Hi,

I'm trying to convert an assembly into a single part by saving it as a part.  However, every time I do so my computer locks up.  To be exact, the assembly is an uploaded .step file circuit board from Altium.

I uploaded the file as a .step (~ 80MB).  This worked fine.  I then want to save it as a single part, however, when I press "Save as part", it almost instantly freezes.  As a work-around, I am able to convert and save the board .step file as an assembly (shrinks the assembly file size to ~ 4MB) just fine, which is why I don't understand why it won't allow me to save it as a part.  It would be very beneficial to me to be able to save the file as a part in order to allow easy transfer of a single file between me and my colleagues.  As it stands now, we have to transport the assembly file and all the sub-assemblies with it in a big folder, which is a bit cumbersome.

I was able to upload and save a different circuit board as a part with no issues, but the .step file size of this board was much smaller, only 15MB.  Is it just a case of the file size being too big for my computer to handle?

At first, I thought it was a memory issue, so I upgraded my memory to 3.25GB, but this did not remedy the problem.

Any suggestions?

If there are no suggestions, and I am indeed stuck using the circuit board as an assembly, what do I do to lock all the sub-assemblies together in order to make it seem as if it is just a single part?  The problem with the assembly is that when I try to mate connectors from one circuit board to another, the connectors just fly off the board instead of taking the entire board with them.  If I was able to save the boards as parts, this would not be a problem.

Thanks for any help.