"XAML Parse Error: ".", hexadecimal value 0x00, is an invalid character. Line 1, position 1." when starting 3ds Max

Autodesk Support

Oct 8, 2023

Products and versions covered

Issue:

The following error messages appear when trying to start 3ds Max and the 3ds Max Ribbon may then not appear properly after startup:

XAML Parse Error

Error parsing XAML file: '.', hexadecimal value 0x00, is an invalid character. Line 1, position 1.

After clicking OK another message appears:

Reset Ribbon?

The main Ribbon configuration file is possibly corrupt. Reset to factory defaults?

Causes:

One or more user-related preference files may have become corrupted or are missing. This can be caused by various issues, including 3ds Max plug-ins writing to those files, or multiple open copies of 3ds Max being closed quickly and attempting to write to the same files simultaneously.

Solution:

Reset the 3ds Max user preferences back to default, as described in the following article: How to reset 3ds Max user preference settings back to default.

Note: After the reset, the preference folder will be created automatically the next time the program is launched. This process is specific to the active user sign in on the system, as 3ds Max saves settings for each user profile in Windows.

If the resetting preference doesn't work out perform reinstall of the 3ds Max as the application might be corrupted from the recent updates.

Products:

3ds Max;

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