ChemDraw Chem3D: When drawing a structure in Chem3D, an error window appears ("sorry, no element tables are available").

When drawing a structure in Chem3D, systematically an error window appears ("sorry, no element tables are available").

The location of the Chem3D application (chem3d.exe) is not in the same location as the parameter and filter tables. 

Chem3D Windows:

Do a search for Chem3D.exe on your computer.

Look in that directory. There should be a series of subdirectories. Depending on your version of Chem3D, you will see either C3D Items and C3D Extensions (version 8-9) folders or C3dfiltr, C3dtable, C3dtmplt folders (versions prior to 8), etc. If using version 8 or above, do a search for the C3D Items folder. It must be in the same folder as the chem3d.exe file. In some cases, if the software was installed using the command line, the C3D Items folder may be at the top level of the C drive. It needs to be moved to the Chem3D folder. In other cases, the user has moved the chem3d.exe to the desktop instead of making a shortcut, and moving the shortcut to the chem3d.exe to the desktop. It could also be that the parameter folders were not installed at all. In that case, uninstall the software, and do a reinstall using the original installation cd or download.

Chem3D Mac:

Do a search for CS Chem3D Pro on your computer. 
Look in that folder. There should be a folder called Chem3D Parameter Folder. This folder may be an alias depending on the version you are using. Make sure the alias points to a valid folder containing the original files. If these folders (and associated files) are not in the same directory that contains the Chem3D application you would see this error. Usually this problem occurs when someone tries to move Chem3D application to the desktop of the computer. If you want to do this, we recommend making a shortcut (or alias) to the application and moving that to the desktop. If the above information does not solve your problem, we recommend uninstalling and reinstalling our software.