Disable Check Out Prompt on Read Only Files

SOLIDWORKS will often prompt users with a dialog during the opening of a read only file from SOLIDWORKS PDM.

This behavior may not be desirable for users who are experienced with SOLIDWORKS PDM and so this dialog can be disabled.

This option can be changed through the PDM options within SOLIDWORKS.

With PDM 2016 or newer installed:
Tools > SOLIDWORKS PDM > Options

With PDM 2015 or older installed:
Enterprise PDM > Options

On the Server tab, disable the option "Prompt to check out file if opened in read-only mode"

Registry

If you need to specify this setting for a large user base, it may be inconvenient to access all machines with all user accounts to verify the message setting. It may simply be easier to push the setting via a registry file to all user accounts to ensure the setting is the same network-wide.

The registry key that needs to be set would be as follows:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\Applications\PDMWorks Enterprise\PDMSW\Options\ReadOnlyWarning

Set to a value of 0 to disable the message.

(Alternatively, you can set all users to have this message enabled by specifying a value of 1)

Important: Serious problems may occur if you make incorrect changes to the registry. We advise you to make a backup of your registry using the information here. We advise you to work with your IT administrators when following the procedures below.