The Autodesk Material Libraries are shared libraries installed with Autodesk products such as AutodeskInventor, AutodeskAutoCAD, AutodeskRevit and 3ds Max.
In this tutorial, we'll learn how to transfer Autocad completely automatically - using Zinstall WinWin, and copy Autocad software, drawings and files from the old laptop or desktop to the new one. This tutorial works for XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10. On the Start menu (Windows), click Settings Control Panel. In Control Panel, double-click Programs and Features. Select the Autodesk product, and then click Uninstall/Change. When the installer launches, click Repair or Reinstall. Go to the Windows Uninstall control panel. Select AutoCAD and click Uninstall/Change. In the AutoCAD installer, click Repair or Reinstall. Follow the instructions given.
The Material Libraries are installed by default (unless you deselect the option) when you install 3ds Max. If one of the other applications is already installed, the material libraries might be installed already.
The Autodesk Material Library consists of three sub-libraries:- Autodesk Material Library 2017
This library contains the material appearances used for Realistic Appearance in color styles. It is installed by default, and it is required for 3ds Max to have full visual style and color style functionality.
Note: It is recommended you do not uninstall this component unless you are also uninstalling all Autodesk products that require this library. - Autodesk Material Library 2017 – Base Image Library
This library contains low-resolution (approximately 512 x 512) images for use with Autodesk Materials.
- Autodesk Material Library 2017 – Medium Image Library
This library contains medium-resolution (approximately 1024 x 1024) images for rendering materials in medium detail. This library is used for close-ups and for rendering objects at a larger scale. This library is an installation option available on the Select Products to Install page in the installation wizard.
To reinstall the material libraries, run the corresponding MSI:
- Autodesk Material Library 2017: ContentADSKMaterials2017CMMaterialLibrary2017.msi.
- Autodesk Material Library 2017 Base Image Library: ContentADSKMaterials2017ILBBaseImageLibrary.msi.
- Autodesk Material Library 2017 Medium Image Library: ContentADSKMaterials2017ILMMediumImageLibrary.msi.
If your AutoCAD is affected by errors or bugs then you can manually reset AutoCAD to the default setting. But before trying manual reset I would suggest you try the simpler methods as mentioned in the related article below.
Related: Troubleshooting AutoCAD errors with these tips
In most of the cases these tips can solve the issues but if AutoCAD still ceases to work properly then you can try doing a manual reset which will revert it back to the factory settings.
This method requires you to have administrator privileges as we will make changes in windows registry. Make sure you have closed all instances of Autodesk software before making these changes.
Manual AutoCAD Reset
Press window +R key then type REGEDIT in RUN window and press enter to open the registry editor window. Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER from the file tree on left then expand Software then Autodesk then AutoCAD then R20.0 or R21.0 whichever is there on the list.
How To Reinstall Autocad 2020
Now select folder ACAD-E001:409 right-click on it and select Export from the contextual menu. Specify a location for saving the registry value and save it. Now right click again on ACAD-0001:409 folder and select delete from the contextual menu and close registry editor window.
Make all hidden folders visible using windows explorer, in windows 10 you can make it visible by checking the Hidden items box from View tab of File Explorer as shown in the image below.
Go to C:Users<user name>AppDataRoamingAutodesk and rename AutoCAD 20XX folder to AutoCAD 20XX.old.
Go to C:Users<user name>AppDataLocalAutodesk folder and here again rename AutoCAD 20XX folder to AutoCAD 20XX.old.
In the file path mentioned above <user name> will be the username assigned to your PC for example in my case username is Jaiprakash on my PC. Also, the 20XX is the version of AutoCAD software in my case it was 2017.
When all of these changes are done launch AutoCAD software and it will open in out of the box condition and without any errors (at least in most of the cases!).
Reverting to old AutoCAD
If somehow this does not work for your version of AutoCAD then you can revert AutoCAD installation to the previous condition. Double click on the registry file saved in the example above and rename AutoCAD 20XX.old folders to AutoCAD 20XX and then launch AutoCAD again.
Do you have questions related to this tip? Let us know in the comments below.
