How to reinstall 3ds max material library?

[fatima.shahid]

Hi, so I have the 2015 version of max downloaded on my computer. Up till about a week ago it was working fine and everything. And then one day I turn my computer on and a bunch of my programs have stopped working. But thankfully max was working fine and everything so I didnt' have to reinstall it (at that time) like I had to with many of my other programs. One thing that happened though, is that a big part of my material library went missing. I noticed this when I tried to render my scene, and the mirrors in the scene instead of showing reflections were just black. I then checked my materials to see if something was up, and sure enough that particular material was giving an error message and that it couldn't be found. And on further inspection a lot of the materials in the material library had disappeared as well. I've tried googling a solution to this to no avail. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling max, and even installed the new version, neither of which made a difference.

I did find something on the autodesk website though:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Autode...

Although for the life of me I can't figure out how to get to those files. I'm at a loss at how to get my materials back. If anyone could help me with this, that'd be great!

[jeffrey.sin]

Hi @fatima.shahid,

Welcome to the Community. Here's a link to another post that might help you out: Location of material libraries.  As indicated there, by default it should be in C:\Autodesk\Autodesk_3ds_Max_2015_EFGJKS_Win_64bit_dlm\Content\ADSKMaterials\2015\

Let us know how it goes. Thank you, 

[fatima.shahid]

Hi, when I tried going to those files, there was no content folder (I even had it so I could view hidden folders, but it still wasn't there). Is that maybe why a bunch of my materials are now missing? And if so, is there a way to get them back?

[Richard.Vivanco]

Remove using "uninstall tool" provided from autodesk or visit https://support.microsoft.com/es-es/mats/program_install_and_uninstall

Disable your firewall and antivirus, then download again from http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/3ds-max