Vray Quad menus and ALL scripts disappear and start greyed out and "missing"

[jesped]

All of a sudden 3ds Max says Vray menus are "missing":


and any script I install is "missing" :

because for some stupid reason this piece of crap skips loading it at start saying "Hidden/System startup script"

and neither those files/folder are hidden...

I already checked this useless guide: 
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Severa...

which, oh surprise, solved *nothing*. My permissions are good, my user is an Administrator, I took ownership again of all files and folders, ...   and nothing.

Of course, uninstalling and reinstalling the whole 3dsmax and Vray did NOTHING, which says a lot about Autodesk uninstallers.

If I put a script in c:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2021\MacroScripts\ it loads ok...   but if it goes in the default installation folder c:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\2021 - 64bit\ENU\usermacros\ it keeps saying that stupid "Hidden/System startup script" and skipping it.

This sh|t is driving me crazy...

[Mr.Mxyzptlk]

Did you try asking on the Vray forums? Chaos employees are always helpful.

[jesped]

No, but it's not a Vray problem. It's a 3ds Max problem, as it happens with ANY script I install.

[daniel]

I had the same problem with 3ds Max 2023 and it seems to be related to the new security features see here...

https://help.autodesk.com/view/MAXDEV/2023/ENU/?guid=GUID-615D14FB-0F2D-4801-B381-1128C4128C70

I am using Windows 11, so I am not sure if this is by design or just a W11 problem, but the user profile AppData folder is hidden by default since years under Windows. So all user macroscripts get blocked in my case and it seems for others.

I moved the script usermacros folder from it's original location up to the Autodesk folder in the homefolder, which fixed the problem.

From here...
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\3dsMax\2023 - 64bit\ENU\usermacros
to
%USERPROFILE%\Autodesk\3ds Max 2023\ENU\usermacros

The %USERPROFILE%\Autodesk\3ds Max 2023\ path is there anyways and there are no hidden folders in this path.

[mschramp · Accepted solution]

Sorry for the necropost but I've been trying to figure this out all week and finally got it. I'm on Windows 11 and 3dsMax 2024, the steps I used to fix it were:

1. Open command prompt (as admin if it isn't working)
2. cd %USERPROFILE% (to navigate to your user folder)
3. attrib -h AppData (to unhide AppData)
4. cd AppData (change directory to appdata folder)
5. attrib -s Local (remove the system attribute from the Local folder)

Not sure why this is a thing, but it works for me now. If the steps above don't work just check every directory along the path to your ENU folder for h (hidden) or s (system) attributes (by typing attrib /d to list directory attributes)

[seemagestudio]

Hi, 

I'm having the same problem but I didn't understand your instructions. Could you try to be more basic?

Thanks.

[Mr.Mxyzptlk]

You're just opening a command promt window and cut/pasting in what he typed.

1. Go to your search bar on the windows taskbar.

2. In the search bar type cmd

3. Right click on Comand Prompt and Run as Administrator.

4. Cut and paste what mschramp posted.

[seemagestudio]

Meanwhile I used ChatGPT and it summed up pretty easily. Thanks anyway for the help.
It worked, btw.

Thanks.

[anmol.singhESA9C]

Hello everyone, 

This forum post was brought to my attention.

I see you guys did some troubleshooting and have already found a solution for this issue. 

Just to confirm @jesped is this issue resolved for you as well? 

Is it okay if we go ahead and mark @mschramp post as Accepted Solution to close out this thread.  

[jesped]

Yes, clearing Users\[username]\AppData\Local folder's 'System' and 'Hidden' attributes solves the issue. 
I found this solution a long time ago by pure luck, after many days of infuriating frustration. This issue didn't happen before.

[daniel]

Like discussed, this seems related to the 3ds Max security features and the hidden profile folder. Since this hidden folder is the Windows default, I wouldn't advice to change the attributes and better move the "usermacros" folder to another location. I posted this solution above, see message 4.

It's time Autodesk delivers a real fix, instead of forcing users to mess with the OS. 

[anmol.singhESA9C]

Thank you @jesped for your confirmation on the resolution. I have gone ahead and created a public facing article so other users don't have struggle to find this solution. 

Thank you @daniel we appreciate your feedback, I wanted to let you know that I have passed this feedback along to our internal teams.
We greatly appreciate you sharing your feedback with us, and helping us improve our products for all customers.