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Thursday, March 13, 2014

Can't Select Threads in Autodesk Inventor? Check the Registry!


“The stitch is lost unless the thread be knotted”
Italian Proverb

Every once in a while, I run into something that in all my years of using Autodesk Inventor, I've never seen before.

And I just recently ran into one of those cases.  I encountered an Inventor installation that was doing something I had never seen before.  Using Inventor for nearly 15 years, this one was totally new.

On this particular machine, threads couldn't be added.  The hole tool would start just fine, but when I tried to select threaded holes, nothing happened.  The radio button wouldn't select.  It was like the button wasn't there.

Threads cannot be selected!
Not having seen this before, I do what any self respecting geek would do.  I fired up Google and began a search!

Fortunately, my search paid off, and I found a link with a solution!  I can't take the credit for finding the solution, but what I can do, is share what I've discovered!

Credit goes to JD Mather who put up the solution originally!
  • The first thing I do, is shut down Inventor.  I don't think this is necessary, but it's a good practice, and I don't take chances.  
 
  • Next type REGEDIT in the Windows Search box.  This opens the Windows Registry Editor. 



  • Once the registry editor is opened, browse to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\Inventor\RegistryVersion 1X.0\System\Preferences\Part  
    • Locate the key: UseExcelToReadThreadFile
    • Note! The value for 'X' varies based on which version of Inventor is being used.  (This example is Inventor 2014)



  • After locating the key, right click on it, and choose Modify



  • Change the value from 0 to 1


  • Once this value is changed, close the Registry Editor, and start up Inventor. 

After that was done, the computer could place threads just fine!



This was really an odd one, I've never seen it, but feel free to drop a comment if you have.  I'm curious to see if this has shown up for anyone else out there!

Acknowledgements!!!!

I'd love to say that I came up with this solution all on my own.  But I didn't.  Thanks again to JDMather.  He placed a great update at the following link on the Autodesk Discussion Group.

All I can say is that I updated some of the info, and added some updated images.

I definitely have to give credit where credit is due!

65 comments:

  1. Thank You for posting. I am facing the same problem and shall rectify with your proposed solution and help.
    Regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad the tip helped! Happy Inventing!

      Delete
    2. Jonathan, I just experienced this issue... I was able to resolve using your research.
      Thanks for posting this.

      Delete
  2. Thanks, from One of a self respecting geek like you....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quite welcome! I hope this solution helped!

      Delete
  3. Thanks, From one of the self respecting geek like you.... ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you! It worked for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad that tip helped you out! It's always frustrating when you can't place threads!

      Delete
  5. it happened to me just now, yesterday I could do threads, and today, nada. Any idea of why this could have happened?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neko, I've actually had to fix four machines at work today that did the exact same thing. I'm going to have to "bump" this post it seems!

      I can't say for sure what caused the issue. But my guess is that a Windows update tripped the registry key.

      Can I ask you what version of Inventor your using? We're on 2015 over here. I'm curious what versions are being affected.

      Delete
    2. Funny thing! Not 5 minutes after I posted this I found a post from Mark Lancaster on my LinkedIn feed. It states that there was an issue with Windows updates on Inventor versions older than 2016.
      https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6324361542007615488/

      Delete
  6. Thanks man.

    Really helpfull.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Are you kidding me. I wasted many hours with this problem. I am sure glad there are guys out that think like a computer. Great job Thanks
    Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sorry to hear that you lost all that time. But I am glad that I could be part of the community that helped salvage some of that time!

      Delete
  8. Thanks for sharing man!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fine!!!
    Many thanks for the tip,
    Amarino

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad this fixed the issue! It really got a lot of people!

      Delete
  10. Hi I'm tried the same but still showing same problems..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a couple of machines in my install base that required that I change the setting twice to ensure it "stuck". I'm not sure why. I'd double check the setting to make sure it hasn't flipped back to "0".

      You might also try removing the Windows update that caused the issue.

      Autodesk has a solution on their community here: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/recent-microsoft-security-updates-might-cause-problems/td-p/7459212

      Delete
  11. I ran into the same problem today.This solution worked great.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi I'm tried the same but still showing same error

    ReplyDelete
  13. Just happened to me!! Inventor is getting creative when trying to ruin my day

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a weird one! Apparently it was caused by a Windows update this time. It affects versions 2016 and older, according to Autodesk. It got my production version of 2015, but left my test version of 2018 alone.

      Delete
  14. hello, after doing this modification, it takes very long time to load all the datas , did anyone face the problem ? we are using inventor 2013 at work

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I noticed that the initial load of the thread data after I changed the registry took a little bit. But after that was done it worked fine. We're using Inventor 2015 where I am.

      Delete
  15. Awesome - thank you!!!

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  16. Awesome - thank you!!

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  17. I'm happy this post helped you!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for your solution. This solution successfully solved my problem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome! I'm glad this post was able to help you fix the issue!

      Delete
  19. ME FUNCIONO EXCELENTE COMPY , GRACIAS POR COMPARTIR !!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm happy this solution helped you out! :)

      Delete
  20. Obrigada por compartilhar! Resolveu o meu problema!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Many thanks, still a very current issue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome! I'm glad this tip got you up and running again!

      Delete
  22. ¡¡ eres un genio Jonathan, Muchas gracias por tu generosidad.

    ReplyDelete
  23. ¡¡ eres un genio Jonathan . Gracias por tu generosidad

    ReplyDelete
  24. GREAT! Many thanks!

    Worked for me also. Helped me to fix and keep working in Inventor.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm glad this helped you out! It's good to be able to place threads! :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. thanks, worked for 2015 inventor

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks bro... working in INVENTOR 2015 with EXCEL 2010...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's exactly my setup! I'm glad I could help you out!

      Delete
  28. Thanks to whomever came up with this fix Just cursed my 2014 Pro. Registry change seems to have fixed....until MS plays with it again.

    ReplyDelete
  29. JD Mather shared it on the Autodesk Discussion Groups. I passed it a long here.

    I'm glad it's helped others. I'm still fixing the odd computer at my current job.

    ReplyDelete
  30. This just solved another one for me today for Inventor 2014. Thanks Jonathan!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I currently have this same issue with my 2015 version and I am unable to resolve it with this steps. Any further help?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd suggest double checking the registry and making sure the setting "stuck". I had a couple of machines at work that changed back to "0" after being set to "1". I had to set it again to show them I was serious.

      Another idea is to uninstall the Windows update that caused it. Here's a link showing which updates to remove at the bottom. https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/inventor-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Thread-related-operations-do-not-work-in-Inventor-after-installing-Microsoft-security-updates-KB4041681-Windows-7-and-KB4041676-Windows-10.html

      Another idea is to try restoring your thread.xls. Just in case the Excel file got corrupted somehow.

      I hope this helps!

      Delete
  32. Thanks for helping to solve this. Without thread the my constructions fell apart.

    Thanks,
    Peter Kreijen

    ReplyDelete
  33. I'm happy I could help you, Peter! Not being able to place threads is no fun!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Replies
    1. You're very welcome. I'm happy I could help you!

      Delete
  35. Thank you Jonathan,I could Solve the problem, very helpfull your sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Many thanks Jonathan. the solution correct , helpfull .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad this post was able to help you!

      Delete
  37. Great!
    Thank you very much.
    I from Vietnam.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome, Vo! I'm happy I'm able to help you out!

      Delete
  38. Great!
    Thank you very much!
    I from Vietnam.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi I install inventor 2017, i got the same problem but it lack file "UseExcelToReadThreadFile" so how can i resolve that. thank a lot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It may be a different issue entirely, it affected older versions of Inventor. Do you have Excel installed.

      Delete