Dialogue Windows/Boxes/Palettes Do Not Display and the Program Appears to Freeze

By Miles Nicholson

If you enter a command within any of the Autodesk products where a dialogue window should be displayed but isn’t, there can be a very simple solution! 

If however, the program appears to lock up /crash and a "ding" sound is audible when clicking and if the Esc key is pressed, control of the program is regained, the chances are that a floating dialogue is positioned off screen. There are some exceptions, which are floating palettes (e.g. Properties, External References, etc.) as palettes are usually non-modal which means no lockup behaviour or “ding” sound.

This floating dialogue /palette being positioned off screen issue is often a result of:

• Changes in screen resolution
• Changes in the number of monitors connected to the computer
• Change in monitor

Most programs keep track of the last positions of their dialogue windows, expressed in X/Y coordinates for the monitor. A window might come up off-screen if it was last positioned at a point that is no longer viewable. For example, having two monitors with a certain dialogue box open on the second monitor. If that monitor is disconnected from the computer, the program continues to put the dialogue box at the last-known X/Y position (on the second monitor), in a location that is not visible on the main screen. 

Pressing Esc is the same as clicking Cancel on the window, which gives back control of the program. The "ding" is the default alert that Windows makes when trying to click outside of a modal dialogue window.

How do you overcome the issue?

To bring a dialogue window back into view, try one of the following solutions:

• In AutoCAD and vertical versions, check the command CMDDIA which may have been set to 0. Set to 1.
• In AutoCAD and vertical versions, check the command FILEDIA which may have been set to 0. Set to 1.
• Hold down the WINDOWSand Shift keys and then press the  arrow keys on the keyboard. This normally moves a window from one monitor to another and may pop the missing dialogue into view. 
• Use the keyboard to move the window into view. Try this first on a visible window to see what happens:
  • Execute the command to activate the dialogue window.
  • Press Alt + Spacebar on the keyboard
  • Press the M key and tap an arrow (e.g.) key.
  • Move the mouse to bring the window into view.
  • Click the left mouse button to cancel the operation.

Credit: Autodesk Knowledge Network