AutoCAD 2002 Crashes on startup

So, a colleague was able to open AutoCAD no problem 5 days ago and apparently there were no updates or installations in the last week, but now when he tries to open it, it crashes almost instantly. There are no error messages.

I restarted his computer, and re installed AutoCAD. Neither of these changed the problem.

I then tried opening AutoCAD as another account with administrative privileges, and it worked perfectly.

Seeing as there is an error for only the one user, I am thinking it has something to do with a configuration folder somewhere that didn't get deleted with the removal / installation. I went to:

"C:\Documents and Settings\«name»\Application Data\Autodesk"

"C:\Documents and Settings\«name»\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk"

And renamed both of those to Autodesk.test, but that didn't seem to do anything. After trying to restart AudoCAD these folders weren't even recreated, and it crashed like normal. I then tried copying the other Administrator's folders in place of these (the one where it works), but that didn't help either.

Any ideas?

I would have first looked to see if there was a Windows RESTORE point that existed with a date prior to when the crashes occured and rolled the system back to that point.

I would have first looked to see if there was a Windows RESTORE point that existed with a date prior to when the crashes occured and rolled the system back to that point.

And that would cause a weeks work to be lost.

Not necessarily so IF you had made a backup of the drawing files first. You do make backups of all drawing files right?

Not necessarily so IF you had made a backup of the drawing files first. You do make backups of all drawing files right?

AutoCAD wasn't used in the last week. I am talking about everything else like word/excel documents and stuff. I don't know what has been done as its not my computer, so I can't say how devastating it would be. My point is there should be a fix somewhere.

Are there any error messages displayed?

As stated in the original post, no.

Read this regarding reinstalling AutoCAD and what files to clean out before doing so (although it does not reference 2002). It also mentions editting the Registry.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=2887771&linkID=9240617

I tried that and it didn't help.

I did stumble across something weird though.

If I right click on the shortcut, select runas and choose the current user's account (the one that doesn't work) it then opens.... I just changed the shortcut to include runas, and hopefully that will be good enough.

....no problem 5 days ago and apparently there were no updates or installations in the last week....

Ask him again - the number of times I have been told this only to ask again later and been told "Oh yea, I did download and install ###"

Since your guy had run Autocad 5 days before, your admin/IT person may have changed your guy's user-specific permissions/profile for some reason. Have your guy login, then right click the Autocad icon, select "properties", click "compatability" and see if it will let him check the box that sais "run as administrator". If not, you can also look at the "security" tab to ensure the permissions haven't been changed for that user by another administrator or IT person.

-ChriS

I don't think run as administrator will be the solution. I think he needs full administrator rights.

That's probably right. But there are some instances in which programs will not run properly unless it's set to run as administrator. Autocad may or may not be one of those programs. I'm just not sure.

In all likelihood, this is a permissions issue, like you said. Or it could be something to do with a separate program blocking it upon startup.

If it is becoming blocked by another program, there are a few ways to fix the problem and prevent it in the future.

-ChriS

Exact same problem for me Autocad starts briefly (I only see it in Task Manager) and then stops.

I am the sole user of this PC and an administrator so it is nothing to do with permissions. I suspect a windows update. I have not installed any software apart from updates since this last worked a few weeks ago.

May not be related but when I tried Voloview that crashed too. So will have to get TrueView (much better anyway)

FYI A reverting to a windows restore point will not delete user files.

"Exact same problem for me Autocad starts briefly..."

What version are you referring to?

"Exact same problem for me Autocad starts briefly..."

 

What version are you referring to?

AutoCad 2002 LT on Windows XP, fully updated. In light of what was said I created a new account on my PC and logging in as that user, Autocad DID start up fine. I experimented with the removal of User registry settings for Autocad and then Autocad (with my new user) no longer started, quitting silently .

I created another new user, this time a Limited user. Again logging in as this user Autocad started. It had an error message about ".. could not change registry entry, use Regedit" which I found amusing and indicative that Autocad will not run properly if the user is not Administrator (it also had problems with 'Today'). I went out, changed the user to an Administrator, went back into the user and Autocad did not start!

Fed up at this point I gave up. It could be that with any user it only starts once.

Anyone recommend any reasonably priced CAD program that can work with dwg? Even LT is silly money these days. No wonder at my colleagues (no not me) Cad course, hacked copies are doing the rounds.

Draftsight and ZwCad are two you might look into. ZwCad is having a promo on ZwCad 2010 for $299 until November 10th.

It will do both 2D and 3D I believe. Draftsight may only be 2D. I'm not 100% sure.