& Construction
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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing
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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Autodesk Support
Oct 8, 2023
Products and versions covered
The article describes how to work with AutoCAD when using a restricted user (non-admin permissions, limited read/write rights, etc.).
Important Notes, read this information carefully before proceeding:
Any customization or restriction placed on users could have unexpected results in AutoCAD and are considered unsupported operating environments.
The information below is for system and network administrators only. Advanced troubleshooting knowledge and access rights will be required for both testing and resolving these issues. Always back up essential data files, export a copy of the current registry settings and set a system restore point before making changes to the Windows Registry or user profile folders.
Testing strategy for failures when running AutoCAD as a restricted user
To determine the specific customization that is causing the problem, start by testing a new local or domain user without any policies or restrictions applied. Then begin adding customizations one at a time or in small groups. Test AutoCAD with each change. For more information about troubleshooting Windows user profiles, refer to Microsoft support and documentation.
If users are configured in an Organizational Unit (OU) on a Microsoft Active Directory server, create a new OU that does not have a Group Policy applied. Make sure to block the inheritance of policies from other OUs.
Expected AutoCAD startup behavior
To help troubleshoot user profile problems, refer to the following description of the expected AutoCAD startup procedure:
Note: registry keys and folder locations in this article are AutoCAD 2019 specific, please use them as reference points for other versions of AutoCAD.
There are several customizations that are known to cause problems with the AutoCAD launch process. The following list, including related solutions where applicable, covers only some of the common settings that have been reported to Autodesk Product Support. This list is not inclusive and specific details will vary based on other network and machine customizations. Refer to the testing strategy in this solution to determine the exact cause of failure.
Corrupt or duplicate user profiles
During the secondary installer process, a hard-coded link is established between your registry settings and your profile folders. If the name of the user or the name of the profile folder changes, required content cannot be accessed. In this situation, errors indicating that content cannot be found will usually be displayed.
To work around this issue
Default user customization and/or mandatory profiles
Microsoft user profiles contain registry information specific to that user in a file called NTUSER.DAT which is located in the user profile folder. Copying this registry information into the Default User profile or assigning this registry information as part of a mandatory profile can cause several types of failures in the secondary installer functionality. For example, AutoCAD failing to run with no error message or splash screen. In many cases, AutoCAD will fail with an error message implicating a different user’s profile folders. These configurations are not tested or supported for any Autodesk products and no workaround is supplied.
Folder redirection
There are several ways to redirect certain folders from within the user profile, including (but not limited to) the Start Menu, My Documents or Temp folders. This customization can be done directly on the computer or with network management software, such as Microsoft Active Directory and Group Policies. These types of customizations can cause failures in the AutoCAD secondary installer which might result in error messages, such as Error 1606: Unable to access network location. To correct this issue, remove folder redirection from the user, reboot the machine, and then try to run AutoCAD again.
Permissions restrictions
In Windows 7, 8.1 and 10, restricted users are prevented from modifying files, folders and registry entries outside their user profile. To support restricted user accounts, all customizable AutoCAD files and registry settings are stored within the user profile. Users must have Full Control permissions to all files and folders in the C:\Users\%USERNAME% directory. Additionally, users must have Full Control permissions to all registry keys and values in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key in the registry. Restrictions that limit a user’s permissions to these locations could cause failures in the AutoCAD secondary installer or within the program. Typical errors include Microsoft Windows Installer errors such as Error 1321: Insufficient permissions to modify file. Errors in the 14##, 13##, 17## range could also indicate permissions restrictions.
To correct this issue, remove permission restrictions from the user, reboot the machine, and then try to run AutoCAD again.
Restrictions on the Windows Installer Service
There are several ways of preventing users from accessing the Windows Installer Service (Msiexec), including placing restrictions in the Group Policy Object in Active Directory. The first time a user of a machine runs AutoCAD, the Windows Installer Service is required for the secondary installer to function. To correct this issue, remove this restriction from the user, reboot the machine, and then try to run AutoCAD again.
Preventing applications from running in the user profile
Policies that prevent users from launching applications from within the user profile can cause AutoCAD to fail to launch with no error message or splash screen. One place this restriction can be specified is in the Group Policy Object in Active Directory under User Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Software Restriction Policies > Additional Rules > %userprofile% = Disallowed. These types of restrictions are not tested or supported for use with AutoCAD. To correct this issue, remove this restriction from the user, reboot the machine, and then try to run AutoCAD again.
Data Execution Prevention
Data execution prevention (DEP) can prevent AutoCAD from launching. See the related solutions for information about exempting AutoCAD from Windows DEP settings.
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