I'm the administrator for the computer labs at a university. We are using non-persistent lab machines where all of the settings are cleared once a user logs out, any changes need to be made on the master image and replicated out to the lab machines. In the two attached screenshots, Add-ins-01.png is what the add-ins on the master image look like, add-ins-02.png is what the add-ins on the clones looks like.
We have a specific set of add ins that we want to have active when the students log in. The problem that is that the list of add ins gets reset to the defaults when a user logs in. This means that the user has to launch Solidworks, update the add in settings, and relaunch Solidworks every single time they log in to the lab.
Is there a way to set the the list Add Ins that will apply for all users?
Or is there a way to capture the settings files/registry that I could then import as a login task when users log in?
Message was edited and images uploaded by: Anson Hastings
The solution is found in the Windows registry, as documented here: API: SolidWorks Add-ins and the Registry although it should be noted that some of the registry keys have changed since 2010.
In short:
The default startup behavior and availability of SolidWorks add-ins is controlled by registry keys under:
HKLM\Software\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2018\Addins\
The personalized behavior of SolidWorks add-ins (which overrides default startup behavior) is controlled by registry keys under:
HKCU\Software\SolidWorks\AddinsStartup\
A value of 1 for the Default key indicates that the add-in is run on SolidWorks startup.
Thank you Ruben and Christian for the quick replies, hopefully this will be found helpful to other users/admins.
>Edited to correct the registry keys used by SolidWorks 2018 - Anson