Migrating Desktop User

Roger Greenwood

Hi,
I am migrating a user from XP to Win 7, Bricscad version 12. On the new machine, on opening a drawing I get the same error every time:- "Can't create file "C:\docs & settings\username\my documents\desktop.ini" Error 80: the file exists."
I am assuming this is permissions related, and currently the user has normal + power user permissions only. Do all briscad users have to have administrative permissions? I was trying to avoid this of course. I must be missing something else?

Jason Bourhill

Hi Roger,

This isn't a permissions issue, the error occurs in V12 when you have references to non-existent folder locations. This is very likely to be the case if you imported your settings (.arg,  Profile) from your old machine. You can confirm if this is the case by:

• First closing Bricscad if it's running.
• Run the User Profile Manager from the Windows start menu.
• Once open create a new profile, and launch Bricscad with it.

This will launch Bricscad with the default settings. If your issue disappears, then it will be due to your imported profile. I would then try each of the options below until you get a fix:

• Re-launch Bricscad using your imported profile. Run the Drawing Explorer (Ctrl + 2), and in the Drawings pane (bottom left, see attached image) right click on the folder links and remove them. Some of them maybe pointing to non-existent folder locations. Hopefully this is all that it takes to fix.
  
• After making a backup, edit the profile file (.arg) that you want to import with a text editor, such as notepad. And search through it for non-existent folders, and revise it to point to their new locations. Import this profile using the User Profile Manager and then run Bricscad to see if the issue goes away. It may take a few goes to get all the folder references.
• Run the User Profile Manager, create a new profile, and launch Bricscad with it. Once open manually go through and update your preferences.
  

This is a known issue with V12, a support request has previously been raised on it.

Regards,

Jason Bourhill

CAD Concepts

RemoveLinktoFolders.png

Roger Greenwood

Thanks Jason,
In the end we just started again with a default profile, there were too many entries with the wrong links.
We are only just starting to migrate to windows 7, and as expected it causes more problems than it solves - lots of stuff breaks (not just CAD) and it takes a while to settle down and get back the productivity we started with!
At least now I know what to do for other users - many thanks for the help.

Jason Bourhill

Hi Roger,

Not a problem. I first struck this issue when I re-used V11 profiles for Bricscad training courses using V12, very painful, particularly when you are dealing with a group of new users. Ultimately I found the best approach was:

• Include only the options in the .arg file that you actually want to set. If an option is missing from an argument file Bricscad will substitute with the default.
• Use environment variables in folder references rather than hard links e.g.  use "%USERPROFILE%\\Documents\\" rather than "C:\\Users\\jason\\Documents\\". When the .arg file is loaded the environment variables will be resolved to the users settings.
  

There is a Sample CAD Library on my website, which provides an example of the above. Look in the "Profiles" folder for details.

Regards,

Jason Bourhill

CAD Concepts