How to do Auto Recovery & Backups?

I.    Auto-recovery

1. Go to options or Tools > Options > Backup/Recover

2. In the Auto-recover box, tick the Save auto-recover information every: and set the duration to 1 minutes (Default value).

3. Browse a folder and navigate to the directory shown for Auto-recover. ( Note: The path as shown is the default directory.)

 

4. Start a new SOLIDWORKS part, after 1 minute a file named: “AutoRecover Of PART_NAME.SLDPRT.swar” will appear in the directory.

 

II. Backup

1. Go to options or Tools > Options > Backup/Recover

2. In the Backup box, tick the Number of backup copies per document and set the number to 1.

3. Choose the Backup folder and browse a Windows Explorer Window and navigate to the directory shown for Backup.

 

4. Tick on the Remove backups older than, then key in 7 into the box.

5. Start a new part file and add a feature and save your model. You should now see a file named “Backup (1) of PART_NAME.SLDPRT” in the directory.

6. If another feature is done, hit save again and a new file named “Backup (2) of PART_NAME.SLDPRT” will occur.

How do I check my package/products?

 1. Go to Start > SOLIDWORKS 201X > SOLIDWORKS Tools > My Products

2. The software package will be show

3.    This also can be access in the SOLIDWORKS Help icon.

How to use Pack and Go?

Launch the Pack and Go feature from within a SOLIDWORKS session (I will list an alternate method below).  This is found under File > Pack and Go…

A view of the default interface settings is shown below.  If I’m going to share data with another user and it’s important to include all assemblies, parts and drawings, I’ll check the box in the upper left to “Include Drawings” and I’ll hit the radio button to “Save to Zip file”.  I also typically leave the box checked for “Flatten to single folder”.  If the flatten option is deselected, the resulting zip will contain sub-folders similar to the original folder locations for each respective part and subassembly.  By default, the zip file will take on the name of the assembly or drawing that was chosen for the Pack and Go.  We can rename this zip file to any name we choose.

The Output

The resulting zip file that is generated includes all of the files along with their updated references.  If this file is opened in a fresh SOLIDWORKS session on my system, it will not reference the original files, so long as they are not already resident in memory and as long as I left all of the boxes checked for each component name along the left hand column.  The file can also be sent via FTP or email to another user with the same results.

Looking more closely at the contents of the zip file, we can see that all of the associated assembly and part files are included.  If this data set had drawings, they would be included as well .

Second Way to Launch Pack and Go

Some people prefer to launch Pack and Go from the Windows file explorer right-click menu.  This might save time from opening the assembly in a SOLIDWORKS session, but it does make it a bit more difficult to see which files were resolved or lightweight in the last save of the assembly.  For this reason, I’m not a big fan of this method.  Why is the lightweight/resolved setting important?  See the drawbacks in the next section.

Important things to take notes:

Historically, there are a couple of things to watch for. First, make sure the assembly is loaded with all of the components fully resolved.  A lightweight component most likely will not make it into the pack and go and you’ll receive a call for missing files from the customer. Beware if you see the blue lightweight feathers below in your feature tree 

How do I sign up for the Customer Portal?

1. Go to the SOLIDWORKS Customer Portal: https://customerportal.solidworks.com/

2. Log in using your existing credentials or if you don’t have one, click “Create a SOLIDWORKS             ID” and follow the next steps. If you already have a SOLIDWORKS ID, sign-in and proceed to             Step 12.

3. If creating a new SOLIDWORKS ID, enter your email address and indicate if you have an existing         SOLIDWORKS product serial number. Click Next.

 

4. Enter your company information and fill in all fields, click Next.

5. The system will search the company name for possible matches. If it finds one similar, you may be         prompted with the screen below. If your company exists, select the correct row and click Pick this         Account. If none of the accounts apply, click Create New Account.

6. Now you can enter your contact information and click next.

 

7. A confirmation email will be sent to you. You can close your browser window.

8. Open the email that was sent to you and click hyperlink “Click Here” to activate your customer             portal account.

9. Click Continue, once you see the screen that your account has been created.

10. Close your existing window and navigate back to the login screen. https://customerportal.solidworks.com/

11. If you have locks on your screen, click Register My Products in the My Support section.

12. Enter your SOLIDWORKS product serial number and click, Next.

13. Select the Version from the pop up box and click, Next.

14. Click Next to acknowledge your serial number has been registered and you will return to the home         screen and the locks will be gone. (*The locks will be removed assuming that your serial number            has a valid active subscription service.)

Product Matrix for SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD

SOLIDWORKS® 3D CAD solutions provide easy-to-learn, yet extremely powerful functionality that shortens product development time, reduces costs, and improves quality. SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD have three package that is SOLIDWORKS Standard, SOLIDWORKS Professional and SOLIDWORKS Premium.

Below are the link of comparison of this package and product matrix.Refer to this link under compare features. 

https://www.solidworks.com/product/solidworks-3d-cad

Where to transfer large file?

 Method 1 – Google Drive

1. Once log in to Google account, click on the Google app icon on the top right, and choose Drive.

2. Click the New > New Folder. Create a new folder.

3. Direct drag file into google drive or click New to add file.

4.     When finished upload, right click on the folder and click Share.

5.     Key in the email address and click Done to share.

Method 2 – Dropbox

1. Log in to Dropbox in https://www.dropbox.com/login.

2. Choose to upload file/ create a folder and choose file to upload.

3.      Click Share to share the folder. Key in the email address and click Share.

Method 3 – PlusTransfer

1. Go to https://www.plustransfer.com/.

2. Click on the ‘+’ icon to select file.

3. After select all the files, choose Start Upload.

4. Fill in the email address and click ‘Send’ to share.

How to check my SOLIDWORKS service pack?

 1. In SOLIDWORKS, go to Help > About SOLIDWORKS

2. The service pack and version will be shown as below:

How to use SOLIDWORKS RX?

 1. Click “Start” > All Programs > SOLIDWORKS 201x > SOLIDWORKS Tools >

SOLIDWORKS Rx 201x.

 

Note: This might be different depending on the version of Windows used.

1. Click to run SOLIDWORKS Rx and select “Problem Capture”.

2. In Step 1: Capture Problem, click “Start Capture”.

 

3. Click “Use Current Session”.

 

4. After SOLIDWORKS starts up, click “Start Recording”.

 

5. Use SOLIDWORKS to repeat the error that causes the problem.

6. Upon successful repetition of error, there are 3 common situations:

a. SOLIDWORKS shows error message.

In this case, click ‘Finish Recording” and “OK” to shut down SOLIDWORKS.

b. SOLIDWORKS hangs.

In this case, click ‘Finish Recording” and “OK” to shut down SOLIDWORKS.

c. SOLIDWORKS crashes.

In this case, step 2 will be prompted automatically.

7. Under Step 2 – Package File, click “Add More Files to Zip...” when there are files added. If not (see the screenshot in step 10), skip step 8 and 9.

8. Click “Add Files to Package”.

9. Click “Package Files Now...”

 

10. Save the file.

 

11. Click to browse to the zip file location.

12. Send the file to the application engineer directly supporting you on his/her request.