Up and Ready

Where is my preview for DWG files in Windows?

If you use Windows Explorer's Preview Pane to preview a .dwg file, you may have noticed that it doesn't preview.

If you try to open the file within AutoCAD, you will be able to preview of the dwg file.

The solution in this scenario is to install Design Review 2013 and DWG TrueView 2013.   Starting in the 2014 product line, this is not part of the media anymore so you will need to download it from here:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=10336080

Design Review also adds some components so that you can preview .dwg files in your web browser.

Thanks to Patrick Harris for confirming that this tip worked.

Program locks up at startup + Print Spooler

We often are at the mercy of advanced users that want to optimize performance of computers.  We recently solved this symtom:

Program locking on startup during initialization

We even forced a reactivation by deleting the .data files and it still didn't work. The solution was to start the Print Spooler in Services.

Here are some additional interesting posts to add your troubleshooting toolkit:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/08/licensing-using-standalone-licenses-with-selective-startup.html

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/09/autocad-2012-server-service-and-lockup-freeze.html 

Thanks to David Dembkoski for sharing this tip with the community.

Blank Activation Window + Internet Explorer 10

Usually, we will try to roll users back to Internet Explorer 8 to solve this problem. With Internet Explorer 10 [Windows 8], this seems a bit more difficult because the browser is intergrated into the operating system. For customers on Autodesk 2014 products with a blank registration screen, instead of rolling Internet Explorer 2010 back to 2008, we removed it Internet Explorer 2010 and put it back.  The detailed workflow is below:

1.  Log in to Windows and go to the Control Panel.
2.  Access Programs and Features option
3.   Click "Turn Windows features on or off".
4.   Uncheck the Internet Explorer XX box
5.   Click "OK" and the system will process.
6.   After this completes, shut the machine down completely and restart.
7.   Log in to Windows and go to the Control Panel.
8.   Access Programs and Features option
9.   Click "Turn Windows features on or off".
10. CHECK the Internet Explorer XX box
11. Click "OK" and the system will process.
12. After this completes, shut the machine down completely and restart and test. 

Thanks to David Dembkoski for sharing this tip with the community.

Download Manager + USB Broadband Card

Do you use this to connect to the internet?

We have some interesting issues with the Download Manager with the Pantech USB Verizon UML290 Modem card. 

"When using the Akamai Download Manager and trying to register 3DS Max the process always failed because of "No Internet Connection". This was despite the fact that I had a perfectly functional internet connection. The only time it would work is if I was physically connected to a hardwired network or WiFi connection."

1606 Error + Autodesk 2014 installation + Product Initialization

We have been getting a lot of 1606 errors recently with various Autodesk products.  One suggestion that has worked to resolve this issue has been...

1. Run regedit.exe.

2. Browse to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

Please check for “Name” =  Common Documents defined as C:\Users\Public\Documents

If you cannot find registry key name and data, please add below registry information under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

Key name    : Common Documents
Type            : REG_SZ
Data             : C:\Users\Public\Documents

 

 Thanks to Alison Gangler for sharing this tip with the community.

Building Design Suite Standard 2014 + USB Media + 32 bit

If you need the Building Design Suite 2014 for 32 bit and you have USB media kit, the 32 bit installers will not be there. 

You will need to download the Suite from the Subscription Center or from the Matthew, our Virtual Agent (#3).

Reference blog posts:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2013/05/building-design-suite-premiumultimate-2014-autocad-2014-windows-xp.html

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2013/05/microsoft-windows-and-the-price-of-progress.html

Where is Fusion 2014 ?

Inventor Fusion is not one of the products listed when you try to install from the 2014 install media.

In its actual form, it has been discontinued and its replacement is Fusion 360 on our cloud platform.

Good news!

We released an updated version for 2014 release called Inventor Fusion 2013 R1.

It is available from the following address http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/fusion and it is free to all customers.

A note for users running Fusion 2013, please check out this known issue:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2013/04/inventor-fusion-2013-error-no-license-available-.html

Thank you to Kevin Schneider for clarifying.

AutoCAD + Norton Utilities = AutoCAD secondary installer when running Norton Utilities

Just a note that this issue will happen if you install AutoCAD and Norton Utilities. 

1.  Install AutoCAD, in this case it was AutoCAD 2013 LT.

2.  Install Norton Utilities.

When you run Norton Utilites, you will get a AutoCAD secondary installer and you need to cancel the secondary installer for AutoCAD to run Norton Utilities.  There is a brief note about it here:

http://community.norton.com/t5/Other-Norton-Products/Norton-utilities-interfere-with-autocad/td-p/801560

To repair the issue, you will need to use Microsoft Fix It to remove the 2 products and reinstall AutoCAD.

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2012/06/windows-the-basics-of-using-microsoft-fix-it.html

Here is another interesting secondary installer issue:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2011/09/autocad-map-3d-2012-other-applications-cause-map-3d-secondary-installer-to-launch.html

Thanks to Richard Conn for confirming this issue and sharing the tip with the community.

Building Design Suite Premium/Ultimate 2014 + AutoCAD 2014 + Windows XP

If you look at the 2014 System Requirements for Suites here:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=16490792

You will notice that Windows XP 32 bit is only supported in the Building Design Suite Standard 2014.

What happens if you need AutoCAD 2014 on XP and you own Building Design Suite Premium/Ultimate 2014?  

The USB Media and the installers provided are 64 bit only so you will need to download AutoCAD 2014 32 bit via our Virtual Agent (step 3) to install it:

http://upandready.typepad.com/up_and_ready/2013/01/quick-start-downloads.html

Then use using the correct the Product Key for the Premium or Ultimate Suite to complete the installation.

AutoCAD 2012 license cascading issue with Building Design Suite Premium/Ultimate.

Please note that Autodesk Building Design Suite Standard / Premium / Ultimate 2012, 2013 and 2014 doesn’t license AutoCAD 2012 installed with 001D1 product key.

For more information please visit the link below.

Autodesk Suites: Building Design Suite Premium/Ultimate 2012 doesn't license AutoCAD 2012