nevermind...i actually figured it out and fixed it!
i just removed the folder named "${{@RegReadValue}}" from the path "c:\program files\autodesk\3ds max 2018\plugins\nvidia" and copied the files to the existing folders. i'm not sure why this "${{@RegReadValue}}" folder was created, but i finally got mental ray to work with 3ds max 2018 on my windows 10 notebook.
