AutoCAD Entities Not Visible in Properties Dialog in Civil 3D 2011

[caddcop]

Has anyone else seen or had this happen? On my PC, in Civil 3D, the AutoCAD properties dialog box does not detect AutoCAD Entities - Only Civil 3D ones.

I've logged this with Autodesk but none of their solutions have fixed it. (uninstall/re-install)

It also applies to the quick select tool.

[sinc]

Sounds like possibly a Profile corruption. C3D does not create User Profiles correctly (and hasn't for years). This is just a guess, because it sounds like something I've seen before.

 

The key thing is that, as SOON AS you install C3D, go into OPTIONS->Profile Tab, and create a copy of either the Imperial or Metric Profiles, with your own name (I'd use something like "C3D2011" for your version of C3D). Then set that User Profile as Current, and customize it as-needed. The cool thing about that is that, if you have to install a service pack, it won't "clobber" all your user settings and reset them to "the default".

 

But to get back to the original question, there are a bunch of settings you usually don't see, which get stored in your User Profile. As long as you start with a copy of > or >, you're OK. But otherwise, you'll get an incomplete User Profile. You can see this if you go into REGEDIT (which I can't recommend, since you can destroy so many things in your computer if you use REGEDIT without being careful). Unless you create a copy of one of the (very-poorly named Profiles like > or >), you can run into MAJOR GRIEF. One of the keys is that, in REGEDIT, you'll see that one of your keys in HKCU/Software/Autodesk/AutoCAD/Rxx.x/ACAD-XXXX:409 will be missing a bunch of entries... Most notably, there will be no AEC directory in that REGEDIT key. This is a sign that your User Profile was created incorrectly. If you don't know how to solve this problem, then a complete uninstall/reinstall (incorporating deletion of the registry entries) might be your easiest course of action. Look this up on the internet if you need complete instructions (look for "reinitiating the secondary installer"). If that does't work, well, then you may be looking at a Support Request with Autodesk, or alternatively finding an expert like me or RK McSwain to help you solve the issue.

[caddcop]

This was logged with Autodesk and I have done a couple of complete re-installs, including one where I removed all traces in the registry and it is still occurring.

I have seen issues with bad profiles on other PC's, but so far, mine is the only one displaying this symptom. My home PC runs fine using a home use license. It is only my work PC.

Thanks for taking the time to respond with such detail. If we figure this out, I will post our findings.