Common troubleshooting procedures for TurboCAD

Run as administrator… (Vista+)

The first step in trouble shooting just about any problem with TurboCAD is to start TurboCAD by right-clicking the desktop icon and choosing "Run as administrator".

This will fix problems related to registry virtualization. 

The most common issues related to registry virtualization.   TurboCAD asking for activation every time you load, and TurboCAD not being able to read the serial number, resulting in the error message “Your serial number is either missing or incorrect”.

Other problems could occur from TurboCAD not being able to load .dll files correctly, because registry virtualization has not raised the user level for running TC. This can result in tools not being available, TC not behaving correctly.  TurboCAD not starting correctly and TurboCAD crashing.

So, "Run as administrator" is a good place to start troubleshooting any issue.

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Clearing out the "Built-In" folder.

Problems with the workspace can cause all sorts of strange problems in TurboCAD.  Tools may not behave correctly and TC may not even start correctly.  So clearing out the contents of the "Built-In" folder will force TurboCAD to rebuild the workspace next time you launch the software.

By default the "Built-in" folder is located:
Windows Vista/7/8/10
C:\Users\your user name\AppData\Roaming\IMSIDesign\TurboCAD\version number\flavor of TC\Profiles\Built-In

Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\Application Data\IMSIDesign\TurboCAD\version number\flavor of TC\Profiles\Built-In

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Make sure version is the most up-to-date.

Starting at v19, updates are automatic and will be going forward.  If this is an older version, you can go to the "Help" menu and "About TurboCAD", there you can view the Version and Build numbers.  Patches must me installed sequentially, so if you have 16.0, 16.1 needs to be installed before 16.2.  Patches can be downloaded from the support section of TurboCAD.com or the File Library section of the user forum.  If the problem has to do with TurboCAD crashing or becoming unresponsive, I would recommend skipping the patches and doing a clean install. 

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Clean Install For Windows Vista/7/8/10

A clean install involves removing TurboCAD, then deleting some files and folder that get left behind, then re-installing the latest build of TurboCAD.  You can download the latest build of TurboCAD from the File Library section of the user forums. This is not a 100% clean install, as we do not mess with the registry or delete the documents folder.  Below are Clean Install instructions for Windows Vista and above.  XP and below has separate instructions farther down.

• Using the programs and features control panel remove all versions of TurboCAD and symbols installs.
• Delete all of these folders.
  
  • C:\Users\your user name\AppData\Roaming\IMSIDesign\TurboCAD-??-??<version that you need to re-install>
    "AppData" may be hidden. To show the hidden files and folders go to your "Folder options" in Control Panel.
  • C:\Program Files\IMSIDesign
• Download the full version of TurboCAD ??
  EXAMPLE/download.imsisoft.com/turbocad/TurboCAD-??-??.exe
• Install TurboCAD from the downloaded installer using your original serial number.

Clean Install For Windows XP

• Using add or remove programs remove all versions of TurboCAD and symbols installs.
• Delete all of these folders.
  
  • C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\Application Data\IMSIDesign\TurboCAD-??-??
    <version that you need to re-install>
  • C:\Program Files\IMSIDesign
• Download the full version of TurboCAD ??
  EXAMPLE//download.imsisoft.com/turbocad/TurboCAD-??-??.exe
• Install TurboCAD from the downloaded installer.

[/list][/list]

Removing all versions of TurboCad seems a bit extreme.

Henry H

I don't think the link is working see Sample screen shot

Thanks W.D.

re: I don't think the link is working.

I don't think it's supposed to work. It probably is meant to be an example, but the forum software turns it into a live link. A different 'character' for the first two forward slashes would cure it.
Forward slash / vs  ∕ &#8725; (an HTML symbol)

http://download.imsisoft.com/turbocad/TurboCAD-??-??.exe
http:∕∕download.imsisoft.com/turbocad/TurboCAD-??-??.exe

yeah your right before it was edited it was initially set in hyperlink mode.For the unsuspected member it could we bit of confusion.thanks for the 411

Common trouble shooting procedures for TurboCAD

(text deleted by Alvin)...

This is not a %100 clean install as we do not mess with the registry or delete the documents folder.

...(text deleted by Alvin)

Rip, Thanks for that.  What is/are the additional procedure(s) recommended for doing a 100% clean [un]-install?

-Alvin

I had a problem with Clearing out the Built-In folder. I tried clearing out the contents of the Built-In folder as you suggested. TC works right, now.

So I tried to find the file library section of the user forum as you spoke of here.

Make sure version is most up to date.

I cannot find the  file library section of the user forum.

Gilbert

Does clearing out the built-in folder lose your button layout and keyboard shortcuts?

I assume all of that is stored in the cfg file, but I wanted to ask before clearing it out.

Thanks!

re: I cannot find the "file library" section of the user forum.
See: Updates and Patches. The "File Library" category which contains this patch link is only available when you are logged on. It's not viewable by "guests".

re: Does clearing out the "Built-In" folder lose your button layout and keyboard shortcuts? I assume all of that is stored in the cfg file…
Yes, but loading your custom Workspace (Tools/Customize ⟹Options page) will restore everything to normal.

Hello everyone, I just joined this group and I have an installation problem: 
I downloaded an evaluation copy of TurboCAD Deluxe 19 which came with its own unique serial num. I liked it and decided to buy it. When I start it, a dialog appears asking to Buy or to Activate Later. I clicked on Buy but a screen with an IMSI letterhead type page reveals but has no links. It's a dead end.
Meanwhile, I received an email asking how I liked the program and that I could save $ by clicking the link at the bottom of the page. I did this, paid for it, and was provided with downloads for the program along with symbols, etc., and new serial number with Activation code.
This new downloaded copy has a different serial number from the eval. copy so I uninstalled the eval. copy and then installed the new paid copy with its own unique serial number. But when I start the new program, the same dialog asking to buy or activate later comes up. Also, when I start the program and go to Help>About, the serial number shown is still the one from the evaluation copy even though I uninstalled the eval. copy and even though I entered the new provided serial number for the paid copy.  I have tried many times and variations including a "Clean Instl" but to no avail. I called IMIS tech. but was told by msg to send an email describing the problem. I did this over two weeks ago but nothing. This type of issue drives me crazzy. I'm beginning to feel sorry that I bought TurboCAD.
Can anyone please help?
Thanx - Bob

Have you put in the activationcode in help menu, after you open TC

Torfinn

Yes I did put in the activation code even though the serial number was that of the eval. copy. But I'm told I entered the wrong code or serial number. I really have tried every combo I could come up with.
This is very frustrating.

There is a recept in the top of this page, have you try'd this ??
Seems to remember that someone have a problem, follow this steps and fix the problem not long time ago


Torfinn

Thank you TurboTech, your advice got me back up and running, however, by right clicking the shortcut on the desktop and clicking "Run as Administrator" you will have to do this for every launch of the program. I took it a step further by locating the TCW**.exe in Windows Explorer. Right click on this, select "Properties", then "Compatibilites". Toward the bottom of page under "Priveliges" put check in Run as Administrator box. Now runs with no problem or having to right click anything. Hope this helps somebody.

Hi TurboTech. I had downloaded TurboCAD Deluxe 19.0 it ran fine for several months then when updating to 19.1 my anti virus "found" a trojan and took out the "TurboCADDeluxe19.msi" file so I can't update, repair, uninstall, or reinstall. I've tried tech and customer support without success and feel I need to do a full manual uninstall and then a full 100% clean install. Can you give me the proceedure for doing this? I can't get past the program still being on the drive as it won't be over written. 

Hi TurboTech. I had downloaded TurboCAD Deluxe 19.0 it ran fine for several months then when updating to 19.1 my anti virus "found" a trojan and took out the "TurboCADDeluxe19.msi" file so I can't update, repair, uninstall, or reinstall. I've tried tech and customer support without success and feel I need to do a full manual uninstall and then a full 100% clean install. Can you give me the proceedure for doing this? I can't get past the program still being on the drive as it won't be over written.

You may need to re-install TurboCAD 19 from disk to remove the software.  If you are still having trouble please send an email to [email protected]

Hi,

I had a problem with a file crashig TC -  running as adminstrator allowed me to open file and delete problem xref and move on.

Is it best to kep opening as administrator in the future? (i don't get the difference).

regards
Brett

can we add:

Use TurboCAD native drawing format (TCW) to ensure the program works correctly.

this is not mentioned anywhere and may seem obvious to many but i have been cursing this software for being buggy simply because i was working with a DWG file.
many thanks to Brian C. at IMSI for the help. cheers mate!

david.

Moved post by Marc to new thread.

I'm trying once again to "get over the hump" and become a productive TurboCAD user.  I have V17.2 Pro Platinum, on an IMSI DVD.  I have recently installed it on an old Windows XP desktop, where it runs without problems.  I would much rather be using it on my newer, much faster Windows 7 Professional 64-bit machine.  I can install it there, using all the tricks from the basenote in this thread to make sure it's a "clean" install, but it ALWAYS crashes if I move a toolbar: either dock an undocked toolbar, or undock a docked one, or even just move a docked one to a different place.  So far, 100% of the time this happens.  By "crash," I mean that the TC window goes into a coma and is completely unresponsive.  Sometimes, but not always, Windows seems to recognize that it's not responding and puts a message on the top line to that effect.  If I select help > about turbocad, the popup window tells me it's version 17.2, build 59.1.  Is that the latest build of this version?  If it's not, where can I get the latest version?  If it is, any ideas what's going on?  Oh, and I've also installed it on my Windows 7 Home Premium laptop with EXACTLY the same behavior.  A Google search led me to a discussion from someone else with the same problem, but that thread is closed so I can't ask what the resolution was; it wasn't exactly spelled out in the thread. - - Things I've tried include, but are not limited to, running the program in administrator mode, running in XP compatibility mode, and uninstalling including clearing out all the registry entries and everything else I could find and then doing a fresh installation from the DVD.  Oh, and my desktop Win7 machine is dual-boot, either 64 bit or 32 bit, and the same thing happens if I install under the 32-bit OS.  Any ideas would be much appreciated!

"If it hurts when you do that..."

Here's a suggestion that might work: Don't try to move the toolbars. If your XP installation has the toolbars where you like them, save that configuration via Tools>Customize>Toolbars>Save In, overwriting the currently displayed name with a new one. (Press the "Save In" button after typing the new name.) This action will create a new .cfg file, which is located in the Documents\Config folder -- which in turn is wherever your TurboCad User Data is installed. (My own is not in the default location, and unfortunately I don't recall where the default is.) Transfer this .cfg file to your Win7 machine, launch TCad, go to Tools>Customize>Toolbars, find the new configuration in the Load From list, and press the "Load From" button. If your luck holds, the toolbars will be reset to match your XP desktop without a crash.

Your 17.2 build is the latest, BTW.

Henry H

First off . . . thank you very much, Henry, for your ideas.  They got me to do some further experimenting, with interesting results.

"If it hurts, don't do it" is fine, but when you see lots of others walking around and not feeling the same hurt, you tend to want to get the hurt fixed.  :-)

The thought of saving a .cfg from my XP installation and moving it over to be available on the Win 7 machine did indeed work.  It occurred to me that I could make several such configurations and have them "ready to go" on the Win 7 machine.  You have to realize here that, though I've had TC17.2 for quite some time, I had never become proficient using it, so there's a LOT I don't know about it.  Realizing now that I can get to pretty much everything I want through the "tools" palette, and that's very configurable (and indeed allows for selection of one of any number of sets of tools, depending on what I'm doing at the time), gives me an alternate way to handle things.  I find that generally I like to have toolbars docked, and since at least so far am not too picky about where they are, having them available in a palette on the right side is just fine.

About the "tools>customize>toolbars>save in":  no problem doing that from the XP machine.  Used "everything.exe" (a wonderful little program for finding "lost" files) to find out where the .cfg files are kept, first in the XP installation and then moving the new .cfg file to the Win 7 machine.  Started up TC on the Win 7 machine.  Hmmm...tools>customize>toolbars brought up a different window than I saw in XP.  Oh, I had selected the "Standard" UI theme there, and was using one of the others under Win7.  OK, change the UI to "Standard" on the Win 7 machine.  OK, now I can select the new .cfg, and it works fine.  But wait, there's more!  NOW there's no problem docking and undocking the toolbars under Win 7!  So this is my best workaround yet.  As long as I don't discover anything in the Standard UI theme that I just can't live with, maybe I'll be good to go.

My hope is that by capturing this in the forum, it may help someone else before they've pulled out all their hair.  And again, thanks Henry for giving me the nudge that got me to experiment and find this solution.  And perhaps someone will have ideas about WHY I see the problem when using one of the other UI themes, and maybe even offer a cleaner fix.

Glad to hear that you had some luck. Version 17.2, incidentally, is in my opinion one of the best.

Henry H

Good morning,
I've installed TC2016 and activate the platinum extension.
After the restart I receive the message:

I reinstall the software many times but the error is still the same.

Did you by any chance get two serial numbers, sometimes one gets a serial for basic and that has to be put in first, then a second for platinum once basic is working. doesn't always happen, (this time I only got one - last two version I got 2)

Failing that, I think you will need to contact IMSI support for a new serial, (or sales may be quicker if you've only just purchased it).
https://www.turbocad.com/content/turbocad-windows

Did you by any chance get two serial numbers, sometimes one gets a serial for basic and that has to be put in first, then a second for platinum once basic is working. doesn't always happen, (this time I only got one - last two version I got 2)

Failing that, I think you will need to contact IMSI support for a new serial, (or sales may be quicker if you've only just purchased it).
https://www.turbocad.com/content/turbocad-windows

I receive two serials, one for basic and one for platinum. Both works fine: TC tells me "All is OK, restart to activate platinum tools".
At the restart the bad news 

Sorry - Looks like your best contacting support, I didn't find any solutions doing a search, one lad had to reinstall windows 10 to sort his problem out, and another may have been using a client - server system.

I receive two serials, one for basic and one for platinum. Both works fine: TC tells me "All is OK, restart to activate platinum tools".
At the restart the bad news 

Did you install in Administrator Mode?  That resolved my problems running 64-bit Windows 7 Professional (I did not have the same problems installing several programs when I had 32-bit Windows 7 Professional).


Jeff

The problem must be solved by a software provided by IMSI.
Launching that software called something like "License resetter" the new installation works.

I'd like to first state categorically that all my SW is paid for, properly licensed and registered.

Having said that I would like to suggest that companies that put these complex protection mechanisms in place are really punishing honest legal customers.
If I was a SW thief I would have a copy of TurboCAD that installs straight off the file and didn't punish me for being an honest paying customer with a whole lot of ridiculous keys & serial No.s.

I have TurboCAD 14 but have to install TC6 then TC7 and then finally TC14, each time going through the same rigmarole.

A pirate could simply install TC14 and be using.

Anyhow, I am at the point where I need to go to Win7 because some of my other applications don't support winXP any more so I'm trying to install TC6 so I can then install TC7 and finally TC14, and even though I'm an administrator and have set the installer to run in administrator mode TC6 won't install because setup.exe just hangs after starting. I can see it in task manager using no CPU time, and no install occurs.

Does anybody have any ideas?

=================================================

STOP PRESS

I was using zinio reader 4 to download a few months of magazines at the time I was installing TC6, I tried again when it was finished and it was ok so there seems to be an interaction between zinio reader 4 and setup32.exe.

Henry,

This is really useful, any chance that you could update it to include win 7, 8 and 10?

Thanks

Paul