How to Perform a Clean Uninstall of SOLIDWORKS Electrical

Rayne Britt
Updated

This guide is written for SOLIDWORKS Electrical specifically and not for other SOLIDWORKS products.

If you are experiencing serious issues with your SOLIDWORKS Electrical 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 and associated components.

Before Uninstalling SOLIDWORKS Electrical

Prior to uninstalling SOLIDWORKS Electrical, it is recommended to back up your environment and then deactivate your Electrical license. If you are using a network license, skip the deactivation process and continue to back up your data.

For information on how to get a full backup of SOLIDWORKS Electrical, please see our guide here: How to Archive Environment in SOLIDWORKS Electrical 

License Deactivation

  1. Open Windows Search, type "SOLIDWORKS Electrical", and click to launch the program.
  2. After SOLIDWORKS Electrical starts, go to the Help tab and choose "Deactivate License".
  3. Choose to deactivate automatically over the Internet.
  4. Press "Next", and the software will now connect to the SOLIDWORKS Activation servers to deactivate the license. You will be informed that the license has been transferred back to SOLIDWORKS.
  5. Press the "Finish" button to complete.

SOLIDWORKS Electrical will not run on this machine until it is re-activated.

Uninstalling SOLIDWORKS Electrical Client

  1. Open the Windows Control Panel or Add or Remove Programs menu

  2. Right-click on the SOLIDWORKS [version] item and select Uninstall

    Select SOLIDWORKS to uninstall

  3. Ensure that only SOLIDWORKS Electrical is selected, and then select "Remove items"

    Select Electrical and click remove items
  4. Ensure the following Registry Keys are removed:
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS Electrical
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS Electrical
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS Electrical

Uninstalling SOLIDWORKS Electrical Server

The next steps are for cleanly removing the rest of the Electrical data, including the program folders, project folders, application registry, SQL, SQL folders, and SQL registry.

Warning: Do not proceed unless you have a full Electrical environment backup or without the help of your IT professional. SQL can be a shared resource; uninstalling it can impact other applications. Deleting IT keys can cause system instability. Do not proceed without IT consent.

Before proceeding, perform a full backup of SOLIDWORKS Electrical. Please see our guide here: How to Archive Environment in SOLIDWORKS Electrical 

Remove Electrical Server Components

  1. Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.
  2. Scroll to Solidworks Electrical [Version] 
  3. Right-click on this item to select "Uninstall"
  4. Ensure only Solidworks Electrical and electrical-related products are selected, and continue through the prompts.

Remove the SQL Server

  1. Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features
  2. Scroll to Microsoft SQL Server [version] (64-bit)
  3. Right-click on this item to select "Uninstall/Change"
  4. When the SQL Server window appears, click "Remove"
  5. In the Remove SQL Server window, select the SQL Server instance that you want to remove from the drop-down list
  6. Click "Next"
  7. Select to enable only the Database Engine Services feature, and then click "Next"

  8. A summary screen shows items for removal. If this is correct, click "Remove", which will uninstall the instance. Note: If this SQL Server only hosts Electrical, it is suggested to remove all SQL-related installations listed in Add/Remove Programs.

    Remove SQL

Note: Full uninstall instructions for SQL can be found here.

Folders to delete:

  • C:\ProgramData\SOLIDWORKS Electrical 
  • C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server

Registry keys to delete:

  • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Trace Software
  • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS Electrical
  • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Trace Software
  • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS Electrical
  • Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Trace Software
  • Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS Electrical
  • Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\TrUiTreeListOcx

Note: The Trace Software registry keys support the SOLIDWORKS® Electrical 2021 version and earlier. There are no Trace Software registry keys after the SOLIDWORKS® Electrical 2022 version. 

To cleanly remove other SOLIDWORKS products, please review this article:
How To Uninstall And Remove SOLIDWORKS Products

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

 

 

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