Okay, this is easy to fix, but I'm not at my computer right now so I may not remember what all is involved... But try this: When you have one of these lock ups, which tend to happen with high polygon counts, here is what I've found to be the problem. A corrupt vue.env file. Here's where you clued me in... When you restart after a crash your default screen is missing and you are forced to load or new from the menu... only the atmosphere's and personal scenes are all missing. This happens AFTER a crash, or perhaps an aborted render. vue.env is a HEAVILY written to file. If something goes wrong while writting to it, Vue fails. Once corrupt, Vue will no longer work. Look at it this way... the vue.env file is sort of like the preference files under Mac OS 7.x-9.x, and by replacing it your get a fresh new Vue without the reinstall. I believe this is a Jag issue, as I didn't have this problem at all under 10.1. To repair, after a crash simply pull vue.env off the original CD and replace the corrupt one in your Application folder. I took a clean copy of vue.env and put it on my hard drive. I then copy a fresh vue.env into the Vue folder (I can't remember exactly WHERE in the vue folder it is) any time I start a new project. I haven't had a crash since.