If you try to open a dialog in AutoCAD but nothing happens, there is a chance that the dialog is open but it’s just “off your screen”. If you cannot proceed until you press ESCAPE, then this is almost certainly the problem. Here is how you can use a windows trick to move it back.
When the dialog is supposed to be visible, but you can’t see it, press ALT+Space, then “M”, then use the arrow keys to move the dialog. **After** you have used the arrow keys to start moving the dialog, you can continue with the mouse.
Here is an animation showing how this works. (Click the image for a full-size version!)
This technique may work, but is not reliable for non-modal dialogs, such as AutoCAD Palettes.