Troubleshooting: Lost Dialog Box?
The case of the Missing Dialog Box...What do I do when a dialog box does not open, or appears to be missing?
The Issue: When you enter a command that should bring up a dialog box on-screen, but the dialog box is not displayed and the program appears to 'lock up'. When clicking on-screen, a 'ding' sound/alert may be audible which happens when you click outside of a modal dialog window. The only way to regain control of the program is to press the ESC key. Another issue could be related to the FILEDIA system variable settings.
The Cause(s): This problem is often a result of either a change in screen resolution, or a change in the number of monitors connected to the computer. Most programs keep track of the last position of their dialog boxes and at times, that location may not be visible within the
The Solution(s): To bring the dialog box (or window) back into view, try one of the following options.For AutoCAD (and AutoCAD-based) products, type CMDDIA on the command line and set the value to 1.
- Hold down the WINDOW and SHIFT keys and press the LEFT or RIGHT arrow keys on the keyboard to navigate the missing dialog box into view.
- Execute a command to activate the dialog box.
- Press ALT+SPACEBAR on the keyboard.
- Press M (MOVE) on the keyboard.
- Press the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys on the keyboard to navigate the missing dialog box into view.
Press the LEFT mouse button to cancel the operation.
- Change the screen resolution to a different value (smaller or larger) which should bring all the dialog boxes into view.
- Once you find the missing dialog box, drag/move it into a central area of your program/screen.
- Adjust the screen resolution back to the original value.
- Disable unused video ports in your system's video settings or video driver control panel as a dialog box could be moving to the video space of an unused video port even if you never had a second monitor connected.
- Reset your AutoCAD (or AutoCAD-based) product to the 'default' settings.
- For more information, CLICK HERE.
- Manipulate the Windows Registry. ** USE CAUTION **
- For more information, CLICK HERE.
- Ensure the system variable FILEDIA is set to 1.