by Dennis Collin
Is your AutoCAD ‘broken’ or not working as you would like it?
It happens to us all; you get your new shiny version of AutoCAD, and all seems well (once you’ve tweaked it to your own purposes!) and then, suddenly, clunk! A function in ‘ACAD’ stops working.
Maybe it’s a selection function, maybe it’s a non-performing command. You have tried all the ‘normal’ fixes and adjusted system variables to no avail. Is there not just a simple ‘Reset to factory’ setting? ‘I need this fixed as I’m in a hurry to get some drawings out’ etc.
Thankfully, the answer to this question is YES!
This option has been around for several versions now and it saves the user from having to go into Regedit in Windows and reset some software profile settings.
Fig 1. Locating the Reset AutoCAD/LT settings to Default function within the AutoCAD program group.
The function is within the AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT program group and is rather obviously named; ‘Reset settings to default’. Just browse to the ‘Start’ button to locate the command. Clicking on the reset function, results in the following image (dependent upon your platform).
Fig 2. Whether using AutoCAD LT or full AutoCAD the process is the same.
The user can then decide to back up his existing configuration and save in a Zip file or reset from scratch as desired. Of course, most sensible users would have *cough* done this already.
Once the process is complete the following confirmation is issued.
Then run AutoCAD and perform a few checks, in most cases the offending problem has been fixed. This process is certainly a lot quicker than trying to find your original media and uninstalling and re-installing!