SOLIDWORKS Hole Wizard / Toolbox version error (swbrowser.sldedb error) plus Toolbox files

Overview

When launching SOLIDWORKS, using the Hole Wizard/ Toolbox function, or trying to access the Hole Wizard/ Toolbox section of the System Options you may see one of the following errors after a new installation/ update:

Cause of the error

While installing SOLIDWORKS onto a computer you are given the option to change your Toolbox/ Hole Wizard folder in the summary tab:

By default, SOLIDWORKS should create a new toolbox during the installation. There are times where the replace option is selected, or SOLIDWORKS never creates a new toolbox folder and selects the next version available as the default and reference it within SOLIDWORKS.

If another version of SOLIDWORKS has been installed you will be asked to select an installation method for the new toolbox folder that SOLIDWORKS will use for the version you are installation. Clicking CHANGE will bring you to the following screen:

Create a new SOLIDWORKS 20xx (where xx is the year) Toolbox

This will create a new SOLIDWORKS Data folder in the C:\ drive (local drive) that is unique to that version of SOLIDWORKS. If you have multiple versions installed the SOLIDWORKS data folder will add a number depending on how many SOLIDWORKS Data folders are already present. Referencing the picture above, SOLIDWORKS will create a new folder for the toolbox during the installation and name it SOLIDWORKS Data (6) since this will be the 6th time SOLIDWORKS has been installed on this computer and 5 other SOLIDWORKS Data folders exist already, each for another version of SOLIDWORKS.

Use an existing SOLIDWORKS Toolbox

If you have previously installed a version of SOLIDWORKS and are just re-installing, or you have a custom toolbox stored on a network drive, you can browse to that location, select it, and that folder will be the default toolbox for your installation of SOLIDWORKS.

Selecting this option will also allow you to upgrade previous years toolbox. For example, if you had custom cut-outs made for SOLIDWORKS 2016 you can toggle on the option to upgrade, navigate to the 2016 toolbox folder with the custom cut-outs, and SOLIDWORKS will create a copy of the folder to use in SOLIDWORKS 2017 and include the custom cut-outs.

Solution

1. Download the correct SOLIDWORKS Data folder for your version of SOLIDWORKS that you are missing below:

2022 - Link

2023 - Link

2024 - Link

2. Unblock the zip file (right-click it > click Properties > click on Unblock > click OK) and extract the folder to the local drive (C:\).

3. Navigate to the Hole Wizard/ Toolbox section of the System Options (Tools -> Options -> Hole Wizard/Toolbox) and click on the the "..." button and select the SOLIDWORKS Data folder related to the version of SOLIDWORKS you have open. If the warning appears again after choosing a folder then you selected the wrong one for that version of SOLIDWORKS.

4. Click OK to close the system options and try and use the Hole-Wizard tool to verify that the setting saved.

If the error continues, or the version of the SOLIDWORKS Data folder that you need is not listed above, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems at 877.266.4469 for the U.S or 866.587.6803 for Canada for further troubleshooting techniques or have the correct folder generated and sent to you.