Please Note: This article only applies to Keyshot versions purchased with Alibre Design prior to April 2015.

This is the typical troubleshoot for Keyshot crashes/error messages at startup.


I. Update your graphics card driver.

To obtain the latest, visit the graphic card manufacturer's web page. Download and install the latest driver updated for your card model.


II. Set permissions into the KeyShot 5 resources folder.


Windows OS:

  1. Go to your Documents folder
  2. Right-click the KeyShot 5 folder
  3. Select "Properties"
  4. Disable "Read only"
  5. Go to the Security tab
  6. Click the Edit button. Ensure that all users have read and write permissions
  7. Click Apply and OK
  8. Click Apply and OK once more.


III. Download Visual C++ and .NET.


Please download Framework .Net and Visual C++ for your operating system.

Visual C++ 2005 (64bit): http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/B/4/8B42259F-5D70-43F4-AC2E-4B208FD8D66A/vcredist_x64.EXE
Visual C++ 2010: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=14632
Framework .NET: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21

Restart your system, then go to Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update and click "Check for Update". Then install all the updates available.


IV. Turn off graphics effects.


  1. Open the Windows explorer and browse to your Documents folder
  2. Find the KeyShot 5 folder and open it. Inside you will find keyshot5.xml
  3. Right-click keyshot5.xml and select to Open with > Notepad
  4. Go to Edit > Find
  5. Type the following in the search bar: enable_gpu and click Next
  6. In your document "enable_gpu" is highlighted. In the same line you will see the word "true". Erase "true" and substitute with "false" (Note: everything else on that line should remain as is)
  7. Save your changes and close the file
  8. Now go ahead open KeyShot.