Update (Dec 8, 2009): I know that there is a copy of Solidworks 2008 that was released for 64 bit operating systems, but this article is talking purely about getting the 32 bit copy to work.

INSTALLING SOLIDWORKS

1. Download and Install Orca MSI Editor.
   • link: http://www.technipages.com/download-orca-msi-editor.html
   • its use should be very straight forward
2. Open English_i386_Solidworks.MSI inside the Solidworks set up files.  It should be in “Solidworks 2008 Office Premium SP 3.0 w COSMOS\swwi\data”
3. Under “LaunchCondition”, change the “Not” to an “Or” in the line that has a description saying “x64 operating systems are incompatible/not supported”
4. Disable any anti-virus programs
   • I’ve never had an anti-virus program cause any problems until now.  I had Bitdefender 2010 on my computer and it caused the installation to hang.
5. Install Solidworks and apply the updates

Today was supposed to be the day for me to catch up on homework since I had missed a week of class due to my Class 5 road test and my gum graft surgery.  Ivan was nice enough to lend me his notes.  Rather than doing homework today, I decided that I was fed up with Solidworks 2008 not running properly on my Windows 7 x64.

I had previous downloaded the SP4.0 for Solidworks 2008 in hopes that it will allow me to run it on my computer.  To try to get that update to work I would have to install Solidworks 2008 SP0.0.  Due to an unknown reason it would not install on my computer.  Despite the fact that Solidworks would say ‘this program does not support Vista x64’, I had gotten it to install by setting the compatibility mode.  This time around, the installer simply got stuck.

I then thought of alternate methods of getting the program on my computer.  I looked to my virtual machine, which was my temporary solution.  It ran Windows XP and could barely run SW08.  I tried to send the files through the network.  I couldn’t send the files through with a hard drive since it was being used to install the program (yes, the installer was stuck, but I left it running to see if it would respond).  I had trouble sending the files through the network since I had disabled all the network services on the virtual machine to save memory.

A few hours later I still did not have Internet back, but I did however have access to the LAN.  That was all I needed.  While doing the network transfer, an idea hit me.  I turned off Bitdefender and the Solidworks install worked.

After the install, I immediately updated the installation to SP4.0.  I cracked the program as was instructed by the readme.  The program still didn’t work.  I was not shocked.  It told me that it could not find license information.  I figured that it was a side effect of the 64 bit OS.  I took another look at my patch files and saw that it was a 32 bit patch (the title never said).  I looked for x64 versions of SW08 on eMule, but could not find any fast downloads.

Later on an idea for a fix hit me.  I realized that the 32 bit programs were stored in ‘Program Files (x86), which meant I put the license file in the wrong place.  It was supposed to go into ‘C:Program FilesSolidWorks’. I missed the x86 part.  I changed that and ran the program again.  Still no good.  I looked in the registry to see if my registry keys were correct and I stumbled upon the folder where 32 bit software registry entries were stored.  I then realized that my registry info had to go in there instead.  I fixed that and tried it one more time.  It was still no good.  Then i thought, ‘if there was a place for 32 bit registry keys, would that apply for system32 as well?’  Turns out I was correct.  I put the dll file in ‘c:WindowsWow6432’.  I ran SW again and it works.  I felt like a total genius.