD but I must find a way for this to work reliably...

Many thanks

Jimmy

[neilbergstedt]

Jimmy,

My problem seems to be the same as yours.  I"m using AutoCAD 2011 with Windows 7 64-bit, I have 8 gb of ram and did the service pack update.  My PC works fine with CAD if I can work around my limitations.  From what I can tell, AutoCAD will lock up when ever the program tries to look up a file on the hard drive/network.  Things like Open, Save as, New, Insert, Xref and such make the program lock up instantly and no amount of waiting will make it come back.  I've run the progam updates with no success.  When I reinstalled the program, everything worked fine and then went back to locking up in about a week.  The design center seems to work though.  I'm going to keep searching and trying things and hopefully an answer will come along.  The 32-bit machines around here running 2011 run just fine.

Neil

[jchang48375]

Hi Neil:

Yes, my issues are exactly same as yours - while I down-graded to the 2010 version, the scenario is the same. As of now, I am no longer able to work with AutoCAD in any capacity, even viewing a file can be difficult.

I will take your lead in finding how AutoCAD looks for files when opening and closing. As it seems to be the root cause that it simply waits to find the folders.

thanks again for your help - this is the most hint so far in 4 months I have posted the quetions.

cheers,

Jimmy

[emily.xu]

We receive some cases as you description. and the reason not unique. Maybe need you do some test. Would you please try to run AutoCAD in diagnostic mode :http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=6453117&linkID=9240617, so we can troubleshoot the problem.

Generally, if in diagnostic, AutoCAD run without any problem, you can try to find if some other application has any conflict with AuyoCAD,especially Anti-virus, run other applications one by one to find out.

if same problem in diagnostic mode, maybe something wrong with your AutoCAD program,you need try to repair or reinstall. also, check display card and the update the driver.

[szypap7681]

I experienced exactly the same problem, this time with AutoCAD 2010 and 2011 Edu running on Win7 64. Both the OS and CADs are fully updated.

On QSAVE, SAVE, SAVEAS etc Acad hangs with whiteish background and endlessly circling ring.

However, I narrowed down this issue to the problems with Open / Save file dialog.

With FILEDIA=0 it saves and opens everyhing just fine.

Any hint? Using methods ranginig back to the early '90 of the past century seems somewhat annoying 😞

[jchang48375]

Hi there:

I think our issues are identical as I tried both 2011 and 2010 versions, updated, resintalled from scratch etc. Nothing worked.

Where can I find the open / save dialog and change the settngs as you have described?

I appreciate your input.

Jimmy

[szypap7681]

Hi jchang,

there's nothing to do with the open / save dialog. It's just an AutoCAD system variable. At the command prompt, just type FILEDIA, hit enter then type 0 and enter again. This replaces problematic window with command-line open/save interface, still used by LISP routines etc.

It's painfully uncomfortable to use, but at least you can save a file...

If you want know more about this variable press F1 when setting it.

[jchang48375]

Hey, THANKS!! - that's the best work around in the last four months I have been looking for help.... Will give it a try - and I can only hope that Autodesk will have this bug fixed. I am looking at other software vendor for a more reliable product.... So far, my AutoCAD is completely unusable -

thanks again - you made my day!!

Jimmy

[szypap7681]

Nice to hear ;]

Can I cool down your negative emotions, I know this problem from today. In our company there are dozens different wokstations (both home-built and bought, mainly Lenovo E20) running AutoCAD 2010/11 based software on Win7Pro64 and there was not a single hangup with such symptoms.

My colleague' girfriend tried to learn AutoCAD and it's the first time i saw such an issue.

Have you tried launching your AutoCAD in "safe mode", as Emily suggested?

[szypap7681]

Hi Neil,

as a workaround, try setting FILEDIA to 0 and let me know if it works for you. Prepare for operating file open / save in commanline 😉

What antivirus program do you use?

In open/save dialog, at its left side there should be following shortcuts: History, Documents, Favourities, FTP, Desktop, Buzzsaw. In the central pane recently used folder should show up. Are the contents of these valid?

You wrote "The 32-bit machines around here running 2011 run just fine." Does this mean that all 64-bit machines around you exhibit this problem? How many? Are there similar or different?

Sorry for so many, mostly irrelevant questions, but the more i know the better i'll undestand what's going on...

Wish you good day!

Simon

[neilbergstedt]

I tried setting FILEDIA to 0 and am able to Open/.Saveas that way in the command line.  When I used Open, the only option in the command line besides typing in the path was <.>.  When I hit Enter, it locked up but ESC made it come back to life.

The Antivirus program on my machine is AVG Anitvirus Free Edition.  I work for a government agency and our IT dept has it's own filtering software and firewall on the server.

I am the only user with 64-bit in the engineering dept where I work so I have no one else to compare with.  I'm supposed to find out the problem because more 64-bit machines will probably be ordered here in the future.  I guess I'm the guinnea pig.

Thanks for your help.

[szypap7681]

Thank you!

For your information: the machine that hangs is running AVAST Home edition AV and till friday I won't be able to check if it's the cause of freezing. It's Toshiba Satellite A300-1EH with W7Pro64; network connectivity can safely be excluded from equation as I was fiddling with it via remote connection without any issues.

In order to open an existing drawing with FILEDIA set to 0 you'd need to type or pass the full path with macro / script. Just like in DOS 😕

As I mentioned earlier, you may treat yourself rather as unlucky one than guinea pig... Piles of different rigs are running ACAD10 and 11 here smoothly, some of them were even with Intel GMA965. Newer machines use either "Pro" and "ordinary" graphic cards, now all fo them are Nvidia (Quadro FX580, FX1800M, FX2800M; GTX260, GTS 450, GTX460). Network storage is common. However, as an AV protection we use Kaspersky business product.

Could you check the database of checked / blocked programs in AVG? Don't know where exactly, but there should be somewhere. You could try also whitelisting ACAD activity in AVG or disabling / exiting / killing AVG processes/services or even temporarily uninstalling it to rule it out.

Good luck!

Simon

[neilbergstedt]

A BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been talking to one of our IT guys about this issue and he told me to try logging into Windows as a different user.  I just logged in as my coworker and so far my AutoCAD is working just fine!  I can Open, Saveas, Insert, and all that.  Only time will tell if it lasts.  There could be a possibility of migrated user settings from my old PC (32 bit) that did some corruption.  I'll keep you all posted, good or bad, on how it's working.

Good Luck,

Neil

[szypap7681]

Great :]

This is one of first obligatory steps when troubleshooting AutoCAD installations. I forgot about it....

I wish you won't see this problem again, but if so, let us know.

Have a good day!

Simon

[neilbergstedt]

I was probably so overjoyed that I posted my success too soon.  It only took one day and it was back to it's old ways.  The IT department took my machine away to do some indepth testing on the AutoCAD issue along with the frequent lag issues my machine has been having too.  So, my machine won't be available for me to troubleshoot on this issue for awhile.  I'm using a 32-bit machine for now.  I'll keep checking in on this post and hopefully a real solution will come along.

[Anonymous]

Could it possibly be that the Anti-virus is trying to scan each file or folder you access in the file dialog?  I think AVG has that capability.  If so, if you are reaching across a network drive, that could really be lagging your system, causing it to freeze while AVG scans things. 

Fire up Windows Task Manager and see if your system activity and memory useage for AVG spikes when you try to use Autocad.  Just thought.

I am looking at upgrading to Autocad Mechanical from vanilla Autocad and do not wish to deal with this issue. It will be hard enough convincing my boss without problems.

[Anonymous]

I have the same troubles in Autocad Mechanical 2011.
The troubles began a week ago.
If i press the "open" or "save as" button  after  the acad is launched then autocad hangs up instantly.
I tried resolving this problem by using the command line: filedia 0 and  type this sign  ~, Autocad froze again.
Now i have resolved this problem by following method. After acad is launched i open and close a "Load aplication" dialog box, after this manipulation  "open" and "save as" buttons start working properly.