Why has SolidWorks decided to not allow the installation of SolidWorks 2009 SP5 on Windows 7 computers when using the SolidWorks Installation Manager?
I have been happily running Solidworks 2009 on Windows 7 for most of the year. But now the last service pack of SolidWorks 2009 will not be allowed to install. SolidWorks 2009 SP4.1 runs great on my Windows 7 computer.
You mean, all of a sudden, SolidWorks 2009 is not capable of running on a Windows 7 machine and has to be blocked by the SolidWorks Installation Manager.
This is extremely disappointing and the kind of decision by SolidWorks that infuriates users.
EDIT: You can get SolidWorks 2009 SP5 to install on your Windows 7 machine.
To do this you have to go to the SolidWorks download site on the Customer Portal and bypass the preferred method for installing Solidworks, the Installation Manager, by selecting the downloads failed link at the bottom of the Downloads and Install web page. This will allow you to download and install the individual SolidWorks components.
Another work around is to launch the Installation Manager using Windows Vista Compatibility Mode. Thanks to Jason Raak, of RockSolidPerspective.com, for offering that solution. Click here to see his blog post on the subject.
Why there is difference between the SolidWorks Installation Manager and individual component downloads in anyone's guess. Very confusing for the average SolidWorks user.
Thanks both for the info!
Hoping/awaiting comments from SolidWorks to explain the shift to SW2010.
Posted by: Thomas Söderholm | December 28, 2009 at 08:19 AM
Jason,
Excellent, thanks for the update.
Anna
Posted by: Anna Wood | November 27, 2009 at 12:17 PM
hey anna,
i ran into this same problem the other day when i tried to upgrade. after having some other problems this morning i found another workaround to get the update to work on windows 7. i blogged about it this morning. you can find my workaround on my blog.
Posted by: jason raak | November 27, 2009 at 08:14 AM