Revit 2015 Revit.ini in ProgramData UserDataCache becoming 0-bytes

[r.robert.bell]

We are experiencing an odd issue the our Revit.ini files on several of our workstations. We deployed Revit 2015 with a custom Revit.ini file (we used the deployment tools to add the custom Revit.ini).

When we first install Revit, I have verified that the Revit.ini file located in %AllUsersProfile%\Autodesk\RVT 2015\UserDataCache has data, i.e. it is larger than 0 bytes. When the user launches Revit for the 1st time, they get the correct Revit.ini copied to the their %AppData%\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit 2015 folder.

At some point after that, when they launch Revit, they get the warning about template locations being invalid. Examination of the Revit.ini files reveals that the user's Revit.ini file is mostly gone and, more importantly, the Revit.ini file in %AllUsersProfile%\Autodesk\RVT 2015\UserDataCache is now 0 bytes in size!

I'm at a loss to explain or recover from this issue. Reinstallation does not correct the issue. The only way to reliably recover is to uninstall Revit 2015, delete the user's AppData for Revit 2015 and reinstall.

Does anyone have an idea what's going on?

[casquatch]

We saw the same behavior here as well. We removed the extensions and all is well.

As we do use the Revit extensions, I would like to know when a fix has been implemented.

Thanks Robert for the temporary fix!

-Casey

[rosskirby]

Hi Robert.

I wanted to revive this topic, because we are still experiencing it intermittently.  I asked our IT to remove the REX, but we don't have it installed.  Do you (or anyone at Autodesk) have any thoughts as to what else might be causing this?  I'm going to guess that it's another Autodesk sub-product (like REX), but I don't have the know-how to determine what it is.

We have the entire BDSP 2015 suite installed (aside from ReCap), so it could be anything in that suite.

Thoughts?

[r.robert.bell]

It could be another add-in that is causing a similar issue. If that is the case, here is what you need to watch for:

• Have your users report immediately to you when doing something in Revit causes Revit to launch the installer to install a feature.
• Check to see if the Revit.ini file in UserDataCache has been overwritten.
• If it has, check the event logs to see what add-in just tried installing something.

The tough part is to have your people recognize that the mysterious installer is what is causing the subsequent Revit.ini issue and report the installation to you as soon as it happens so you can check their system.

[samuel.leo]

Howdy, I am having this very same issue in Revit 2022.  Looks like Autodesk has not fixed this issue yet!!

[RobDraw]

Seven years without one incident hardly means there is even something to fix.