In rare cases, it could be that the PLAXIS 2D mesh generation fails to work, due to Microsoft Windows security settings: one of these security settings does not allow the creation of 8+3 filenames, which are needed to generate a 2D mesh.

In the registry, please set the value for this key to 2:
HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetControlFileSystemNtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation

See also:

• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc778996(WS.10).aspx
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc959352.aspx
• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/210638

Installation in long path with spaces

If changing this setting still does not result in a successfully generated mesh, a workaround could be to install PLAXIS 2D in a folder name that already complies to the 8+3 short path naming convention and excluding any spaces, e.g. you can install PLAXIS 2D in C:\PLAXIS and change the Windows TEMP to a simpler folder name as well (C:\Temp).

To change the location of the System Temp folder (on Windows 7), follow these steps:

1. Right-click on Computer and click on Properties. You will see a window with basic information about your computer. Alternatively, you can also press the [Windows]-key + [Pause]-key simultaneously.
2. Click on Advanced system settings on the left panel resulting in a dialogue box (you will need Administrator rights)
3. Now click on the Advanced tab
4. Click on the button near the bottom labelled Environment Variables.
5. You may see both TMP and TEMP listed in the section labelled User variables for (account). That's the common location; each different login account is assigned its own temporary location.
6. In the Variable value Edit box, you may specify the path to the directory that Windows and many other programs will use for temporary files.
7. Be sure and repeat that process for both TMP and TEMP.
8. You'll need to restart Windows for the new value to take effect.