3DS Max 8 keeps shutting down on me...

[Jay2645]

Every time I boot up 3DS Max, it loads the splash screen, initializes all the plugins and whatnot, then the splash screen goes away and... No 3DS.

Any help?

[bobbysoon]

I'm guessing it's the display driver
This is from 3ds Max reference:

Video Driver and Display Problems Resetting the configuration before starting 3ds Max.

Start 3ds Max from the command line. Choose Start > Run.
Click the Browse button, browse to the \Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 9\ folder and select 3dsmax.exe.
Click Open on the Browse dialog but do not click OK on the Run dialog.
On the Run dialog, place your cursor at the end of the command line and add -h to the string.
It should read something like; “C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 9\3dsmax.exe” -h
Click OK on the Run dialog.
3ds Max will start and display the Graphics Driver Setup dialog, just as it did the first time you started 3ds Max after installing.
Choose the Software driver and try performing the task that was giving you problems once the program opens.

If the problem does not persist, you know that you've encountered a display problem. If this is the case, check the following with regards to your video card:

Verify that the video card supports the driver you attempted to use.
Some cards don't fully support OpenGL or Direct3D.
You might not have the latest video drivers for the card.
Contact the board manufacturer for updated drivers.
If you were originally configured for OpenGL, try Direct3D, or vice versa.
The driver for the graphics card may have better support for one driver than other.

[Jay2645]

Didn't work. I don't even see the 3DS interface, it just loads like normal, then, when the loading screen goes away where it would normally show the interface (And I can go File-open or whatever I'm doing), it just shows me my desktop. I don't even see it pop up in my Start Menu programs running thingy.

[Gamerkd16]

It might be a memory issue. Check your task manager and see how much memory 3ds is using.