Yes, students with Student Edition and SEK serial numbers have access to the MySolidWorks.com portal, through which they can access the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base. Please note that Student Design Kit (SDK) users do not have access to the MySolidWorks web portal, except for limited “Guest” access.  More information is available here: https://my.solidworks.com/account/student-access

You can contact SOLIDWORKS Student Edition Support and provide the Installation Manager logs.

To go to the Installation log folder, you can type %appdata% at Start > RUN and press Enter, and it will open the "Roaming" folder. In the "Roaming" folder, go to the "SOLIDWORKS" folder. Under the "SOLIDWORKS" folder, you will find a folder named “Installation log.”  Zip this complete folder and provide it for investigation.

However, before contacting the support team, you can follow this procedure to troubleshoot the issue:

Try a complete uninstallation of SOLIDWORKS using the Microsoft fixit tool:

1. Download the Microsoft fixit tool from this link:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed

2. Run the downloaded tool and click Next
3. Click Uninstalling
4. In product selection select ' SOLIDWORKS (version) ' and click Next to follow uninstallation process
5. Repeat the process until all the versions of SOLIDWORKS and all the SOLIDWORKS products are uninstalled
6. Try installation of SOLIDWORKS

This error is related to the installation of prerequisite VC++ components. To troubleshoot the issue, try reinstallation of VC++ components manually:

1.  Go to Start > User Account > User Account Control Settings. Set it to “Never Notify”. Restart the system
2.  Login as administrator
3.  Uninstall VC++ redistributable components (2008 and 2010 and 2012, 2013, 2015) from Programs and Features
4.  Restart the computer
5.  Login as administrator
6.  Reinstall: VC++ 2008 and 2010 and 2012, 2013, 2015 [a] downloaded files\prereqs\VCRedist9\vcredist_x86.exe and vcredist_x64.exe [b] downloaded files\prereqs\VCRedist10\vcredist_x86.exe and vcredist_x64.exe [c] downloaded files\prereqs\VCRedist11\vcredist_x86.exe and vcredist_x64.exe [d] downloaded files\prereqs\VCRedist12\vcredist_x86.exe and vcredist_x64.exe [e] downloaded files\prereqs\VCRedist14\vcredist_x86.exe and vcredist_x64.exe  
7.  Restart your computer
8.  Login as administrator
9.  Install SOLIDWORKS

Note that the system requirements for commercial versions and Student Edition versions are not different. For details, please check this link: www.solidworks.com/SystemRequirements

This link provides the minimum system requirements for running SOLIDWORKS.

Note that the system requirements for commercial versions and Student Edition versions are not different. For details, please check this link: www.solidworks.com/SystemRequirements

This link provides the minimum system requirements for running SOLIDWORKS.

You can download the Student Edition from www.solidworks.com/SEK

If you have a serial number (9020…), you can follow these steps to download:

1. Go to the link www.solidworks.com/SEK
2. Select “Yes” for the Option "I already have a serial number that starts with 9020"
3. Choose the appropriate SOLIDWORKS version from the drop/down list
4. Select ‘Request Download’ and accept terms and conditions
5. Click ‘Download’ > exe will be downloaded

If you have an SDK-ID:

1. Go to the link www.solidworks.com/SEK
2. Select “No” for the Option "I already have a serial number that starts with 9020"
   (Note:  Your serial numbers will be displayed on screen later, as well as provided via email, once you proceed for downloading)
3. Enter your SDK-ID (This ID can be obtained from your teacher/professor at school/college/university)
4. Choose the appropriate SOLIDWORKS version from the drop/down list
5. Select ‘Request Download’ and accept terms and conditions
6. Click ‘Download’ > exe will be downloaded

Please check the following:

1. If you did not receive a serial number via email, check your spam/junk folder as the email might have been filtered
2. When you request a download for a Student Design Kit (SDK) using your SDK-ID, serial numbers are displayed on the download page. Copy the serial numbers and use them during the installation

Student Edition products allow for 2 activations.  If both activations have already been consumed, then you can contact our support team for further assistance by filling in the Student support form.  If you only installed and activated SOLIDWORKS once, then you can install and activate the license one more time without contacting SOLIDWORKS for assistance.

Please try the following to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Rename the FLEXnet folder and try the activation again
   Go to C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet and rename the folder FLEXnet (maybe to FLEXnet_old)
   (The ProgramData folder is a hidden folder. Either you can enable to show hidden folders from Folder options or you can directly type c:\Programdata into the address bar and press enter to access this folder. You will be able to find the Flexnet folder)
2. Try the activation again

This issue can occur if the SOLIDWORKS® License Service is not installed properly on the machine. In most of the cases, this issue is resolved by performing a repair installation of SOLIDWORKS. Follow the below steps for a repair installation:

1. Login as an administrator
2. Go to Start > Control Panel > Program and Features > SOLIDWORKS and click ‘Change’ to repair the installation
3. Select ‘Repair the individual installation (on this computer)’
4. Click ‘Next’
5. Follow the instructions to complete the modification

After the repair is successful, try following the steps to perform the activation:

1. Rename the FLEXnet folder and try activation again:
   Go to C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet and rename the folder FLEXnet (maybe to FLEXnet_old) (The ProgramData folder is a hidden folder. Either you can enable to show hidden folders from Folder options or you can directly type c:\Programdata into the address bar and press enter to access this folder. You will be able to find the Flexnet folder)
2. Try the activation again

SOLIDWORKS is not officially supported in the Mac environment.  We are aware of many users who run SOLIDWORKS successfully in a dual-boot Windows environment on Macs.  We are not aware of many users running successfully in an emulated Windows environment on Macs.  If you choose to run SOLIDWORKS on a Mac, your best chance for success will be choosing a dual-boot "Boot Camp" setup (booting in Windows) on your Mac.

SOLIDWORKS eDrawings and the free 2D CAD product DraftSight are supported in native Mac OS.

Please refer to this link providing system requirement information for installing SOLIDWORKS:

www.solidworks.com/SystemRequirements

In most of the cases this problem is caused by unsupported graphics cards and drivers. To verify this, try to start SOLIDWORKS with Software OpenGL (if this option is not disabled due to unsupported graphics card). You can either follow the steps in the above question, or follow the steps below:

1. Launch SOLIDWORKS and without opening any document go to Tools > Options > Performance
2. Enable “Use Software OpenGL”
3. Select OK and now try to open a new part, assembly, or drawing

If SOLIDWORKS does not crash in Software OpenGL mode, this confirms that the problem is due to the graphics card or its drivers. To see the list of SOLIDWORKS supported graphics cards and drivers for your system (if your system is not listed please select Any System Vendor) follow the link: https://www.solidworks.com/support/hardware-certification

Generally, in this case, installation logs show an error with the installation of VSTA (vsta_aide.msi).

When trying to manually install the VSTA component by running vsta_aide.msi, installation of VSAT fails with error code 1305 "Error reading from file' during installation."

Generally, this occurs when the installation is running from OneDrive and the Installation Manager is unable to read some files from OneDrive leading to installation failure.

To resolve the issue, copy the all the downloaded files to a folder that’s local to the system, then run the installation from the local folder.

You can contact the Student Edition Support Team by filling in the student support form using this link and providing the required information: www.solidworks.com/studentsupport 

When contacting the Student Edition Support Team, please collect and include the following information:

For installation and download issues:

1. Installation Logs: Please provide the installation log files for further investigation of your issue. To go to the installation log folder, you can type %appdata% at Start > RUN and press Enter; it will open the "Roaming" folder.  In the "Roaming" folder go to the "SOLIDWORKS" folder. Under the "SOLIDWORKS" folder, you will find a folder named “Installation log.” Zip this complete folder and provide it for investigation.
2. Screenshot of the error message
3. Serial numbers

For Crash and SOLIDWORKS functionality issues, or SOLIDWORKS files related issues:

1. SOLIDWORKS Rx: Please capture your problem using the Rx utility and send the zip file back for further investigation. (Default location of Rx is Start > All Programs > SOLIDWORKS Student Edition > SOLIDWORKS Tools > SOLIDWORKS RX) Run Rx utility and go to "Problem Capture” and Click “Record Video.” It will launch SOLIDWORKS and you can follow steps to show your issue. Click “Finish recording” after you have followed the steps to show the issue. Then Click “Package Files Now...” and save the zip file.  Now under “Describe Problem" click “Continue” and enter the problem description and required details and click “OK” and exit the Rx utility. Send the zip file as an attachment for further investigation.