Without A Net

Crash Problem with recent NVIDIA drivers in Windows 7 and Vista

We have recently seen issues where customers running the NVIDIA FX with the 191.00 driver are experiencing crashes when the screen saver enables, the user locks the system, or the system goes into hibernation. In these instances, AutoCAD will crash without generating a CER when you return to the application. The problem seems to be limited to 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista and Windows 7.

If you are running the NVIDIA FX with the 191.00 driver and are experiencing this problem, we recommend downloading and installing the following drivers instead:

32-bit Vista and Windows 7

64-bit Vista and Windows 7

Autodesk is actively working on certifying and posting newer drivers from NVIDIA.

New Training Video: Subscription Advantage Pack for AutoCAD 2010

I posted a new video to the Autodesk section of YouTube:

The video is about 24 minutes in length and provides an overview of the new features and functionality provided in the Subscription Advantage Pack for AutoCAD 2010. The Subscription Advantage Pack is a benefit to Subscription customers and provides early access to new features in AutoCAD.

In addition to AutoCAD 2010, the Subscription Advantage Pack can be installed on the 2010 versions of AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD Mechanical, AutoCAD P&ID, AutoCAD Plant 3D, and AutoCAD Structural Detailing. It can also be installed to an AutoCAD included in the Inventor, Revit Structure, Revit Architectural and Revit MEP suites.

The Subscription Advantage Pack has no dependency on AutoCAD Update 1 so it can be installed on either the original shipping version or a version that has been upgraded to include Update 1.

Update 1 Released for Multi-Language AutoCAD LT 2010

A new version of Update 1 has been released for the Multi-Language Distribution versions of AutoCAD LT 2010:

AutoCAD LT 2010 Update 1

The MLD version of AutoCAD LT 2010 (build D.59.0.0) enables language packs for the following regions:

Americas
English, French and Spanish languages

Asia-Pacific (except Japan)
English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and Korean

You can determine your version of AutoCAD LT by entering _VERNUM at the command prompt.

If your product is version D.55.0.0 (UNICODE), use the following files:

• autocadlt2010update1.exe
• autocadlt2010update1x64.exe

If your product is version D.59.0.0 (UNICODE), use the following files:

• autocadlt2010update1mld.exe
• autocadlt2010update1x64mld.exe

Updated HP drivers address AutoCAD plotting issues in Vista

HP has released updated drivers for the DesignJet 70 and DesignJet 500 series plotters that fix errors when plotting from AutoCAD in Windows Vista.

Click through to the following technical solution for more detailed information on the errors and links to the updated drivers:

Plotting to older HP plotters on Windows Vista causes error messages during plot and when closing application

Update to Autodesk Certified Hardware XML Database

An updated version of the Certified Hardware XML database has just been posted:

Certified Hardware XML Database Update

You may need to download this file if:

• You have new graphics hardware.
• You have a new driver version for your graphics hardware in the graphics hardware list.
• The status of your graphics card has changed in the database, e.g., the Status has changed from Supported to Certified.
• Autodesk or the graphics hardware vendor has resolved issues with your graphics hardware.

The current version of the Hardware Certification Database is 18.0.0.3. If the local version of your database is older than the current version, then your database should be updated.

As always, consult the readme for more details and installation instructions.

Updated Autodesk Product Manager BIN File

An updated version of the BIN file for the Autodesk Product Manager has been posted:

Updated BIN file for Autodesk Product Manager Utility

This version updates the Autodesk Product Manager to detect new Media & Entertainment products that are now shipping. Instructions for replacing the previous BIN file with the new one are included in the readme.

For more information on the Autodesk Product Manager Utility, you can reference this post from earlier in the year:

Autodesk Product Manager Updates

Update 1 issues with Live Update and 64-bit IE8

I blogged about this in May but now that we have released Update 1, I wanted to remind everyone that it is still an issue:

Live Update and 64-bit IE8

If you are having problems with Live Update downloading Update 1 because you are running a 64-bit version of IE8, download the update directly from the Autodesk Services & Support pages at these links:

AutoCAD 2010 Update 1
AutoCAD LT 2010 Update 1

Update 1 includes a fix for this problem so this shouldn't be an issue in the future.

Update 1 Released for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2010

Autodesk has released Update 1 for AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010. 32-bit and 64-bit versions of this update can be found at the following links:

AutoCAD 2010 Update 1
AutoCAD LT 2010 Update 1

This update is only for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT and cannot be applied to vertical products that are based on AutoCAD 2010.

Installing Update 1 will increment the product version to 2, e.g., "AutoCAD 2010 - English Version 2".

Before installing Update 1, I strongly recommend you review the associated readme file for installation and deployment instructions, information for Windows Vista users, and details about the primary issues that are resolved by Update 1.

Thanks to detailed information from customers who used the Customer Error Reporting (CER) Utility, problems were identified and fixed in more than 30 commands and features. This is a perfect example of why those CER reports are so important and how they help us improve the product.

Cleanup Utilities Updated for AutoCAD 2010

Autodesk has released new versions of the Scale List Cleanup Utility and the Regapp ID Cleanup Utility that now work with AutoCAD 2010. These utilities run outside of AutoCAD and can be used to clean drawings of excess annotation scales and excess unreferenced registered application IDs.

More information on these topics can be found here:

Excess unreferenced regapp IDs causing performance issues

Custom scales cause performance issues with Open, Xref, Copy/Paste and Insert functions

The 2010 versions can be downloaded from the following links:

Regapp ID Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD 2010
Scale List Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD 2010

The previous versions can be downloaded from these links:

Regapp ID Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD 2009/2008
Scale List Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD 2009/2008

Hotfix for Crash at Startup or When Editing Text

I just realized that I neglected to mention this when it went live a few days ago.

Certain anti-spyware programs can conflict with some of our 2010 products resulting in the potential for applications to crash at startup. AutoCAD may also crash when selecting, editing, or creating text.

Separate hotfixes have been created to correct these problems in AutoCAD 2010 (and products based on AutoCAD 2010), AutoCAD LT 2010, DWG TrueView 2010, and Autodesk Design Review 2010. Links to the respective product hotfixes can be found here:

Crash at Startup or When Editing Text