How Do I Delete the SolidWorks Registry Without Losing All of My Settings?

Some issues that come into support are not very easily resolved. To help isolate where to start looking for a solution, there is a program called SolidWorks RX. According to the Home tab of SolidWorks RX, this program can be used to help diagnose issues with your computer, perform SolidWorks aware system maintenance, or capture and review problems.
We refer customers to these preliminary troubleshooting steps. So, I thought I should make it available to everyone.

Make sure that SolidWorks is not running

Start SolidWorks Rx

1. START->All Programs->SolidWorks->SolidWorks 20XX->SolidWorks Tools->SolidWorks Rx

On the Home tab, the Safe Modes can be used to identify video, options, or add-in issues.

2. Starting SolidWorks in Software OpenGL mode can pinpoint an issue with the graphic card or its driver.  If the issue is not reproducible in this safe mode, then we can look at the Diagnostics tab and check that the graphics card driver is supported and up to date. (Time to check you graphics card driver) 

Under SolidWorks Safe Modes, click the link Click here to launch SolidWorks while bypassing the Tools/Options settings. This is pretty self explanatory, but it basically opens SolidWorks with all the settings back to the defaults.

If this eliminates the issue, then we know that the issue is related to a setting or corruption in the registry. The downside of making this safe mode permanent to fix the issue at hand is that the user’s personal settings are lost. To make this fix a little less painful, we can at least save their keyboard shortcuts, menu customization, toolbar layout, and saved views using the Copy Settings Wizard. (CATI had a blog about it a couple of years ago: Save SolidWorks Settings)

Make sure that SolidWorks and SolidWorks RX are not running

Start Copy Settings Wizard

1. START->All Programs->SolidWorks->SolidWorks 20XX->SolidWorks Tools->Copy Settings Wizard

2. Click Save Settings and then click the Next button.

3. Choose a name and file location to save to (IE: Desktop).

4. Check Keyboard shortcuts, Menu customization, Toolbar layout, and Saved Views.

5. Click the Finish button.

Open the Registry Editor

1. Click the Windows Start button. (Windows XP: click Run)

2. Type “regedit” and click the OK button.
The Registry Editor Window should appear.

3. Browse to: My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks

4. Right click on the SolidWorks folder and pick Rename.

5. Rename it to something like: SolidWorks-Original

6. Close the Registry Editor window

Restore Settings

1. Locate the Copy Settings file on your desktop (or where you saved it)

2. Double click on the file.

Launch SolidWorks
and verify that the issue is still eliminated.
Let the CATI Support Team know if this resolved your issue or if you need additional assistance.

Neil Bucalo

Certified SolidWorks Support Technician 2013

Computer Aided Technology, Inc.