SolidWorks

When you go to use the Hole Wizard or Toolbox you get the following error:

Error: The database file ‘C:\SolidWorks Data\lang\english\swbrowser.mdb’ is not the expected version.

Typically you would see this error if you have recently upgraded your SolidWorks install to SW2010 or SW2011. SolidWork should have updated your HoleWizard/Toolbox database, or maybe it installed a new one, and the wrong path is listed in Tools -> Options -> Hole Wizard / Toolbox.

Checklist

1. Using My Computer, look for C:\SolidWorks Data, C:\SolidWorks Data (2)
2. Open SolidWorks, Tools -> Options -> Hole Wizard / Toolbox. Check that the path is correct and if different paths were found above, try browsing to them.
3. If you have another computer running the same latest version of SolidWorks, copy their C:\SolidWorks Data to your computer.
   OR
   Browse to: “C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp\SolidWorks\Toolbox\data utilities” and run UpdateBrowserData.exe Browse to the swbrowser.mdb file inside C:\SolidWorks Data\lang\english and click “Update”. That should do the trick.

sburke How-To, Note to Remember errors, hole wizard, SW2010, toolbox

I was recently trying to install SolidWorks 2011 on Windows 7 x64 and it failed. Typically I’d expect problems with XP x64, but not with Windows 7 with .Net and Windows Installer all part of the OS.

Diagnosis

The SolidWorks Installation Manager provided a link to the Installation Logs ( C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\SolidWorks\Installation Logs\2011 SP0 ). Looking at the latest txt file ( SummaryIMLog_20110.txt ) I saw “Installation Error 1719″ and “Installation Error 1603″.

I also looked at the Windows Event Viewer, and saw the failed installation and the Error 1719. See image below.

First Attempted Solution

• As Windows Installer v5 is part of Windows 7, it would not show up in Add/Remove Programs to do a repair (as I would have done for XP).
• Make sure that the Windows Installer service is running  (Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools -> Services)
• As on the SW KB, I had tried registering and reregistering Windows Installer.
  Command Prompt:
  msiexec.exe /unregister
  msiexec /regserver
  C:\Windows\Syswow64\Msiexec /regserver
• I even browsed directly to the SolidWorks setup (bypassing the Installation Manager), but it immediately threw up the 1719 error and stopped.

Final Solution to 1719 Installation Error

1. Start, then Run, then type regedit 
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENT CONTROL SET\SERVICES\MSIserver\WOW64            
3. Right click on WOW64, then select Modify      
4. Set Value Data to 0 (mine was set at 1) and Base should be Hexadecimal
   (see below image for screenshot)
5. Close the Registry Editor
6. Reboot the PC
   OR
   Command Prompt: net stop msiserver    and net start msiserver
7. Install SolidWorks 

Reference

sburke How-To, Note to Remember errors, install, SW2011

Here is a little nuisance I came across recently:

When changing the templates that the novice interface uses, it was a little tricky. It turns out that the Novice Interface selects the first alphabetical template.

I had thought it would have used the Default Templates under Tools -> Options -> Default Templates, but I was mistaken.

So if your templates are stored in: C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks\SolidWorks 2011\templates, and you want a new Drawing, it will select the first alphabetical drawing template (*.drwdot) in that folder.
To verify and check where your templates are stored: Tools -> Options -> File Locations -> Document Templates

Personally I always use the Advanced interface, but to each his/her own.

sburke Note to Remember Drawings, SW2011