Well I just finished up polishing the Admin Img for 2008 sp 4
and getting ready to deploy it (after testing on a system that has
xpsp3 and it worked fine) Ill post back to let you know how the
rest of the workstations did.
Well my experience was the complete opposite................
One Monday, I unpacked a brand new Dell workstation (tested on the
SW website), powered up, connected to the company network and
installed MS Office 2003. Shortly afterwards, the usual, "updates
are ready to install" so I proceeded with the updates (a mixture of
security patches). Out of the box the OS was XP SP2, so while I was
in "updating" mood, I decided to use "Microsoft Update", and
basically I installed everything that was recommended, etc. Not a
problem.
HOWEVER, I started to install SW2008SP4 from a full download, all
was fine until 65%, then error 1603 and the installation fails.
Possibly the download I thought, so I used the DVD at SP0.0, same
error message at 65%. So I gave up and contacted my VAR. They said,
that it must some preconfigured Dell setting in the windows
registry so wipe the HDD and re-install everything. I planned to do
that on Wednesday however my own Dell workstation had issues so I
ended up reformatting the HDD and installing everything from
scratch instead. I done the same installation procedure as the
other workstation and the same damn error 1603 message again.
After alot of messing about, I ended up installing SW2007SP5 onto
both machines. No error messages, perfect install. As I test I then
upgraded that installation to SW2008SP4, the error message 1603
came up only when installing SW Explorer, but I just uninstalled
the previous 2007 version of SW Explorer and ran the SW Explorer
installation again. No erros this time. Now I have a working
machine again.
I have never had so much hassle in all my years trying get some
bloody software installed. The funny things is, I had 3 version of
SW on my own workstation prior to wiping it (2007sp5, 2008sp4,
2009Beta3) All worked perfectly. The OS was on SP3 of XP also.
So from my experience I recommend the following:
1) For a brand new workstation, Do NOT install XP SP3 until you
have Solidworks 2008 up and running first.
2) SW2007 appears to install fine XP SP3.
Anyhow, thats my two cents worth.
If anyone else experienced this error 1603 and managed to get it
resolved please let me know because I still have 5 more workstation
to upgrade.
Ah yes, XP SP3. I had a lousy experience trying to install
SP3 when it first came out ("access denied" failure) and after
blowing a couple days on downloaded patches and such I just rolled
it back. I was thinking if I waited a little while then the install
bugs would get worked out and the automatic update would come
through fairly clean. Not so.
The MS auto update installed SP3 on 7/18 and what a mess. "Access
Denied" again only this time the partial install blanked out
several menus including the restore menu. MS help line went through
several steps trying to fix it and concluded I needed a full
re-install. Oops, MS does not support RAID set-ups so perhaps they
shouldn't do that over the phone (I think he was very happy to get
off line on this one).
Off to the computer shop it went. Ah, two weeks by the pool....
Actually, not but it sounds nice. So with the new XP install I have
to get a new Optis license and re-install several programs. I'm
still reloading all my old documents, etc.
Supposedly SW runs better from what I've read in the forums so I
hope it was worth it. I wish I had some tips for anyone
encountering the same problems I had.
RE:"Supposedly SW runs better from what I've read in the forums so
I hope it was worth it."
I see no difference nor improvement using SP3 over SP2.
If you go to my Blog, see the link below, go back about 4 or 5
postings and you'll see a summary of the changes in SP3, to me,
they don't amount to a hill of beans, and Microsoft hints that
development of XP is done.
Don't burst my bubble Devon! If I believe that it runs
better, then it does. The keys on my key board operate smoother, my
mouse slides easier, colors are brighter and everything is good in
the world. I think I'll take a break from re-installing my
softwares and have a Coke. It has been a long Monday, the fifth one
in a row.
I think installing XP SP3 will go fine for anyone that
already has SW installed and running, however it appears, at least
in my case, to change certain permissions in the registry which
caused a clean install of SW2008 to fail. And by clean install, I
mean a brand new Dell Workstation, just out of the box. However
SW2007 installed without issue. I'm still awaiting a better
explanation from my VAR.
Cheers,
Check my Blog for a summary of the changes in SP3, scroll down about 4 or 5 postings to find it.
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/devonsowell/
One Monday, I unpacked a brand new Dell workstation (tested on the SW website), powered up, connected to the company network and installed MS Office 2003. Shortly afterwards, the usual, "updates are ready to install" so I proceeded with the updates (a mixture of security patches). Out of the box the OS was XP SP2, so while I was in "updating" mood, I decided to use "Microsoft Update", and basically I installed everything that was recommended, etc. Not a problem.
HOWEVER, I started to install SW2008SP4 from a full download, all was fine until 65%, then error 1603 and the installation fails. Possibly the download I thought, so I used the DVD at SP0.0, same error message at 65%. So I gave up and contacted my VAR. They said, that it must some preconfigured Dell setting in the windows registry so wipe the HDD and re-install everything. I planned to do that on Wednesday however my own Dell workstation had issues so I ended up reformatting the HDD and installing everything from scratch instead. I done the same installation procedure as the other workstation and the same damn error 1603 message again.
After alot of messing about, I ended up installing SW2007SP5 onto both machines. No error messages, perfect install. As I test I then upgraded that installation to SW2008SP4, the error message 1603 came up only when installing SW Explorer, but I just uninstalled the previous 2007 version of SW Explorer and ran the SW Explorer installation again. No erros this time. Now I have a working machine again.
I have never had so much hassle in all my years trying get some bloody software installed. The funny things is, I had 3 version of SW on my own workstation prior to wiping it (2007sp5, 2008sp4, 2009Beta3) All worked perfectly. The OS was on SP3 of XP also.
So from my experience I recommend the following:
1) For a brand new workstation, Do NOT install XP SP3 until you have Solidworks 2008 up and running first.
2) SW2007 appears to install fine XP SP3.
Anyhow, thats my two cents worth.
If anyone else experienced this error 1603 and managed to get it resolved please let me know because I still have 5 more workstation to upgrade.
Cheers,
Declan.
I installed SP3 first day, have uninstalled/reinstalled SW2k8 and 2k9 and have had no problems at all..
The MS auto update installed SP3 on 7/18 and what a mess. "Access Denied" again only this time the partial install blanked out several menus including the restore menu. MS help line went through several steps trying to fix it and concluded I needed a full re-install. Oops, MS does not support RAID set-ups so perhaps they shouldn't do that over the phone (I think he was very happy to get off line on this one).
Off to the computer shop it went. Ah, two weeks by the pool.... Actually, not but it sounds nice. So with the new XP install I have to get a new Optis license and re-install several programs. I'm still reloading all my old documents, etc.
Supposedly SW runs better from what I've read in the forums so I hope it was worth it. I wish I had some tips for anyone encountering the same problems I had.
RE:"Supposedly SW runs better from what I've read in the forums so I hope it was worth it."
I see no difference nor improvement using SP3 over SP2.
If you go to my Blog, see the link below, go back about 4 or 5 postings and you'll see a summary of the changes in SP3, to me, they don't amount to a hill of beans, and Microsoft hints that development of XP is done.
blog;
"> http://designsmarter.typepad.c...evonsowell/
You know, my car seems to run better and smoother after I clean the windows