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FireCAD Settings Reset and Menu Repair Utility

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Anthony Conte
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Repair a missing FireCAD ribbon or menu, or reset workspace settings to defaults

If the FireCAD tab is missing from the ribbon, the FireCAD menus are gone, palettes will not return to their default positions, or the workspace is generally out of shape, this small signed utility diagnoses the cause and offers the smallest fix that will work.

It covers every FireCAD Standalone release it finds on the machine: FireCAD 2027, FireCAD 2026 and FireCAD 2024. It only touches what it finds, so it is safe to run on any machine.

Download

https://www.cadgen.com/downloads/support/FireCadSettingsReset.exe

A single signed .exe published by Cadgen Software LLC. No installation is required. See FireCAD Support Tools for the other support downloads and what to do if Windows SmartScreen warns about a newly downloaded file.

Do not run this utility as Administrator

It repairs the settings of the user who runs it. Under "Run as administrator" Windows would point it at the administrator's profile instead, and it would fix the wrong account and report success. Double-click it normally.

How to run

  1. Close FireCAD completely. The utility warns if cgfcad24, cgfcad26 or cgfcad27 is still running. AutoCAD rewrites its workspace files on exit, so a repair applied while FireCAD is open is undone.
  2. Download and double-click FireCadSettingsReset.exe.
  3. Read what it found. It reports, per installed version, whether the main menu file has lost its link to the FireCAD menu and whether a saved workspace has lost the FireCAD ribbon tab.
  4. Pick a numbered option:
    • 1. Repair the FireCAD menu only (recommended). Offered only when a menu problem was found. Fixes the ribbon and menus and leaves every other setting alone.
    • 2. Full reset to default settings. Renames the settings folders and clears the registry profile that holds workspace, ribbon, palette and dialog state. Because it discards your settings, it asks you to type YES.
    • 0. Cancel. Changes nothing.
  5. Press Enter to close the window, then launch FireCAD.

If the utility reports that no menu problem was detected, the ribbon and menus are wired up correctly and option 1 is not offered. The full reset is then the tool for palette positions, toolbars and a profile that will not load.

What the menu repair does

Two independent things have to be right for the FireCAD ribbon tab to appear, and the repair fixes either or both:

  • The main menu file (cgfcadNN.cuix) must reference the FireCAD partial menu by its plain name. If it points at a path that does not exist on your machine, the entry is rewritten. The original is copied to .firecad-backup first.
  • A saved workspace file (*.aws) must still reference the FireCAD menu group. One launch with a broken menu is enough to save a workspace with the tab dropped, and from then on that saved state wins. Such files are renamed to *.wsbackup-<timestamp> so AutoCAD rebuilds the workspace from the menu definition, which still carries the tab.

Nothing is deleted. The files set aside sit beside the originals.

What the full reset does

The utility renames the FireCAD settings folders and exports, then removes, the registry profile. FireCAD recreates all of it with default values on the next launch.

FireCAD 2027 / 2026

  • %APPDATA%\Inspect Point\FireCAD 2027 - English and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Inspect Point\FireCAD 2027 - English (2026 likewise)
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Inspect Point\FireCAD\R31\cgfcad27-* (2026: R30\cgfcad26-*)
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Inspect Point\FireCAD® 2027 (and FireCAD® 2026), FireCAD's own settings key, which holds the palette dock side and width

FireCAD 2024

  • %APPDATA%\Cadgen Software LLC\Cadgen FireCAD 2024 - English and the %LOCALAPPDATA% twin
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cadgen Software LLC\Cadgen FireCAD\R28\CGFCAD24-*

Non-English installs (for example FireCAD 2027 - French) are matched automatically.

Where the backups go

  • Renamed settings folders, beside the originals, suffixed .backup-YYYY-MM-DD_HHmmss.
  • Workspace files set aside by the menu repair, beside the originals, suffixed .wsbackup-<timestamp>.
  • The main menu file copied to .firecad-backup before repair.
  • Exported registry profiles as .reg files in %LOCALAPPDATA%\FireCadSettingsReset-Backups\.

You can delete these once everything is working.

Restoring a previous state

  1. Close FireCAD.
  2. Rename the backup folders or workspace files, removing the .backup-... or .wsbackup-... suffix.
  3. Double-click the .reg file(s) in %LOCALAPPDATA%\FireCadSettingsReset-Backups\ and confirm the import.
  4. Launch FireCAD.

What it never touches

The utility works on the current user's FireCAD settings only. It does not touch the FireCAD database, project files, drawings, license activation or installation files, and it never affects another user's settings.

If a step fails because a file was in use, FireCAD was not fully closed. Close it and run the utility again. If you are unsure whether your problem is a settings issue at all, contact support before running it.

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