CAD is a high-resource, often stressful experience for a computer. This article discusses a number of common topics for IT and CAD managers who need to support SolidWorks CAD systems. These practices and suggestions are mainly aimed at systems running SolidWorks, but many of these techniques will benefit your system across the board, and help you get the most out of your hardware and software investment

Software crashes can be frustrating and expensive in terms of lost time. The software manufacturer often gets handed the blame. The real issues, however, can be much more complicated than just one piece of software. There are many possible sources of error and instability with computer system.

This article offers some troubleshooting tips to help you tame a crash-prone system. The focus will be on maintenance related solutions, best practices, rules of thumb, and a checklist to help you find the source of the errors.

Most crashes fall into common categories: video, OS, installation, specific SW functions, and specific document data. Unless you have a very new or very old machine, hardware failures or problems due to improperly seated cards or memory will likely be rare.

Before beginning, I need to say that some of the recommended techniques will require administrator privileges on your machine, a basic understanding of what you're doing and a bit of common sense. Don't delete or modify anything unless you're absolutely positive you know what you're doing.

Is your system otherwise stable? SolidWorks probably puts more strain on your computer than most other applications, so problems may show first here. Don't ignore it if you see Windows Explorer or MS Word crash regularly.

Do you see similar instability problems on similar systems? Comparing the performance of dissimilar systems can lead you to the cause of the problem. Different video cards or drivers, or versions or service packs of software are things to watch for.

Are you running a supported OS? SolidWorks recommends the professional operating systems XP pro 32-bit, XP Pro 64-bit, & Vista 32-bit. Do yourself a favor and don't run SolidWorks on anything else. If you really need another OS consider a dual boot, or use a spare computer. Your CAD box is where you make the money, so this should be reliable.

Since the last time you made changes that might affect your OS (such as installing/removing software/hardware/drivers) have you reapplied the latest OS service pack? This is a frequently overlooked recommendation from Microsoft. Yes, it really makes a difference.

Has anyone tinkered with the registry? Registry tinkering should be done very carefully, and only if you know what you're doing. One slip and you can wind up reinstalling your operating system, along with all of your other applications

When was the last time you cleared out your Temp directory? If you use SolidWorks a lot, delete everything in this directory once a week. This folder may be hidden if you have chosen to hide all system folders. This folder can cause problems if it gets too big. See this tip

How much disk space do you have on the drive where your OS and page files are? If this gets low, bad things happen, including BSOD (blue screen of death). Keep an eye on your task manager to see how much space you typically use. If you do big FEA analysis, count on using a lot of RAM. Disk space is cheap. Size matters get a big disk.

Is your video card/driver version on the yellow or red list from the SW Website?
(http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/VideoCardTesting.html?pid=383)
You can troubleshoot suspected video card problems by using the "use software OpenGL On the "Tools/Options/Performance" page, or by running your OS in VGA or safe mode. In the control panel, you can usually also turn down the hardware acceleration for your card, which will slow it down, but may increase stability. Video related crashes are probably the most frequent single category.

When was the last time you defragmented your hard drive? This depends on how often you move files around, or edit or create new files. This is probably not the direct cause of a crash, although a fragmented drive can contribute to system instability.

When was the last time you restarted your computer? Believe it or not, some people don't reboot their systems daily. This is an obvious one that can make a big difference and should not be overlooked.

Do you install a lot of "questionable" applications on your computer? Installs and uninstalls of semi-pro software can sometimes overwrite or remove files you need for other applications. It's obviously safest to leave your CAD box pretty clean.

Are your files on a network server? Running open files across a network can be slow. Do this test: put a SolidWorks part on a floppy disk. Open the part through Windows Explorer without SolidWorks already open. As you edit the part, SolidWorks keeps writing to the floppy because it put the *.swj (SolidWorks journal) file there. If you open SW first and browse to it, this does not happen because the journal file is in your "start in" dir. - Floppy disks are becoming very scarce, so this test is really hard to perform. You can't write to a CD/DVD as they are read-only disks. You might try opening a file up from a friends machine that is on the network.

What is the speed of your network? Can it handle all the traffic you put on it? Do all the SolidWorks users open or close large numbers of files at the same time (8:05 am or 4:55 pm)? Many companies separate the engineering network from the rest of the company.

Are you working on a Novell network? Old versions of Novell may have a limit of how many files can be opened across the network at a time. Check with your IT professionals

Are you running the latest SolidWorks service pack? Have the crashes started since a particular SP was installed? Do you notice more or less stability on machines with different SP's?

Was antivirus software running when you installed SolidWorks? If so, turn off your anti-virus, reinstall SW and reapply all SP's, then turn AV back on.

What add-ins do you have installed? Which are running? Check Tools/Add-ins. Are they all up to date versions compatible with the current SolidWorks service pack? It's a good idea to turn off add-ins when you're not using them. Turning them off during start up will increase the time SW does start up, and also can help with rulling our conflicts in Add-ins.

Is this a repeatable crash? If so, Make a SW RX and send that to your Reseller. Be as descriptive as you can. Don't assume that someone has already discovered it and sent it in. It won't get fixed if it
doesn't get reported.

Does this crash only happen with a particular document? If so, send it in with your SW RX. For big files, arrange for FTP, zip the drawing with all of the referenced assemblies and parts. Use "File/Find references" to find and copy all the files that you need to send.

If you use design tables and/or Excel based BOM's a lot, check your task manager processes (not just applications) for an Excel process running in the background when the Excel window is closed. If you are using Sw BOM you should not have a process running in the Task Manager.

A method that can be used to track changes is to keep a logbook with entries whenever a new program is install/uninstalled, new hardware or driver in installed/uninstalled, or existing software is updated (including anti virus software).

Is the hardware (i.e., cards and memory) connected and seated properly? Check all cards and memory sticks to make sure everything is pushed in all the way

Is the hardware cooling properly? Are all the fans in good working condition? You should always use Canned air to clean the dust out of hte box. Dust inside the box can cause the heat to rise and the machine to stop abruptly. All data will be lost of this happens.

Are you over-clocking your CPU? While this is technically possible, CPU's are sold at a clock speed because they could pass the manufacturers QA process at that speed. If possible, also check the CPU voltage and temperature