i got 3ds max from a friend...but it did''t come with the premade images and material libraries...so i was dling them from him over aim. how do i use tga files as a material for objects in 3ds max?

Material Editor
Choose a material
Maps
Diffuse
Bitmap
Find your .tga

If you have an alpha channel then repeat those steps for Opacity after you''ve done Diffuse.

ya i tried that but i get an error ''Error Reading Targa File'' then i get option to retry or cancel - retry - ''internal error''.

It could be that the tga file is corrupted. Can you open the file in a paint program?

yes...even in 3ds max i get the preview pic of it....it doe sit to all tga files

Your tga file import is busted. Do a re-install.

well that worked thanks