How to fix texture loss after deleting history?

In Maya, texture loss sometimes occurs during the following steps:

• Importing an FBX file
• Simplifying with Polygon Cruncher
• Deleting its history in Maya

The object then appears black and the links to the textures seem to have been broken. This problem seems to be due to a change in the paths to the textures when the history is deleted.

If this problem occurs, you can fix it by:

• Saving the file in Maya ASCII format.
  Note that using binary format does not solve the problem.
• Reloading the saved file.

This difference in behavior depending on the backup format (binary/ASCII) suggests that the internal processing is slightly different, particularly with regard to file name management.