Check your system requirements prior to upgrading SolidWorks. The system requirements, in particular the operating systems supported by SolidWorks, are changing. To review the current systems requirements, click here.

Saving your settings
Copy Options Wizard can be used to create a copy of the Windows® registry settings. This tool creates a .reg file that can be used to backup or move your setting to another machine. To use these settings, just double-click on the file and the settings are loaded into the registry. The Copy Options Wizard can be accessed through the Tools section of the SolidWorks menu available within the Windows Start/Program menu.

SolidWorks will bring over settings from the previous version, where possible, for the new release. Toolbar layout and your Tools, Options settings will be retained when you upgrade your installation. If you choose to create a New Installation and use your existing Tools, Options settings, you will need to make use of the Copy Options Wizard.

The values for the customized menus and keyboard shortcuts are stored in a file within the SolidWorks install directory /user/.cus. This allows for the settings not captured by the Copy Options Wizard to be added to the systems configuration. Just place the file in the folder described above with the current user's login name and the settings will be used. If more than one user will be on the same machine, additional .cus files need to be created.

Converting legacy SolidWorks files
Once you install SolidWorks, accessing legacy files may be time-consuming due to changes made in the new version of the software. As a result, accessing legacy files may be more time-consuming than usual. These legacy files will need to be converted to the new file format, using the Conversion Wizard described below.

Once legacy files have been opened and saved again in the new version of SolidWorks, subsequent opening time will be shortened, and may even be quicker due to product enhancements in the new version.

The SolidWorks Conversion Wizard provides a way for you to automatically convert all of your SolidWorks files from an earlier SolidWorks version, to the new SolidWorks format. Once the file conversion process is complete, your files will open more quickly. The Conversion Wizard can be accessed through the Tools section of the SolidWorks menu available within the Windows Start/Program menu.

When the conversion utility begins, it offers you the choice of backing up all of your files before the conversion. If you choose to backup your SolidWorks files (which is strongly recommended), the Conversion Wizard copies the files to a subfolder named "SolidWorks Conversion Backup." The wizard asks you for the location of the files to be converted, and leads you through the process. Referenced documents that live outside the parent document folder will not be converted.

At the end of the conversion process, two report files exist in the folder to which you directed the conversion.

• Conversion Wizard Done.txt contains a list of files that converted.
• Conversion Wizard Failed.txt contains a list of files that did not convert.

Keep in mind that this cannot be run while SolidWorks is running. If you have a large number of files to convert, it may be wise to run the Conversion Wizard overnight. If you encounter any failed conversions, you should contact your SolidWorks reseller for assistance.

Add-ins
Before installing SolidWorks, you should insure that all add-in products are also installed and support the new release. If you have SolidWorks Office or SolidWorks Office Professional, the installation application will take care of the SolidWorks add-ins.

During the 'Setup Type' portion of the installation, choose the 'Custom' option (see Figure 1)- if you intend to install various SolidWorks add-in products, sample files, and documentation.

All Certified Gold Products should run in the new release without reinstalling. Please contact your Solution Partner vendor if you have any concerns regarding the compatibility of Solution Partner applications with SolidWorks.

During the upgrade
The following steps should be taken prior to starting the upgrade:

• Turn off anti-virus software. This will insure that the software and all the operating system components get installed and registered properly.
• Remove the previous version of SolidWorks. This is an optional step if you will not need the previous version.
• Clean the registry settings that exist for SolidWorks. This is an optional step that will insure the settings are installed clean and there are no dependencies with the previous version. This will also require that the settings be re-defined in the new version. The advantage to doing this is that each option dialog box can be reviewed for new or additional setting that should be define and shared with the other users.

SolidWorks comes as a set of CDs. With the addition of SolidWorks Toolbox, PDMWorks™, and MoldBase to our product line, the entire SolidWorks family of products no longer fits on a single CD. To start the installation process, insert CD #1.

The individual installation is typically used. For more information on the client/server process, see the Subscription Service web site.

Figure 1

There are two options when installing SolidWorks on a machine with an existing SolidWorks installation:

1. Update an existing installation – overwrite the previous version of SolidWorks and then run exclusively on the new version of SolidWorks.
2. New installation – The new version of SolidWorks will co-exist with the previous version of SolidWorks.

The Update an existing installation option will replace your old SolidWorks installation with the new SolidWorks version, with the same path location. Please keep in mind that:

• Files stored within your SolidWorks root directory folders will be overwritten. A reminder message appears during installation.
• Most notable are those files stored in the data folder.
• Feature Palette items, Document Templates, and Custom Sheet Formats are stored in this location by default.
• It is good practice to store all files outside of the SolidWorks root directory to avoid such complication.

In the New installation option, users retain the previous release on their system, which means internal testing can occur on the new release without interrupting projects that were initiated on a previous release (see Figure 2). Users must, however, consider the amount of free disk space available on their machine as a SolidWorks installation can range in file size from 190 MB to 300 MB depending on the inclusion of sample files, documentation, and add-ins.

SolidWorks users must upgrade the client installations as well as the server installations when upgrading across a major release. If there is a security device present (i.e., dongle), the user must upgrade the client installation to update the security device driver information.

Toolbox users
If you have Toolbox you need to decide whether you have local copies of the Toolbox database or share copies with the other users. If you have multiple users within your company, the shared Toolbox would be recommended. The reason for this is that when the new fastener configurations are added to the database, all users would see the addition.

For more information concerning Toolbox, review the Toolbox Resources page within the Subscription Service web site.

After the upgrade
After the software has been installed, review the following documents:

• Introducing SolidWorks (New Users)
• SolidWorks What's New Manual
• New tutorials (included with the upgrade)

As the last step you should communicate these changes to users within your company. Check with your local VAR for What's New seminars and rollouts.

For More Information:
Visit the SolidWorks Subscription Service web site at
http://www.solidworks.com/swdocs/Support/Subscription/html/.

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