Problem

This article goes over the considerations to make for Windows User Permissions for running SOLIDWORKS and PDM in a Restricted Environment.

SOLIDWORKS

According to the SOLIDWORKS QA article QA00000115438, when running Windows Vista or newer, SOLIDWORKS runs on user accounts with default Windows permissions, so no changes are required. 

It can be necessary on occasion to run SOLIDWORKS as an administrator when:

• Modifying the Toolbox
• Modifying the Material Library
• Modifying the Design Library
• Modifying the Installation
• Troubleshooting a permissions issue with certain files
• Performing certain commands, such as Restoring SOLIDWORKS File Associations

PDM

SOLIDWORKS PDM is a bit more complicated in what it needs in terms of permissions. The Following recommendations were pulled from the SOLIDWORKS QA article QA00000111145:

• Local Administrative Permissions are required to install PDM Clients
• The logged-in user profile must have full Windows Read & Write permissions to the Vault View Folder. This is recommended to be performed by the Administrator to add "Full Control" to the user like the example in this article: What Permissions are Required to Use the Toolbox Correctly in a Multi-user Environment? – Hawk Ridge Systems
• The logged-in user profile must have read and write access to the HKCU SOLIDWORKS PDM registry section, which contains user-specific settings: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Solidworks\Applications\PDMWorks Enterprise
• The logged-in user profile must have read access to the HKLM SolidWorks Enterprise PDM registry section:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\Applications\PDMWorks Enterprise
• The logged-in user profile must have read and write access to the user profile Local AppData folder. Add-in DLLs and cached images are stored here during login. This folder can be accessed by typing the following into Windows Search: %localappdata%\solidworks

For additional support, existing customers can submit a ticket or new customers can contact Hawk Ridge Systems.