Where are my dropdown menus in AutoCAD 2009?

The new ribbon interface of AutoCAD 2009 does not display the familiar "File Edit View, Insert.." drop down menus seen in previous versions of AutoCAD by default. So how does one turn them on?


If you right click on the Quick Access Toolbar, you will get a pop up menu as shown above. To enable the drop down menus, click on the the "Show Menu Bar" option. A check mark will appear to the left of the label and the drop down menus we all know and love will appear.

ERROR: Invalid Command Line Argument

If you attempt to create an Inventor 2008 Deployment and the deployment fails with the error "Invalid Command Line Argument", consider the following:

• An Inventor 2008 deployment MUST NOT have any spaces in the path to the deployment image.
• If you are creating the deployment image on computer with 32-bit Windows installed, the path to the deployment image must not exceed 33 characters.
• If you are creating the deployment image on computer with 64-bit Windows installed, the path to the deployment image must not exceed 27 characters.

These are known limitations of the Inventor deployment are documented here, under the "Known Issues" section:

http://www.inventor-certified.com/graphics/requirementsr12.php

Issue: Arrowheads and Solid Fills Don't Appear

If solid fills for your arrowheads and hatches are not appearing in AutoCAD 2009-based products, and you have AutoCAD Raster Design 2009 installed, it may be due to a problem between the two applications.

Autodesk just released a hotfix which resolves this problem. If you are still encountering an issue after reading and installing the hotfix, please let us know.

Please navigate to Autodesk's page http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=DL11316517 for additional information.

Getting a Fatal Error After Installing a Service Pack

This issue applies to many (if not most) of the 2008 products. The good news is that Autodesk just released a hotfix that fixes the error some users are getting after applying a service pack. If you see:

Fatal Error: Unhandled Access Violation Reading 0x0000 Exception at 61b351d6h

Download this hotfix to see if it resolves your issue. If not, call the Avatech Support Center 800-808-7645.

For more information on this issue check out the Autodesk page http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=DL10189158.

Farewell to Land Desktop!

It's official. Autodesk announced that 2009 will be the last release of AutoCAD Land Desktop. In addition, Subscription for Land Desktop will no longer be offered after early July.

Still don't need the full functionality of Civil 3D? That's okay. Autodesk has thought of that and will be releasing AutoCAD Civil in early July - basically a scaled-down version of AutoCAD Civil 3D.

To find out more about your options, Civil 3D or Civil - contact your local Avatech representative. Or just stay tuned to this blog.