The Tips in detail

 "After installing the plugin XYZ Max crashes."

Most problems concerning plugins occure due to not doing the recomended RTFM.

If you try to install a plugin, you should check out the following:

1. Is the plugin you are going to plug in for your version of Max?

   Although most plugins designed for MaxV2 do work with V2.5 this is not a must. Only a few plugins designed for MaxV2.5 do work with earlier versions of Max and most versions of plugins designed for non-Studio-versions don't work with 3D Studio. Plugins for MaxV3.x (or newer) in most cases do not work with earlier versions and most plugins designed for V2.5 do not work with V3.x.

   Read what the documentation says about versions and / or compatibilities

2. Are you using NT/Win2k or W95 or W98?

   Most plugins behave rocksolid when used with NT4, NT4SP3-6, Win2k. A whole other story is Win9X/WinME. Here you may have your fun finding out which plugins will work together by try-on-error. There is no other common identifier (afaik) to recognize the co-workers than this: the co-workers don't crash your system!

3. Is there a newer version availible?

   Many bugs are discovered after releasing a software (also called: "consumer beta testing") Have a look at the refering website of your plugin wether there is a fixed version. In the case there is: get it. If not: contact their support. Most companies greatly appreciate any feedback.