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Help-block paths lost!


sarah

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Could anybody help, recently my company updated our CAD system from LT2008 to full AutoCAD 2011 with Inventor. We had to have new PC's to enable the new software. In the changeover ALL my blocks that were saved in my C drive have disappeared, we did a C drive copy so they should have gone over. In my historic site drawings the blocks still exist, but they do not appear in my design center anymore and I cannot find their paths!!!

The worst case scenario is that i now have to go back through all my historic drawings to redefine the old blocks and their paths, but has anyone had this problem before or does anyone know a sneaky way of finding where these blocks exist now. It would save me a huge amount of time (about 1500 blocks needed to be found!)

Thanks in advance

Sarah

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yeah, when i was starting my blocks library my trainer insisted that i should save my files to design centre within my C drive/program files/Autocad 2008 as it would mean that i had control over the block and nobody else. Hence all my block files were in C drive, but when my C drive was copied onto my new computer, these files went missing, my existing blocks in historic drawings are still there and visible but i cant investigate their path and find out if these files have been relocated anywhere or even if they exist anymore.

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Have you searched your new hard drive?

 

On your old system was the path to your blocks listed in Options > Files > Support File Search Path?

 

Please don't tell us you did not back up your custom made blocks to a flash drive or a CD. Please.

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yep i have searched my new hard drive and have found nothing.....and no, i didnt back up my blocks to a flash drive, only my drawings....not my blocks, dumb i know!

when i select a block in an existing drawing and open properties it tells me all about the block but i cant find its path...is there a way of me seeing what its path is?

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I can't think of a way at the moment.

 

I'm working in AutoCAD Electrical. If I do a "list" on a block it does not tell me the path. Checking Properties does not give me the info either.

 

Is your old computer still around?

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yes my old computer is still around but when we changed computers over my IT guy uninstalled autocad Lt 2008 off it so he could re-install it on my new comp so my old comp does not have the program or the program files on it any more, bigger issues arose when my IT guy tried to re-install LT2008 onto my new comp because our Inventor sales team had already taken my serial code and updated it to change to the new software - hence having uninstalled LT2008 we then could not re-install it anywhere as our serial codes no longer existed....what a mess!

I think theres no way other than redefining all my old blocks in old drawings and creating new blocks and paths...the long way around!

If you think of anything i would be very grateful......if not, thankyou anyway for your help.

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Re: old computer. You created a folder for your custom blocks? I mean, you just didn't scatter them willy-nilly about your hard drive right? Was this folder in the root directory ( C:\ ) or did you (shudder) place it inside the AutoCAD LT program folder?

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*shudder* yep...it was in my program folder.....only because my trainer told me that this was the best place to keep them! not cool!

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Never, ever create a folder for user created content and then place it in the program folder of the program itself. You could have just as easily lost it if you had to do an uninstall/reinstall on your old computer.

 

Create the folder and put it under the root drive. Example: C:\MyACADStuff. This is acceptable while C:\Program Files\AcadLT\MyACADStuff would NOT be acceptable (as you now know).

 

And most importantly, copy this unique folder to either a flash drive, a network drive location only accessible by you and/or your colleagues, or a CD/DVD. This is your "insurance" in case disaster strikes (as it did here).

 

Let' just say you have learned an invaluable lesson you will never forget.

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What OS are you running now that you have a new computer and new software? And is it 32-bit or 64-bit?

 

Is AutoDesk Inventor 2011 32-bit or 64-bit?

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Never, ever create a folder for user created content and then place it in the program folder of the program itself.

 

We do and have done so successfully for years. I actually have six folders of custom content (blocks, .dvb, .net, .lsp, .cui, icons).

 

Granted, I keep a copy of all those support files on the server. I just don't get your "never, ever" statement. :?

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Indeed i have, i've already started re doing my blocks.....not in my program file!!! but in another file in C drive.....wish my 'trainer!' had told me this in the first place...thank you for your help

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"Granted, I keep a copy of all those support files on the server. I just don't get your "never, ever" statement."

 

You have your insurance policy in the form of copies of files stored on a server. At least you were thinking that far ahead.

 

The advice is intended for those who think nothing about where they locate their folders. The advice harkens back so long I can't even recall where I first heard it. Must have been my DOS days.

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