Knowledge Base

This procedure explains how to run plain AutoCAD without loading SurvCADD. Although SurvCADD does not remove any AutoCAD functionality, you may wish to open plain AutoCAD at times. Most often, even if you click your standard AutoCAD icon on the desktop, AutoCAD will load SurvCADD also. The reason for this is that when you start SurvCADD, the SurvCADD desktop icon tells AutoCAD to load the SurvCADD profile. When you start AutoCAD from the plain AutoCAD icon, it does not specify a profile to load so it loads the last profile that was used. This is most likely SurvCADD.

What you need to do is create a profile for plain AutoCAD and instruct the AutoCAD icon to load this new profile.

Note: The following procedure was illustrated using AutoCAD Map 2000i with SurvCADD CES on Windows 2000. Your dialogs may look different depending on your configuration


Start by opening AutoCAD/SurvCADD using the SurvCADD icon.
Open the Preferences dialog by typing the command PR
Change to the Profiles tab (Shown here)

Click "Add to list".
On the next dialog, enter a new profile name "Vanilla", then press "Apply and Close"

Back in the main preferences dialog, select the vanilla profile by clicking on it and then choose the "Set Current" button.
Now switch to the "Files" tab, click the plus sign next to Support File Search Path
Highlight the SurvCADD path (C:\SCADCES\SUP) and press the "Remove" button.
Now the dialog should look like this

Move down and click the plus sign next to "Menu, Help and Miscellaneous File Names"
Click the plus sign next to "Menu File"
Highlight the menu name, press the "Browse" button and locate the stock AutoCAD menu. (ACAD.MNS)
Next, press the OK button on the Options dialog.
Your current profile is now "Vanilla", now Exit AutoCAD.
Find your desktop icon for plain AutoCAD, right click on it and choose properties. The following dialog will appear

Move your cursor to the end of the target field. Right after it says "acad.exe", type in the following: 
/p "Vanilla"
Now the dialog should look like this

Press OK and you are done.

Now the AutoCAD icon tells AutoCAD to load the "Vanilla" profile (to run plain AutoCAD) and the SurvCADD icon tells AutoCAD to load the "SurvCADD" profile.