Clean reinstallation of AutoCAD® Architecture or AutoCAD® MEP

Issue

You may experience issues with AutoCAD® Architecture (formerly known as Architectural Desktop) or AutoCAD® MEP (formerly known as Building Systems) after failed installs or uninstalls of other Autodesk products.

In these cases, it is strongly recommended that you completely remove the product from the system, and then try to reinstall the product.

Solution

This solution only applies to the following products.

On Windows XP:

• Architectural Desktop 2005
• Architectural Desktop 2006
• Architectural Desktop 2007
• Autodesk Building Systems 2005
• Autodesk Building Systems 2006
• Autodesk Building Systems 2007
• Autodesk Building Systems 2007.1

On Windows Vista:

• AutoCAD Architecture 2008
• AutoCAD MEP 2008

Important! You should back up any customized Autodesk files before you implement the following procedures.

To completely remove the product from your system

1. Log on as a member of the “Local Administrator” group and disable any antivirus or anti-spyware programs.
2. In the Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs in Windows XP, or select Programs and Features in Windows Vista.
3. Select the product and click Remove.
4. Using Windows Explorer, browse to and delete the following folders:
   
   For Products on Windows XP:
   
   C:\Program Files\<FULL_PROGRAM_NAME>
   C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Application Data\Autodesk\<PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME>
   C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\<PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME>
   C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\<PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME>
   
   For Products on Windows Vista:
   
   C:\Program Files\<FULL_PROGRAM_NAME>
   C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\<PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME>
   C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\<PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME>
   
   You should replace <USERNAME> with the name of each user that runs the product on this computer and replace <FULL_PROGRAM_NAME> and <PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME> with the corresponding product information from the following list:
   
   <FULL_PROGRAM_NAME> Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2005
   <PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME> ADT 2005
   
   <FULL_PROGRAM_NAME> Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2006
   <PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME> ADT 2006
   
   <FULL_PROGRAM_NAME> Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007
   <PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME> ADT 2007
   
   <FULL_PROGRAM_NAME> AutoCAD Architecture 2008
   <PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME> ACD-A 2008
   
   <FULL_PROGRAM_NAME> Autodesk Building Systems 2005
   <PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME> ABS 2005
   
   <FULL_PROGRAM_NAME> Autodesk Building Systems 2006
   <PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME> ABS 2006
   
   <FULL_PROGRAM_NAME> Autodesk Building Systems 2007
   <PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME> ABS 2007
   
   Note: This listing also includes Autodesk Building Systems 2007.1 because the directory names are identical to the directory names for Autodesk Building Systems 2007. The two products cannot be installed side by side.
   
   <FULL_PROGRAM_NAME> AutoCAD MEP 2008
   
   <PROFILE_FOLDER_NAME> ACD-MEP 2008
   
   After removing the applicable directories, you should also delete the corresponding registry keys for the products.

To delete the registry keys and reinstall the product

1. Log on as member of the “Local Administrator” group and disable any antivirus or anti-spyware programs.
2. On the Start menu in Windows XP, click Run. On the Start menu in Windows Vista, use the Search box.
3. Enter regedit in the text box and click OK in Windows XP or press <Enter> in Windows Vista to start the Registry Editor.
4. In the Registry Editor, locate the following keys and delete them:
   
   
• “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\<KEY_NAME>”
• “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\<KEY_NAME>”
  
  You should replace <KEY_NAME> with the corresponding product key name from the following list. For a full list of all Autodesk Product IDs, refer to the following Technical Solution: http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS1061475.
  
  Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2005 <KEY_NAME> is R16.1\ACAD-304:409
  Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2006 <KEY_NAME> is R16.2\ACAD-4004:409
  Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007 <KEY_NAME> is R17.0\ACAD-5004:409
  AutoCAD Architecture 2008 <KEY_NAME> is R17.1\ACAD-6004:409
  Autodesk Building Systems 2005 <KEY_NAME> is R16.1\ACAD-306:409
  Autodesk Building Systems 2006 <KEY_NAME> is R16.2\ACAD-4006:409
  Autodesk Building Systems 2007 <KEY_NAME> is R17.0\ACAD-5106:409
  
  Note: This listing also includes Autodesk Building Systems 2007.1 because the key name is identical to the key name for Autodesk Building Systems 2007. The two  products cannot be installed side by side.
  
  AutoCAD MEP 2008 <KEY_NAME> is  R17.1\ACAD-6006:409
5. Delete the files in the Local Administrator's C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Local Settings\Temp directory to make sure that cached files are not used during the reinstallation.
6. Visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com to make sure that your Windows computer has all of the current updates and patches. Install any updates and patches as needed.
7. Restart your computer.
8. Log on as a member of the Local Administrator group and disable any antivirus or anti-spyware programs.
9. Reinstall the product.

Warning! Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft provides critical information that you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at: http://support.microsoft.com/support.

Use the Microsoft Registry Editor only at your own risk and only after backing up the registry as well as the system.dat and user.dat files as outlined for your operating system in following Microsoft Knowledge Base related solution at:  http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS66513. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topics in the Microsoft Registry Editor.

See also

How to troubleshoot installation and configuration of Autodesk products
How to remove all Autodesk products from a Windows system