If you are experiencing serious issues with your SOLIDWORKS software, you may need to fully uninstall the program and all associated programs and files before attempting to reload the software. This document covers how to do this complete removal of the product.
This information is subject to change without notification. Please make sure you are using the most current version of the document. If you have any questions or find that there are discrepancies between this document and the SOLIDWORKS website or documentation, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems technical support.
This is not a troubleshooting guide. If you have any technical issues with SOLIDWORKS, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems technical support.
Contents
Before Uninstalling SOLIDWORKS
Cleaning the Registry and Folders for SOLIDWORKS
Appendix B – Backing up PDM Registry
Appendix C - Microsoft Fix-It Tool
Before Uninstalling SOLIDWORKS
Prior to uninstalling a standalone installation of SOLIDWORKS, please ensure that the licenses are deactivated, and backups of any data files and registry keys are created.
Deactivating Licenses
License will need to be deactivated so that they can be reactivated on a different machine. For detailed steps on this, please see our guide for Transferring/Deactivating a SOLIDWORKS Standalone License.
Creating Backups
It is recommended to create backups of both your current user settings and custom files before uninstalling SOLIDWORKS.
During the uninstall process, the paths that will be removed will be listed, so please ensure that you have any backups of any files that may be stored in those locations. Some of the folders are hidden by default. They can be browsed to by manually typing in the folder path into Windows Explorer or showing the hidden folders.
Regarding registry setting backups, please reference Appendix A on the steps to use the Settings Wizard for saving your SOLIDWORKS user settings. and Appendix B for creating a PDM registry backup if it is being used.
Uninstalling SOLIDWORKS
- Make sure you are logged in as the Administrator.
- Type "Control Panel" into the Windows search line to pull up the Control Panel and select Uninstall a program.
- Right-click on SOLIDWORKS from the list and select Uninstall in order to launch the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager.
- You will be shown a list of SOLIDWORKS products that are loaded on this system. Select the programs you wish to remove.
- If you wish to do a complete clean-uninstall (removal of all files including registry files), then click on the Change link next to the Advanced Options. There, you will be able to select Registry Entries to remove serial numbers and custom settings, Data Files and Folders to remove custom files such as Toolbox and Download Files and Folders to remove downloaded install files.
Note that the files and folders to be removed will be listed as well.
Once you have selected what you want to remove, click Back to Summary.
- Click the Remove Items icon at the bottom of the screen to continue. (If you are using a standalone license and you have not deactivated your licenses already, a dialog will appear to allow you to deactivate currently activated licenses on the computer. The selected products will now be removed from the system.)
- Press OK to continue.
If the uninstall fails, please see Appendix C for using the Microsoft Fix-It Tool to remove the software.
After Uninstalling SOLIDWORKS
At this point, the SOLIDWORKS products have been removed from your machine. However, many folders, files, and registry keys may remain on your system. Using the advanced uninstall option in SOLIDWORKS should remove these files, but it is possible that some may have been missed. If you also wish to remove PDM registry keys, then you may check and see that those were removed by also checking the list in Appendix D.
If these items were the cause of your software issue, reinstalling the product without removing these will not fix the issue. This section covers how to check and safely remove all remaining items from your system.
Cleaning the Registry and Folders for SOLIDWORKS
The computer registry is where much of the information for all your programs are stored. This is accessed in the Registry Editor program.
- Type "regedit" into the Windows search line and open the Registry Editor program from the search results.
- Select File->Export, if you wish to back the registry to avoid any accidents on the following steps. It is not possible to undo a folder deletion in the registry, so that is why a backup is recommended.
Important: You must be very careful to only delete the items specifically called out in this document. Any other items removed from this area may cause your system or other programs to not function correctly.
If the registry files need to be reimported later on, go into the Windows registry editor. Then go to File->Import and import the .reg files.
- Continue by deleting the following registry key folders.
If you choose to only back up your PDM, then follow the steps in Appendix B of this document first, then return to this step.
Program Files and Folders:
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- C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS Composer\
- C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS Explorer\
- C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\eDrawings\
- C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS\
- C:\Program Files\Common Files\SOLIDWORKS Shared
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SOLIDWORKS Shared
Registry Entries:
-
- HKCU\Software\Dassault Systemes (Composer)
- HKCU\Software\SolidWorks
- HKCU\Software\SOLIDWORKS 20xx
- HKLM\Software\SolidWorks
- HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\SolidWorks
- HKCU\Software\SRAC
- HKLM\Software\SRAC
- HKCU\Software\eDrawings
- HKLM\Software\eDrawings
Data Files and Folders:
-
- C:\SOLIDWORKS Data
- C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks
- C:\ProgramData\Dassault Systemes
- C:\ProgramData\DassaultSystemes
Appendix A - Settings Wizard
Toolbar locations, command changes, keyboard shortcut hotkeys, and system options (including file locations) are saved in the registry. These registry settings can be saved by using the Settings Wizard.
For more detailed steps about saving and restoring settings, please see our Save, Restore, or Reset SOLIDWORKS Settings article.
Appendix B - Backing up PDM Registry
Follow the instructions below to export and backup the PDM registry key folders before deleting the SOLIDWORKS registry folders.
- Type "regedit" into the Windows search line and open the Registry Editor program.
- Right-click the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SOLIDWORKS\Applications\PDMWorks Enterprise and select Export to save the Enterprise registry key.reg file.
Continue saving .reg files for the following registry keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SOLIDWORKS\Applications\PDMWorks Enterprise
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wow6432Node\SOLIDWORKS\Applications\PDMWorks Enterprise
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\SOLIDWORKS\Applications\PDMWorks Enterprise
Appendix C - Microsoft Fix-It Tool
The Microsoft fix-it tool is only used for troubleshooting failed uninstallations. You should attempt to uninstall SOLIDWORKS through the SOLIDWORKS installation manager first, prior to using the fix-it tool.
The Microsoft Fix-it tool is designed to remove only the programs within the Windows Installer Registry. Because of this files, folders, data folders, templates, and SOLIDWORKS registry information will not be removed. If your regular uninstallation failed through the installation manager, it is possible to use the fix-it tool to remove necessary components to reinstall a newer version of SOLIDWORKS.
Again, this is recommended as a last resort if you cannot uninstall SOLIDWORKS due to an error and troubleshooting with support has not worked.
- Download the Microsoft Fix-it tool
- Click Next on the bottom right of the Fix-it program.
- Select Uninstalling.
- Scroll through the list of programs and choose SOLIDWORKS and click Next.
- Select Yes, try uninstall.
This can take several minutes to finish. It is possible that after the program has finished running SOLIDWORKS can still appear inside your programs. If this happens uninstall SOLIDWORKS through the clean uninstall process previously outlined in the article and it will be removed.
If the Microsoft Fix-it tool is successful in removing SOLIDWORKS from your programs and features, then you will need to clean the registry and various other files and folders. Reference the After Uninstalling SOLIDWORKS section for these steps
Appendix D - Removing PDM
If performing this operation on a system where the archive or database server is installed, then your existing file vaults will become unusable while the registry key folders are removed. If you are uninstalling a PDM archive or database server, then please email us at support@hawkridgesys.com or call us at 877-266-4469 (US) or 866-587-6803 (Canada).
The computer registry is where all the information for all of your programs isstored. You must be very careful to only delete the items expressly called out in this document. Any other items removed from this area may cause your system, or other programs, to not function correctly.
- Go to the Control Panel and choose Uninstall a program.
- Find SOLIDWORKS PDM in the list and select it. Press Uninstall.
- Go into the Registry Editor program. Then delete the following keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SOLIDWORKS\Applications\PDMWorks Enterprise
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SOLIDWORKS\Applications\PDMWorks Enterprise - Delete any registry entries left under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDlls that reference PDM DLLs and executables. Note that the data value indicates how many times a DLL is being shared between different applications.
- Go through all keys under the following registry key and ensure PDM is not listed (look for Display Name):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ - Delete the following folders:
C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\SOLIDWORKS\SOLIDWORKS Enterprise PDM.
For further assistance, please contact our support team at support@hawkridgesys.com, or 877-266-4469 (US) or 866-587-6803 (Canada).
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