hmmm removing the maya folder should have reset everything to the defaults and if it was a preferences issue or something else in the maya folder that should have cleared it.

The bad news is that this is now leaning towards a system incompatibility problem of some kind which could include - graphics drivers, conflicts with other software, a system hardware problem.

When it crashes does it produce a crash dump and try to save the file or is it just a straight crash to desktop? Autodesk can look at the crash dump to see where the crash is occurring but of course they NEVER get back to you with anything.

To further isolate the problem you could try opening the file on a school system (it sounded like this was due as a class project so I am assuming the school has a systems lab maybe). If the scene opens there you may want to complete it on the school system and then figure out the problem on yours when you are not up against a deadline.

ND might have some more suggestions to try and isolate the problem.

-Rick