Return - 3ds Max 2009 and Windows 11 Compatibility

[+swambast]

Hi all, been one of the busiest Summer's in recent decades, and just getting back into some modding projects again.  Has anyone installed 3ds Max 2009 onto Windows 11 successfully and without any issues?  Any lessons learned or other considerations I should be aware of before I give it a try?  Thanks much.

[+GKABS]

Hello swambast,

I am happy to see you back,  I have been running 3ds Max 2009 on both Windows 10 and 11 and they work just fine.   One problem you may face when you right click the mouse some time the screen freeze and the olny way to get it back to normal is to click on the lower windows 10 or 11 right corner to minimize twice and you are all set.  aside of that there is no issue with me. 

 

[Jimbib]

13 minutes ago, GKABS said:

Hello swambast,

I am happy to see you back,  I have been running 3ds Max 2009 on both Windows 10 and 11 and they work just fine.   One problem you may face when you right click the mouse some time the screen freeze and the olny way to get it back to normal is to click on the lower windows 10 or 11 right corner to minimize twice and you are all set.  aside of that there is no issue with me. 

 

I too put up with this bug for years, but this fix worked for me:

https://forums.revora.net/topic/113681-fixing-the-right-click-bug-on-3ds-max-8-on-windows-10/

[+GKABS]

That two I just remembered lol 😆  thanks for the link 🔗  @Jimbib

[+swambast]

Gents, thank you - I really appreciate this.  When you are doing your base install, do we have to install as 32-bit so the .LOD exporter plugin is still compatible?  Or can I install as 64-bit and still maintain compatibility with the .LOD exporter plugins?

[+GKABS]

 Unfortunately the exporter plugin only work with the 32bit

[Nuni]

Is there any alternative to 3DS Max 2009 in which the LOD exporter plug-in works properly?

[+swambast]

Thank GKABS, I am struggling mightily to get this reinstalled.  Just trying to get the license code reactivated has been incredibly difficult and a day's work still ongoing.  However, even when I'm getting it to load, it immediately crashes on the loading splash screen, trying to load the mentalray plug in (e.g.,  Loading plug-in:  C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2009\stdplugs\ Mentalray.dlz).  If anyone has run into this and can provide some support, please let me know!

 

@Nuni  Yes, Blender.

[Jimbib]

6 minutes ago, Nuni said:

Is there any alternative to 3DS Max 2009 in which the LOD exporter plug-in works properly?

Mue created a Blender exporter, it is available here:

 

[+GKABS]

18 hours ago, swambast said:

 However, even when I'm getting it to load, it immediately crashes on the loading splash screen,

Try using the windoes file compatibility mode and set the 3ds max .exe to windows 7 that is the only thing I can think of. 

Edited September 9, 2023 by GKABS

[+swambast]

Thanks GKABS, been trying to get this resolved now for but no luck...not looking good at the moment.  Somehow for sure the mentalray plugin is the issue, problem is not sure how to work around it or get it working again...  

[Nuni]

@swambast @Jimbib Thank you guys!

[+swambast]

Damn, struggling like hell to get this to work on Windows 11 Pro - what a frigging nightmare.  Any ideas on how to get any of the exporters to work?

It looks like it's not recognizing the thirdwire exporter as a compatible 32-bit plugin, but clearly I installed the 32-bit version of 3ds Max (although obviously on the 64-bit OS).

Kind of running out of patience, this is extremely difficult.

 

[EricJ]

FastCargo said he got his working I think, I can PM you his Facebook if you're interested, as he may be able to help.

[+swambast]

Appreciate that a lot Eric, please send me a PM - I'll take all the help I can get.  

[EricJ]

Okay sent.

[+swambast]

Unfortunately, I've reached out to several 3d modelers using Win 11 Pro, and no one has had success so far especially with getting the mental ray and thirdwire exporter plug-ins to work.  I think for now I'm out of luck unless others have had some success and can share more insights and details.  

[+Menrva]

I think your best chance is to get a virtual machine running on Win11. Not sure what Win version is supported natively by 3ds Max, but you can install pretty much any OS on Oracle's VirtualBox, which I highly suggest. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to move files between the virtual machine and your real one, usually by using a USB flash drive or an external hard drive.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Menrva

[Wrench]

I gotta just throw this out there ...

what about finding a good, used working machine that's still on Win7, or if it worked on 10, one of those. I mean, there should be a large number of still usable older machine out there somewhere that MAX will run on.

Just a thought

[EricJ]

Or try Win8 compatibility. When I had DCS running at one time, the ModelViewer wouldn't work for some reason, so it came down to that. Maybe a compatibility mode may work?

[simonmiller416]

On 2023/9/8 at 12:47 AM, Jimbib said:

I too put up with this bug for years, but this fix worked for me:

https://forums.revora.net/topic/113681-fixing-the-right-click-bug-on-3ds-max-8-on-windows-10/

I tried the method in the link and it worked for me, I hope more people will know.

Before doing this, I had to endure having to close and restart max after a few minutes of work, over and over again, now I don't have that worry

Edited October 27, 2023 by simonmiller416

[+swambast]

Hi Gents, thanks for the ideas, much appreciated.  The biggest issue is after finally getting MAX installed, it just won't load and constantly crashes upon the splash screen.  So @simonmiller416 while I appreciate the tip, it has nothing to do with a "right click bug."  I would love to have that problem honestly.  But right now, Max just doesn't even successfully load.  For Windows 11 Pro, perhaps a better and easier option might be to use the default built-in Hyper-V which comes with the Pro edition.  That being said, I am not a fan at all of Virtual Machines.  The clunkiness of having to transfer virtual files into real saved files, chunking out memory and SSD space, etc. is such a hassle in my opinion.  I  would only look to this for an absolute last resort effort, but @Menrva  's suggestion is, ultimately, probably going to be the best option at some point.  In the meantime, @Wrench the suggestion of using an older machine is a practical option, although by far the least preferred.  I have a multi monitor, complex NAS set up, etc. so I wanted my new Win 11 computer to completely replace all my legacy hardware, not sit along side it and not to mention I just don't have that kind of room.  For other personal reasons, this has not become a high priority for the moment, but I will continue fighting to see how much progress I can make in getting this to work.  When I last left off my efforts about a month ago, I was making some major breakthroughs that seemed very encouraging.  Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Edited October 27, 2023 by swambast