3ds max problems..

[cgDynasty00]

I'm having a problem using 3ds max. When I open a .max file that I've been working on for quite some time now, and then I press M (material editor), i always get an Application Error... It's driving me nuts because i can't get to the mats. ANyone have a clue what's going on? I've been working on patching an F22 Raptor, and this started happening today. I don't know what to do...

[Hailfire]

Did you install any plug-ins? What does the error say?

[cgDynasty00]

it says, "An error has occured and the application will now close. No scene Changes have occured since your last save."

All my plug-ins work fine.

however, last night, i installed a new mouse, and that's when i started to act up... but jsut now i changed back to my old mouse, and same thing.... i dk what's wrong.

[Hailfire]

Hmmm, something like this happened with me too. Except, there were no problems with anything in max (Except trying to open previously saved files). Well, one thing you can try to do is, restart your computer. If that doesn't work, try testing 3dsmax by making something really fast, save it, and try to reopen it. If it opens up, then everything should be fine. Another thing you could try is saving it as a .3ds file and importing it or just make two files of the same thing in case something like this does happen. Anything other than the things I've listed here, I don't know what to do. Hope this helped.

P.S. Try to uninstall the mouse software too and retry it.

[Hailfire]

Here's one thing to keep in mind, take everything into consideration. If those options mentioned above don't work, try contacting customer support.

[cgDynasty00]

true.

[cgDynasty00]

hmm... i quickly made a cube and applied the default texture to it, and save it as cube.max , then i re-opened it, and i press M , and i got that same error message....

[Hailfire]

Did you try restarting your computer? Restarting your computer would free up all of your RAM because 3dsmax tends to use up lots of it. So if you don't have a large RAM chip (anything greater than or equal to 128MB), this could cause a problem and it'll refuse to open. Another possibility may be that you have too many programs opened. Close all of them and just leave 3dsmax open.

[cgDynasty00]

my comp is pretty decent for max. I've tried restarting a couple times, but that didn't help. I also tried ending some unnecessary Processes. It's now a problem for all my max files. I want to model so badly...

I'll try beefing up my comp, right now my PC specs are:
p4
40gb (which has gone down to 15.8gb)
gf4 ti4200
512mb
1.8 ghz

[Soukup]

2 ideas to help you

First, there are autoback files that are made every 5 minutes or so by your computer. Go find them and see if your file was in there (in your 3ds max directory in autobak folder). Look at the date and time and maybe the thumbnail pic, and then see if your file is there. You may have to change the extension from .bak to .max (can't remember) I personally autobak about eevry 5 minutes, just in case.

If that doesn't work, there's only 1 more thing you can do. Uninstall it, throw up a prayer, and re-install it. If the problem persists, then contact autodesk, cause there's nothing more you can do.