Installing SOLIDWORKS Electrical without PDFCreator

This guide details a method by which to install or upgrade SOLIDWORKS Electrical (SWE) when the PDFCreator pre-requisite is blocked by anti-virus software and removed from the installation file set. In this scenario, the file set is missing the PDFCre~1.cab file in the swelectric subfolder.

See the attached PDF for a complete guide with images.

The method to install SWE without PDFCreator requires you to use the SOLIDWORKS Electrical.msi file from the swelectric subfolder. This installs SWE independently of the main SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager (which can still be used to install other SOLIDWORKS products) and allows PDFCreator to be excluded from the installation. The issue with the msi is that it does not install the SQL instance required to host the SWE databases. It also does not install the pre-requisite components required to run the SWE application (see full list here). These must be installed first using the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager.

Note that PDFCreator is not installed with SWE 2016 SP4 and later versions. However, the PDFCre~1.cab file is still in the file set and is still required to install normally with the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager. Use this guide if the PDFCre~1.cab file is blocked and/or removed from the file set.

The exact method will depend on whether you are installing or upgrading, and whether you are using a standalone or a client-server configuration. Use the relevant section for your situation. Note that due to the number of methods and versions, there may be some issues or inaccuracies with these steps. Please contact Hawk Ridge Systems Technical Support if you are unsure or need assistance.

© 2016 Hawk Ridge Systems

New Installations

Standalone/Client Installation

1. Install SWE using the existing standalone installation guide for your version (found here), but make one change at the Product Selection page of the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager. Uncheck the box for SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic and SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D (if available). Note that you can install other SOLIDWORKS products at the same time by enabling them at the Product Selection page.

2. Browse to your installation file set, open the swelectric subfolder, then run SOLIDWORKS Electrical.msi.

3. Click Next at the Welcome page, then select Modify at the Program Maintenance page. Click Next.

4. At the Custom Setup page, enable Electrical 2D Client then disable PDF Creator. Enable Electrical 3D Client if available with your license. Data, Electrical Collaborative Server and SQL Server should already be enabled. Click Next.

5. Proceed through the installer. The default options should be appropriate here. Click Install to start installing, then Finish once installation completes.

6. Once installation completes, launch SWE to verify that the application can connect to the server components. You should also run through the Data Update Wizard if prompted.

7. If you are using the client-server configuration (i.e. the SWE server components have been installed on a network server machine), go to Tools > Application Settings within SWE and modify the settings on the Collaborative Server and Databases tabs to point to the SWE server. Ignore this step if you are using the standalone configuration.

Client-Server Installation

Install the SWE server components using the Server Installation section of the existing server or client-server installation guide for your version (found here). Do not follow the steps in the Client Installation guides/sections. Instead follow the steps in the above Standalone/Client Installation section of this document to install the SWE application on the client machine.

Upgrades

Prior to any uninstall/upgrade, create an archive of the SWE environment as a backup. Click File > Archive Environment within SWE then follow the wizard to create this. This will allow you to restore all SWE data if there are any issues with the upgrade that result in data loss.

Due to the combined use of the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager and the SWE MSI, the simplest method for upgrading SWE installations is to uninstall the existing version then reinstall the new version.

Uninstall Existing Version

1. Go to Control Panel > Programs & Features, right-click the SOLIDWORKS entry, then click Uninstall.

2. Select SOLIDWORKS Electrical as the product to uninstall. There is no need to uninstall other SOLIDWORKS products unless you are doing a major version upgrade (e.g. 2014 to 2015) and do not want to keep the older version.

3. Click Change next to Advanced Options. Ensure that Data Files and Folders is NOT checked, then click Back to Summary. This will retain the SWE data directory and SQL server for standalone installations.

4. Click Remove Items.

Standalone Upgrade

After uninstalling the existing version of SWE, install the new version using the Standalone/Client Installation section of this document. Note that you can upgrade other SOLIDWORKS products at the same time by enabling them at the Product Selection page of the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager.

Client-Server Upgrade

Firstly, on the server machine, upgrade the SWE server components using the Server Upgrade section of the existing server or client-server upgrade guide for your version (found here). Do not follow the steps in the Client Upgrade guides/sections.

After uninstalling the existing version of SWE on the client machine, follow the steps in the Standalone/Client Installation section of this document. Note that you can upgrade other SOLIDWORKS products at the same time by enabling them at the Product Selection page of the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager.