Update 18 August 2015- SOLIDWORKS will now show an alert when attempting an install or upgrade- this will direct users to this page as you will likely be affected by this issue and therefore need to invoke the solutions.
A recent Windows update has caused issues with the windows
installer that can corrupt a SOLIDWORKS install. This only occurs if you have windows update KB 3072630 and then perform an
service pack upgrade or new installation of SOLIDWORKS. This update needs to be removed or temporarily disabled before performing an upgrade or new install.
SOLIDWORKS development are currently working alongside Microsoft towards
resolving this issue however in the meantime if you need to do an install or upgrade
you first need to check if update KB 3072630 is installed and if so follow the
solutions below.
First to check if the update is
installed on your computer
Navigate to the Windows Control Panel
-> Choose Programs and Features
Select “View Installed Updates”
Search for KB3072630 (no spaces)
If this update is installed it should either
be removed before installing/ upgrading SOLIDWORKS or temporarily disabled
which is described later in this blog post and then re-enabled after the install
has been performed.
Before upgrading/ Installing make sure you either carry out steps 1-6 for individual installs below or uninstall the windows update before upgrading/installing.
What
if I have already performed an upgrade?
Don’t Panic! If you have recently performed
an upgrade or recent install then you should check to see if you have any of
the below problems. If so there is a process to resolve the issues. The
solution to fix each of these symptoms/ problems is the same, although you may
wish to contact your IT support for assistance in performing the fix. Note you
may not have/ notice all of the below problems.
Symptom
1 After my installation or upgrade of SOLIDWORKS®, why are many SOLIDWORKS
add-ins missing from my add-ins list?
Symptom
2. When launching SOLIDWORKS® or opening a file, why does SOLIDWORKS return
"Could not load SOLIDWORKS DLL: GdtAnalysisSupport.dll"?
Symptom
3 When recording, playing, or editing a SOLIDWORKS® Macro, why does
SOLIDWORKS crash?
Symptom 4 Opening files with equations, or creating new equations fails to compute. You may also need to install VBA 7.0 again from the DVD \Prereqs folder.
Symptom 5 DWG document manager library is invalid or missing" error seen when launching SOLIDWORKS® or SOLIDWORKS® Explorer?
Symptom 6- SOLIDWORKS Treehouse crashes on opening
Symptom 7- Equations stop working
Symptom 8- Tooltips disappear from Command Manager icons.
Solution for any/all of the above
If you have any or all of
the above symptoms and your upgrade or install was
performed after July 15th, 2015 the most likely explanation is a known conflict
caused by Microsoft® update KB 3072630 which was released on July 15th, 2015.
This update makes changes to the Windows Installer.
To address this problem, try the following steps with your
IT department’s assistance if required. Editing the windows registry is safe
when done properly, however incorrect editing
could cause further problems, if in doubt consult IT support.
Essentially the solution below will
temporarily disable and then re-enable this Windows update.
Standalone (Individual)
installs
If
you installed from a disc/download then follow the steps below;
To simplify the process there are two
registry files that can be run before and after a repair/ reinstall of
SOLIDWORKS
1.Download RunBeforeRepair_disable_KB3072630.reg.txt
(Right click Save as)
2.Remove the .txt from the
end of the file, click yes to the warning about renaming the file extension
3. Double click on the file “RunBeforeRepair_disable_KB3072630.reg"
to add the registry entries to your
system (note you can see the entries
that are modified in the manual process at the end of this blog post)
4.Click “Run when prompted
to allow the entries to run ( you may also get prompted for admin permissions/
password depending on your user account settings)
5.At the next warning prompt click
“Yes” to allow the entries to be added,
You should get a message to say they
have been successfully added.
6.Navigate to Windows
Control Panel -> Programs and Features
7.Select SOLIDWORKS and
choose “Change” (you may also need the original disc/download for the repair)
8.Select the option to run a repair
of your SOLIDWORKS Installation
9.After the application
installs successfully, reboot and check that any previous errors are solved
10.We can now renable the Windows update KB3072630
11. To do this, Download RunAfterRepair_enable_KB3072630.reg.txt
(Right click Save as)
12. Remove the .TXT from the end of the
file
13. Run using the same process as Steps
3-5
Administrative
Image installs
If you installed from an administrative
image follow these steps;
1.Uninstall SOLIDWORKS
from Programs and Features. (note if this fails try step 3-7 first then retry
the uninstall process)
2.Download RunBeforeRepair_disable_KB3072630.reg.txt
(Right click Save as)
3.Remove the .txt from
the end of the file.
4.Double click on the file
“RunBeforeRepair_disable_KB3072630.reg to add the registry entries to your system
(note you can see the entries that are
modified in the manual process at the end of this blog post) 5. Click “Run when
prompted to allow the entries to run ( you may also get prompted for admin permissions/ password depending on your user account settings)
6.At the next
warning prompt click “yes” to allow the entries to be added, you should get a
message to say they have been successfully added.
7.Reinstall SOLIDWORKS from your administrative
image.
8. After
the application installs successfully, we can re-enable the Windows update KB3072630
9. To do this, Download RunAfterRepair_enable_KB3072630.reg.txt
10. Remove the .TXT from the end of the
file
11. Run using the same process as Steps
3-5
Note until a fix is released if you wish to upgrade you may have to
disable this update we will publish updated information as we get it
from SOLIDWORKS.
Should you need further help please contact our support team
on 01 297 4440
Manual Process
If you would prefer to add the entries to the registry
manually, process to add these registry entries is below This is only required if NOT
using the files above
To Disable Windows Update KB3072630
1.Click
'Start', click 'Run', type "regedit" in the 'Open' box, and then
click 'OK'.
2.Locate and click the
following subkey in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
Note:
If this subkey does not exist, create it.
3. In the 'Edit' menu, point
to 'New', and then click 'DWORD Value'.
4.For the DWORD name, type
"RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy", and then press 'Enter'.
5.Right-click
"RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy", and then click 'Modify'.
6.In the 'Value' data box,
type 1, and then click 'OK'.
To Re-enable Windows Update KB3072630
1. Click
'Start', click 'Run', type "regedit" in the 'Open' box, and then
click 'OK'.
2. Locate and click the
following subkey in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
Note:
If this subkey does not exist, create it.
3.In the 'Edit menu, point
to 'New', and then click 'DWORD Value'.
4.For the DWORD name, type
"RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy", and then press 'Enter'.
5.Right-click
"RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy", and then click 'Modify'.
6.In the 'Value' data box,
type 0, and then click 'OK'.
Note until a fix is released if you wish to upgrade you may have to disable this update we will publish updated information as we get it from SOLIDWORKS.
By Alan Sweetenham
Elite Applications Engineer.