Suppress the ArcMap drawing errors dialog box in ArcGIS Desktop 9.1

Summary

ArcGIS Desktop 9.1 introduced a new drawing errors dialog box in the ArcMap application that provides feedback when certain features fail to draw. While this feedback is typically important, there may be special cases when you wish to suppress drawing error messages and prevent the dialog from appearing.

In May 2007, ESRI released a public patch for ArcGIS Desktop 9.1 that allows the drawing errors dialog to be suppressed based on an entry in the Windows registry. This support article documents the procedure for altering the registry for users who have already installed this patch on top of their ArcGIS 9.1 install.

Procedure

Note:
These steps only apply to ArcGIS Desktop version 9.1. Users of versions 9.2 and later do not need to install a patch, as drawing error dialog suppression was included as part of ArcGIS Desktop 9.2. See the link in the Related Information section below for instructions on suppressing the drawing errors dialog in versions 9.2 and later.

Warning:
The instructions below include making changes to essential parts of your operating system. It is recommended that you backup your operating system and files, including the registry, before proceeding. Consult with a qualified computer systems professional, if necessary. ESRI cannot guarantee results from incorrect modifications while following these instructions. Therefore, use caution and proceed at your own risk.

Warning:
The following procedure alters the default behavior of the ArcMap application, and should only be performed by advanced users.  With the changes in place, it is possible that important feature draw failures may not be reported to you.

1. Close any open instances of the ArcMap application, and install the ArcGIS Desktop 9.1 ArcMap Drawing Errors dialog suppression patch.
2. Start the Windows Registry Editor; navigate to Start > Run, type regedit, and click OK.
3. Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ESRI\ArcMap and and then select the registry key 'Settings'.
4. After proper installation of the patch, the Settings registry key should contain a SuppressDrawingErrors registry value. The default for SuppressDrawingErrors is 0, which means that ArcMap displays a Drawing Errors dialog box when a layer cannot be drawn, along with an explanation as to why the layer cannot be drawn. When SuppressDrawingErrors is set to 1, the drawing errors window is suppressed.
   
   To enable drawing error dialog suppression, double-click the icon for SuppressDrawingErrors, change the edit window to 'decimal' mode, and enter a 1 in place of the 0 in the text box.
5. Click OK to close the edit window and commit the registry change.
6. Exit the Windows Registry Editor and restart ArcMap. ArcMap no longer displays the drawing errors dialog bpx at time of drawing errors.