Invisible Patch Cords?

First of all I closed a poly~ object with a small sub-patch still open (a simple filergraph). Max then made 60 copies of the sub-patch (which was how many poly~ voices I had specified.. a lot I know but Ive got a MacBook Pro!). Computer nearly froze but I sorted it and saved the poly~. Next time I opened it all the Max patch cords were invisible and all the MSP cords were a light yellow. I thought it was just this patch but I tried others and it happens every time. I also tried it in Runtime but same thing. Its not even a cracked copy; it`s a demo version with the authorisation usb stick. My patch works in other peoples copies of Max too.
This is an issue as I have a university Max/MSP project coming up and I`m plum stuck for ideas!

I`ve added the patch (I think!)

Any ideas very welcome!

:)