3ds Max problem on starting.

These can be really annoying. But yes there is a chance there's something with your graphics card/drivers

If you go to start > all programs > autodesk > Autodesk 3D Studio Max XXXX > Change Graphics Mode

You could see if you're running it in DX10 or so. If you are you could try out DX9 instead. If that wouldn't work you could always see if it works in OpenGL.

Hope that helps.

Ok nice. Some stuff doesn't work great with OpenGL (and some not at all like dx shaders obviously ) So it's preferred to use DX, maybe you could try some different drivers or something.

Can I ask why you are using 3DS Max 'Design'?

Actually I didn't even know that there was a 'Design" version of Max till now.

Tried to look it up and as I understood it's aimed more towards architects and such, some more suited lighting stuff and other tutorials. That's what I could find. No idea if there are any major differences to the basic stuff... Probably not.

I ask because I had a version of that once and had trouble getting it working due to it being catered to Viz work. If you're not doing architectural work, If you can, try to get hold of the standard Max 2010 x64.

there are no differences between the standard edition and the design edition, other than as stated, the design edition is created for architects. what is changed are preferences and default values (e.g. the material editor uses other default shaders, the viewports are set up differently per default).