ArcGIS 9 extends the current platform with major new capabilities in the areas of geoprocessing, 3D visualization, and developer options, in addition to other major developments in the areas of usability, reliability, and interoperability. For more information on what is new in ArcGIS 9, refer to the ESRI website.

Yes, ESRI will continue to maintain existing Knowledge Base articles for previous versions of the software. To learn more about other means of support are available for your specific version, visit the Product Life Cycle page.

No, different versions of ArcGIS Desktop cannot be installed on the same machine. If you have ArcGIS 8.x on the machine you plan to use for ArcGIS 9, you will need to uninstall ArcGIS 8.x first.

The latest service packs and patches can be found at ESRI Support Center > Downloads. The latest to date of note that are available for download are:

ArcGIS 9.x:
ArcGIS 9.0 Service Pack 1
ArcGIS 9.0 Service Pack 2 (supercedes Service Pack 1)
ArcGIS Desktop 9.0 Spatial Statistics Geoprocessing Toolbox Patch
ArcGIS Desktop 9.0 Raster Datum Transformation Patch

ArcGIS 8.x:
ArcGIS Desktop 8.3 Service Pack 3
ArcGIS Desktop 8.3 Geodatabase Patch

ArcMap randomly crashes, displaying any of the following messages. The articles listed in this index address a variety of causes for the error message(s) and their work-arounds, when available. Please note that it may be necessary to log in to our support site before viewing an article.

The error messages that may occur are:

"The instruction 0x0000000 referenced memory at 0x0000000 which could not be read."

"Arcmap.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows."

"ArcMap has encountered a problem and needs to close."

Topics
ArcMap.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows
ArcMap randomly crashes and Windows returns one of the error messages shown below. Information provided in this article are some general solutions that may provide a means to avoid the errors. The error messages are: "The instruction 0x00000...

Arcmap closes when opening an MXD
Opening an MXD causes ArcMap to crash and Windows returns one of the following errors: The instruction 0x0000000 referenced memory at 0x0000000 which could not be read. Arcmap.exe has generated errors and will be closed by windows. Arcmap...

SQL Server: Why does ArcMap crash when opening the attribute table of a large feature class when all features are selected?
If you open the attribute table of a large feature class when all features are selected the gsrvr process may crash. This occurs with SQL Server 7.0 feature classes with more than 500,000 features. The problem does not occur in SQL Server 2000....

ArcMap closes when opening Desktop Help
Opening Desktop Help from ArcMap causes ArcMap to crash.

Why does the Geoprocessing wizard cause ArcMap to crash?
• The computer runs out of memory while the GeoProcessing Wizard is processing a job. Adjusting your operating systems virtual RAM setting may help. See next item as well Related Information below. • The sum of your computer's RAM and virtual m...

Exporting from ArcMap causes a blue screen system crash
Exporting to any format from ArcMap causes an immediate blue screen system crash.

ArcToolbox closes when using the Project Wizard
ArcToolbox crashes when performing the following operation: When converting data to a new coordinate system using the Project Wizard for shapefiles and geodatabases, the output geographic coordinate system (datum) differs from the input geograp...

ArcMap closes while creating an XYEvent layer from OLE DB table
ArcMap will crash with an application error if an XYEvent layer is generated from an Access 2000 view (query) table.

ArcMap closes when running a Spatial Analyst function
ArcMap crashes when running a Spatial Analyst function.

ArcMap closes when using VBA to specify IArcPressPrinter::Driver
ArcMap will crash when using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code to specify a driver on the IArcPressPrinter interface.

ArcMap closes when using the Trace tool
On certain datasets, where features from two overlapping feature classes are selected, clicking the Trace tool and then clicking on the map may cause ArcMap to crash.

ArcMap closes when copy and pasting elements back into a layout
After selecting and copying all elements in the layout view, such as a data frame, north arrow, neatline, map title, placed text, and legend, then pasting them back into an ArcMap layout, the application crashes.

ArcMap closes when adding XY coordinates while georeferencing
While georeferencing and zooming in on the display, ArcMap crashes when entering the 'to' coordinate pairs manually.

ArcMap closes when using geoprocessing wizard clip, intersect or union
Executing clip, intersect, or union in the Geoprocessing wizard crashes ArcMap.

Error reading textfile data. This could be due to corrupt ODBC/MDAC components.
When opening ArcCatalog or browsing a directory which includes text files, the following error message may occur: "Error reading textfile data. This could be due to corrupt ODBC/MDAC components. You may not have access to all the MDAC utilitie...

Abnormal Termination
When the map display is at a very large scale, and its data frame has been rotated, creating a new feature may cause ArcMap to crash with an Abnormal Termination error message.

Dragging multiple ArcIMS services into ArcMap works improperly
This problem is addressed in ArcGIS 8.1.2. Dragging and dropping more than one service into ArcMap may not work properly.

ArcMap/ArcCatalog closes connecting to ArcIMS Server using pre-IE 5.0
If a machine has a previous version of Internet Explorer 5.0, and ArcGIS has been installed on it, ArcCatalog and ArcMap will crash if the user tries to connect to an ArcIMS server.

No. As long as you use the Control Panels Add/Remove Programs to uninstall, your map projects will not be lost.

Once an MXD has been saved in ArcGIS 9 it cannot be reopened in any previous version of ArcGIS. Attempting to open an ArcGIS 9 MXD in ArcGIS 8.3 or a prior version will cause the following error:

"The document could not be loaded. It may reference an extension that
is not currently installed on your system. This may possibly be one of
the following:
Maplex
Mx Document
Tracking Analyst
Mx Document Version Info"

This is a known limit.

The solution or workaround is to upgrade to the latest version of ArcGIS. In some rare instances you may be able to recover map documents using the MXDoctor utility provide in the DeveloperKit > Tools folder of the ArcGIS install directory.

No, projects created in 9.0 will not open in an 8.x version of the software. However, ESRI is investigating the ability to provide a ‘Save As <previous version>’ function for ArcGIS. Unfortunately, this functionality cannot be easily added and may only become available with version 9.0.2.

The Extensions dialog box in ArcMap is used to turn extensions on or off. To use an extension there must be a valid license.

1. Start ArcMap.
2. Click Tool > Extensions.
3. Check the extensions to be activated.
4. Click Close.
5. Click View > Toolbars. Select the toolbar.

Map documents (.mxd files) are compound files. The information describing the map, layout, and any embedded objects saved in the map is organized into units called storages and streams. When you save a compound file, the streams can become fragmented in a process that is analogous to hard disk fragmentation. This can make the map document larger, though it does not increase the likelihood of the document becoming corrupted. The more times you save a map, the more chance that fragmentation will make the document larger.

Using Save As creates a new document with no fragmentation. You can save a fragmented map document as a new document to reduce its file size.

1. Create a new folder on the hard drive.
2. Save the map document to the new folder.
3. Copy all data into the new folder using ArcCatalog. The data can be in a subfolder under the same folder that contains the map document. For example:
   
   C:\CD\MyMap.mxd
   C:\CD\Data\myshape.shp
   
4. Reset the path for each layer in ArcMap map document to the new copy of the data.
5. Select Map Properties from the File menu.
6. Click the Data Source Options button.
7. Click the 'Store relative path names' radio button and Click OK.
8. Click OK on the Map Properties dialog box.
9. Save the changes to the map document.
10. Copy to the CD the folder created in Step 1.

Opening an MXD causes ArcMap to crash and Windows returns one of the following errors:
"The instruction 0x0000000 referenced memory at 0x0000000 which could not be read.
Arcmap.exe has generated errors and will be closed by windows.
Arcmap has encountered a problem and needs to be closed."
To recover the document follow the steps below:

1. Load a blank MXD into ArcMap.
2. Click ArcObjects Online and select 'Utilities > How to set up the MXD Doctor and MXD Defragmentor Utilities'. Follow setup instructions provided.
3. Click ArcObjects Online and select 'Utilities > MXD Doctor'. Follow instructions provided to load the MXD and to 'Fix' the document.

By default, all of the features of the problem MXD are copied to the blank MXD loaded in Step 1.
Save the MXD.

When creating maps with relative paths, the resulting saved map's data sources display as invalid when reopened. The data source path displayed in layer properties on the data source tab will have a ~ character in the path instead of the full pathname.

For example: C:\washin~1\lake.shp

Why does this happen?
The map document was opened by double-clicking the map document in Windows Explorer. Names and folders are displayed with the Windows 8.3 naming convention, instead of the proper long filenames. For example, a map saved with the name MapDocument.mxd displays as 'MAPDOC~1.MXD' on the ArcMap title bar. The same naming convention occurs for the layer's data source paths as well. To avoid this problem do not open maps in ArcMap by way of double-clicking on the map in Windows Explorer; use File > Open instead. To successfully create an ArcMap document with relative paths follow the Steps below:

1. Start ArcMap.
2. Create a new map document or browse to open an existing map.
3. Click Map Properties on the File menu.
4. Click the Data source button and select Store relative paths
5. Save the map, or save the existing map to a new name.

Instructions provided describe how to ensure compliance between ESRI's ArcGIS 9.0 Desktop and Leica's LPS 8.7. The recent releases of ArcGIS 9.0 Desktop; including ArcView, ArcEditor, or ArcInfo licenses, and Leica Photogrammetry Suite (LPS) 8.7 contain some shared libraries which work together if the products are installed in the correct sequence. If ArcGIS 9.0 Desktop and its Service Pack 1 are installed onto the machine first, followed by the LPS 8.7 and its Service Pack 1, there are no problems of compatibility. However, deviating from that order makes the products incompatible.

Users who have experienced any of the following incompatibilities should follow the procedure below.
-- ArcGIS 9.0 does not recognize raster data.
-- ArcGIS 9.0 licensing has been modified incorrectly.
-- Attempting to start LPS 8.7 generates an error stating that it needs repairing.

Installing LPS 8.7 and an ArcGIS 9.0 Server or Engine product to the same machine is not supported at this time. Leica and ESRI are working toward a solution for delivery as soon as possible. Return to either company's Web site for updated information.

Procedure
Follow the steps below.

Completely uninstall both products.

Install ArcGIS 9.0 Desktop and verify it runs and displays raster data; for example, use ArcMap to view sample raster data. Download and install ArcGIS 9.0 Service Pack 1 by way of the Related Information section below.

Install LPS 8.7 and verify it runs successfully. Download and install LPS 8.7 Service Pack 1 by way of the Related Information section below.

The system is now ready and both products should function properly.

If problems still occur using these two products on the same machine, contact ESRI Support or Leica Geosystems Support.