Workspace Layout Changes on ACAD 2018 load?

[Anonymous]

 I recently updated to AutoCAD 2018 from 2017 in hopes that my crashing issues when working in 3D would be resolved, but alas, there is no change. That however is another problem altogether from the one I am here to ask about now, one that I don't see being resolved anytime soon, as Autodesk places the blame solely on Windows 10, and the answer I was given was to downgrade to Windows 7, something I am not going to do....

Anyway, my latest struggle with AutoCAD, involves my workspaces in 2018. I am a little old school in my drafting process, and prefer the classic toolbars to the palettes layout, and thus have created my own "Classic" workspace layout. I have migrated this layout from as far back as version 2014, and have never had any real issues with it until now. On initial load of 2018, The new gui updates required me to rearrange my toolbars, and remove some that no longer fit. After doing so, I locked the docked bars in place, and saved the workspace. Now, every time I load AutoCAD, my toolbars rearrange themselves, and I can't figure out why. The only remedy I have found thus far is to turn off "Automatically Save Workspace Settings", and then reload my workspace after each time I load AutoCAD. It is a little frustrating, and I am hoping someone has an idea on how to keep this from happening.

Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks!

[pendean]

If a software is crashing, you should try and fix it by seeking help, not by upgrading the software and compounding the problems.

Do you still have R2017 installed? Then start a new thread, post the type of video card in use, your OS and if R2017 is fully patched and updated, and explain in detail how and when the crashes happen. Post a DWG file if you think it would help.

Your the toolbars rearranging problem: it appears you are doing it correctly with the same fix as all older versions, save your WORKSPACE after you move them, the lock them in place with LOCKUI command.
So by chance is your R2018 startup calling a saved external Profile or reloading your menu for you? Or perhaps your workspace manual saves are not sticking.

[TheCADnoob]

a total shot in the dark if @pendean's suggestion dont get it you can try changing the 'start on' value to 'do not cahnge' in the CUI

[Anonymous]

I went ahead and tried setting the Navigation bar to "Do Not Change", and this did not help. I am attaching screenshots to help demonstrate my issue. The reason I find it annoying is that with the extra row above, I lose screen area, and on my small screen (in my line of work a permanent workstation with multiple monitors is not an option), it's a little bit of an issue. Be advised, that the rearrangement used to be worse until I disabled automatic workspace saves, at some times creating a row up top for each toolbar, along with some other funky layouts happening when the drawing recovery manager loads on startup after a crash. Below, the first image shows what happens when I load ACAD, the second shows the saved layout of my "classic" workspace. This did not happen with 2017, only in 2018. I could go back to 2017, however I have noticed improvements in performance in 2018 that I find worth sticking with.

As to my comment about the constant crashing issues I had in 2017 and now 2018, most notably when, but not always limited to working in 3D: I did start a thread about this last year, around the end of November or early December. It was at that point that I was told the problem was with Windows 10, not ACAD, and I needed to downgrade to Windows 7 in order to run ACAD without issue. I had hoped with a larger adoption rate of Windows 10, that these issues may have been addressed in 2018, but I still have the same experience. I will not be downgrading for the benefit of a single piece of software that makes up only a small portion of the software I use on a daily basis, however I have found a workaround of sorts that has helped: One of the major indicators that a crash is about to happen is when I press escape twice to clear out any active commands or selection sets, I often see the grips remaining on the lines or geometry that were previously selected. At this point, I find the remedy is to hit the save button, which saves my current work, and regens the drawing, clearing the graphical error, and things return to normal. This has cut down the number of crashes, and amount of time I spend recovering drawings.    

If it helps in either case, my PC is an laptop with a 2.60ghz Intel I7-6700HQ processor, Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics card, LCD display with a maximum resolution of 1080p, 6gb DDR5 dedicated graphics RAM, 16gb DDR4 system RAM, 120gb primary SSD, 1tb secondary HDD, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit version 1703 (Creator's Edition).  

 

[TheCADnoob]

i read somewhere about a similar issue. having trouble googling it up again. the upshot was they finally fixed by their (different but related problem) problem by creating their custom cuix and saving it (with auto save space changes disabled) they the immediately copied the file to another location manually through OS file explorer and closed everything out and manually copied the cuix back to CAD and overwrote it.

[Anonymous]

GRMaine,

We have been experiencing the exact same condition in AutoCAD 2018 with the new scaling.

My test condition: AutoCAD 2018 with two menus loaded (main and enterprise). The display is set to use the standard smaller buttons. Two top rows of toolbars are loaded from the main cuix menu, and an additional row of custom toolbars from our in-house enterprise cuix menu. All of the LOCKUI options are checked; all floating and docked toolbars and windows locked. We also use QuikPik, which also has toolbar locking.

After some testing, I've found:

A) When the Windows font size is at 100%, the toolbar positions stay put as with the versions prior to 2018.

B) When the Windows font size is set to 125% (kicking in the scaling), the toolbars will reposition themselves.

C) After AutoCAD loads and rearranges the toolbars, clicking on the saved Workspace will reposition the toolbars back to their respective locations.

D) After rearranging the rows of toolbars in different orders, I've found that the regardless of where the toolbars are loaded from, the first two rows of toolbars will stay put, and it's the third row of toolbars that starts to get rearranged.

We use larger high resolution monitors (>= 30") and our Windows text size is set to a minimum of 125%. I'll experiment with placing perhaps a row of toolbars are the bottom of the workspace and see if the toolbars stay put.

Thanks for everyone's input!

[Anonymous]

To update, I relocated the third row of toolbars from the top of the workspace to the bottom of the workspace (limiting the top to two rows), and saved the workspace. The bottom of the workspace now has two rows of toolbars as well. Reloaded AutoCAD, and voila, the toolbars are staying put.

Good luck with your workspace!

[fredi]

I actually have the same problem on 2018 LT. doesn't like anything three rows down from top, but I also have the same problem on  docked sidebars. I like the xref on top at right side followed by layers, then properties, all collapsed and docked but every time I open  Autocad they are in a different order. not the worst thing but what's up? keeps me guessing with where my mouse should go. 

[dgorsman]

The top-to-bottom order of palettes docked left or right has never been guaranteed and has never maintained any set order.  It would be nice if this was added to the workspace setting though...

[Anonymous]

This also solves the issue with the tool bars not showing all the buttons. it makes the icons really small though.

When I go to use large Icons they are way too big. Autodesk can you have something in the middle or several options to resize Icons instead of just large and small? I know you review these posts. get your stuff together or I will try another product. I was self taught on AutoCAD I can self teach myself on something else if you prefer.

I really wish AutoCAD would stop making itself incompatible with Windows. Same with Adobe. They just do not care anymore what changes they make to their programs that Windows interacts with and visa versa. Windows could probably do something on their end to make it more compatible.

I guess all three just do not realize how the average user is affected by their changes, nor do they seem to care or they would Beta Test their programs to see how they interact with each other. It is quite the shame they put on themselves but doing this. They probably do not care as I said before.

Thank you JohJGray for your insights. you are very appreciated in my eyes.