Maya is freezing when I open files

[jcasey7LEZV5]

Hello! Here is my issue, started on November 3rd. Maya will open like normal, but as soon as I try to open any .ma file, Maya will freeze up. I can see the outliner, the viewport is solid white, but I can't click on anything. When I open the task manager, it says Maya is not responding. Closing and reopening any files doesn't fix it. I can open a new file just fine and use it like normal. Same with an .mb file.

Through google searching, I've tried:

-restarting Maya preferences by renaming the file

-uninstalling and reinstalling Maya (tried both 2024 and 2025).  I've done this multiple times. I followed YouTube tutorials to make sure I cleanly uninstalled them too

-opening other files (for some reason, .mb files work but .ma doesn't. Majority of my files are .ma)

-Clearing C drive (I cleared it of unnecessary files recently, as I normally do, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. It currently has 59 GB of storage left)

-Hard restarting my computer

-Checking for updates for my graphics driver (it was up-to-date), as well as restarting it, and playing around with its settings

-temporarily shutting down my "virus and threat protection" to see if that was preventing Maya from running. When that wasn't the case, of course I turned it back on

-opening the files on my school's computers. They're remote connect and very slow so I hate working through them, but that's how I ended up getting my projects done on time. All files open up just fine on their computers

-Opening the .ma file in notepad, but honestly I have no idea what I'm supposed to be looking for, but it doesn't seem like the .ma files themselves are the problems anyway

-Importing files into a new scene. Same issue, it just freezes

-I also just tried leaving it and waiting over an hour to see if the files will just open eventually

Is there anything not on this list I can maybe try? I've been googling and going through all the answers I can find.

Idk if this information is helpful, but my computer is Acer Aspire e5. I am working in Maya 2024. I believe this is my first time asking for help through a forum, so I apologize it I went about this wrong in any way

[Christoph_Schaedl]

Do those files open on an other workstation?

[jcasey7LEZV5 · Accepted solution]

Correct, yes. Though I did more troubleshooting and I now think the physical computer itself is the issue. It occurred to me I didn’t test if other 3D apps were working. So I opened ZBrush and sure enough that one was having issues too.

I’m not for sure if this is the problem, but I think I was mistaken when I thought I updated my graphics drivers. I confirmed one was up to date, but the other one I realized disappeared from my laptop. I went to their website and tried to download from there but then I got a pop-up saying no driver detected. I did various other fix-its I found off the internet, but I think that the chip is damaged.

So not a Maya error after all, I don’t think. My computer is just broken.

[lauri_barnhart]

Hi @jcasey7LEZV5,

I wanted to check in and see if you still needed assistance, or if you found a solution to your question already? Let us know if you need further assistance by providing an update or if you have found a solution, please share it with the community so other members who may have the same question could learn from your experience.

All the best,

Lauri | Community Manager

[lauri_barnhart]

Hi @jcasey7LEZV5,

I wanted to check in and see if you still needed assistance, or if you found a solution to your question already? Let us know if you need further assistance by providing an update or if you have found a solution, please share it with the community so other members who may have the same question could learn from your experience.

All the best,

Lauri | Community Manager