Chapter 6. Installing the Software

Installing the SolidWorks software properly is critically important. Many frustrating user issues are caused by faulty installs. Some general rules of thumb to keep in mind before installing the software include:

  • Exit out of all running software, and pay particular attention to antivirus software. Programs may be running that lock up system files that SolidWorks needs access to in order to run properly. Antivirus applications have been known to block SolidWorks from completing some tasks that it needs to complete during the course of an installation.

  • Install from an account with administrator access on the local computer. When people install from accounts with less than administrator access, they often find they do not have sufficient rights for the software to make necessary changes to the Windows registry.

  • Make sure the machine where you install SolidWorks has not been abused from a "computer hygiene" point of view. The best installation is a fresh operating system on a freshly formatted drive. So much depends on computer hygiene: many reported cases of frequent crashing stem primarily from basic system maintenance problems. Avoid installing a lot of junk applications on any computer you are going to use to run SolidWorks or other computer-intensive professional applications.

  • Make sure you ...

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