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Troubleshooting

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Fatal error when opening an AutoCAD Mechanical

.DWG in AutoCAD Mechanical
Jan 08 2014| Support
Applies to AutoCAD 2011, AutoCAD 2012, AutoCAD 2013, AutoCAD 2014, AutoCAD Mechanical 2011, AutoCAD Mechanical 2012,
AutoCAD Mechanical 2013, & AutoCAD Mechanical 2014

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Issue:
When opening a le that is in the mechanical .dwg format, the user will receive a Fatal Error and the program
will close. This issue will only occur within AutoCAD Mechanical.
Causes: (http://www.autodesk.com/)
File corruption.

Solution:
Since the le cannot be opened with AutoCAD Mechanical, another option is to open the le using Core
AutoCAD. AutoCAD Mechanical can be run as Core AutoCAD by the following:

Click Start
Click All Programs
Click Autodesk
Click AutoCAD Mechanical 20xx
Click AutoCAD 20xx

Once the program is up and running, the process to remove le corruption can be used. This process can be
found on the following link (http://knowledge.autodesk.com/article/AutoCAD-File-Corruption)

Please note, once the le is inserted into a clean template, the information located on the layout tabs will be
lost. To retain this information, please use the following process:

Open le in Core AutoCAD 20xx

From the command prompt type: -PURGE (then select "R" for Reggapps, then hit [ENTER], then select "N"
for no on running through each individual instance and then again [ENTER])
From the command prompt type: -PURGE (then select "A" for All, then hit [ENTER], then select "N" for no
on running through each individual instance then again [ENTER])
From the command prompt type: AUDIT (then select "Y" for Yes, then hit [ENTER])
From the command prompt type: -WBLOCK and hit Enter
Enter the new le name within the Create Drawing File dialog box and click Save
From the command prompt, press "*" or use the mouse to click "* (whole drawing)" to include all
information contained within the drawing.
Open the newly created le in AutoCAD Mechanical 20xx
From the command prompt type: -PURGE (then select "R" for Reggapps, then hit [ENTER], then select "N"
for no on running through each individual instance and then again [ENTER])
From the command prompt type: -PURGE (then select "A" for All, then hit [ENTER], then select "N" for no
on running through each individual instance then again [ENTER])
From the command prompt type: AUDIT (then select "Y" for Yes, then hit [ENTER])
Save the le in the AutoCAD Mechanical Format

Please note: Once the le is saved to the Core AutoCAD .dwg format, all links to Mechanical specic objects will
be removed (I.E. Bill of Materials / BOM, Parts List, etc.)
See Also: (http://www.autodesk.com/)
Help File Link for -WBLOCK (Command): http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2014/ENU/les/GUID-F26FC1CE-45C9-
4C85-9DB9-19B6A597D87B.htm
(https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/documentation/ACD/2014/ENU/les/GUID-
F26FC1CE-45C9-4C85-9DB9-19B6A597D87B-htm.html)
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Accepted forum posts

Centerline Command (/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/discussion/t5/AutoCAD-Forum/Centerline-

Command/td-p/5624711.html)

restoring ribbon to factory defaults (/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/discussion/t5/AutoCAD-

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College Student trying to learn AutoCAD Mechanical.

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