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Solidworks 64bit or 32bit?

Question asked by Paal Eilertsen on Feb 22, 2011
Latest reply on Jan 17, 2015 by Mike Pogue

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Hi,

I have recently bought some new hardware running Win 7 Pro 64bit. And now I am wondering if I should install SW 2011 64bit or 32bit. The thing is that I have developed a stand alone application that automates a lot of functionality in SW. This app is compiled under 32bit as it communicates with a MS Access database (there is no driver for 64bit communication with 32bit MS Access). There is a complex workaround to get a 64bit app to use a 32bit dll which in turn can use Access, but it is rather complex and timeconsuming to implement. Therefor I am wondering what benefits there are when using 64bit SW.

The way we use SW nowadays we never use more than maybe 2GB of RAM, and the computer is equipped with 6GB.

Any thoughs on the subject?

Best regards

Pål Eilertsen

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Charles Culp Feb 23, 2011 10:51 AM

~~1. If you need to run 32 bit for your macros, etc, then you should run 32 bit.~~

~~2. You can always upgrade later. I assume that with Win 7 64, it will at least assign a full 4GB to SolidWorks, so that's still pretty good?~~

~~3. You might even be able to install both? I'd be interested to hear if this is possible.~~

4. The benefit to 64 bit SolidWorks is access to more memory. This, in turn, provides for quicker assembly modeling, and most importantly, more stability. If you run out of memory, SolidWorks will often become unstable and unpredictable. I run into this all the time with my 32 bit system. If you are not having issues, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Bummer.

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Vajrang Parvate

Feb 22, 2011 6:34 PM

Hi Paal,

Unfortunately, 32-bit SolidWorks on 64-bit Windows is not a supported configuration. If your Windows is 64-bit, then you can only install 64-bit SolidWorks.

Vajrang.

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Paal Eilertsen @ Vajrang Parvate on Feb 23, 2011 5:51 AM

Am I correct in assuming that I need to create my stand alone application in 64 bit if I am to automate operations in SW 64 bit? Or can I use 32 bit?

Best regards

Pål Eilertsen

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Vajrang Parvate

@ Paal Eilertsen on Feb 23, 2011 12:50 PM

Hi Paal,

You only need to an exact match to the platform if you're writing an addin DLL.

Your standalone application can be 32-bit and still use the APIs to communicate with 64-bit SolidWorks. This works because of the presence of COM marshalling (the parameters to each API call have to be copied by the COM layer every time you make an API call). Note that this will have performance implications if your application is making "chatty" API calls to the SolidWorks application.

Vajrang.

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Steve Wargo @ Vajrang Parvate on Jan 16, 2015 12:54 PM

We have some machines running XP and one running Windows 7 64-bit. In Win7, we get a couple errors. Can't fill out data card, and "file format not recognized" when checking in part and drawing files. We were told it's because we're running both 32-bit and 64-bit seats, does this sound accurate?

I took a PC and installed Windows 7 32-bit so it would get along with XP but get the same errors. Anyone experience problems when having some PCs with one OS and others with another?

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Glenn Schroeder @ Steve Wargo on Jan 16, 2015 5:03 PM

What version of SW are you using? Starting with SW2015, 32 bit is no longer supported. Before that, if I'm not mistaken, there were separate SW downloads for 32 or 64 bit. Is it possible that your company downloaded only one, and it's installed on both types? I don't know if it's possible but if so that might account for the problem. This is not my area of expertise, but it's been several hours since you posted, so I thought I'd try to help. If any of this is inaccurate then hopefully someone who's more knowledgeable about the subject will post with better information.

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Alessandro Frattini @ Vajrang Parvate on Sep 5, 2011 5:33 AM

Can I use the XP Mode to install SW 32-bit on 64-bit ?

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Mike Pogue Jan 17, 2015 12:47 AM

Man. You can't even get the hole wizard open with 2GB of RAM.

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8 Replies

Charles Culp Feb 23, 2011 10:51 AM
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~~1. If you need to run 32 bit for your macros, etc, then you should run 32 bit.~~

~~2. You can always upgrade later. I assume that with Win 7 64, it will at least assign a full 4GB to SolidWorks, so that's still pretty good?~~

~~3. You might even be able to install both? I'd be interested to hear if this is possible.~~

4. The benefit to 64 bit SolidWorks is access to more memory. This, in turn, provides for quicker assembly modeling, and most importantly, more stability. If you run out of memory, SolidWorks will often become unstable and unpredictable. I run into this all the time with my 32 bit system. If you are not having issues, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Bummer.
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Vajrang Parvate Feb 22, 2011 6:34 PM
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Hi Paal,

Unfortunately, 32-bit SolidWorks on 64-bit Windows is not a supported configuration. If your Windows is 64-bit, then you can only install 64-bit SolidWorks.

Vajrang.
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- Paal Eilertsen @ Vajrang Parvate on Feb 23, 2011 5:51 AM
  Mark Correct
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  Am I correct in assuming that I need to create my stand alone application in 64 bit if I am to automate operations in SW 64 bit? Or can I use 32 bit?
  
  Best regards
  Pål Eilertsen
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  - Vajrang Parvate @ Paal Eilertsen on Feb 23, 2011 12:50 PM
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    Hi Paal,
    
    You only need to an exact match to the platform if you're writing an addin DLL.
    
    Your standalone application can be 32-bit and still use the APIs to communicate with 64-bit SolidWorks. This works because of the presence of COM marshalling (the parameters to each API call have to be copied by the COM layer every time you make an API call). Note that this will have performance implications if your application is making "chatty" API calls to the SolidWorks application.
    
    Vajrang.
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    - Steve Wargo @ Vajrang Parvate on Jan 16, 2015 12:54 PM
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      We have some machines running XP and one running Windows 7 64-bit. In Win7, we get a couple errors. Can't fill out data card, and "file format not recognized" when checking in part and drawing files. We were told it's because we're running both 32-bit and 64-bit seats, does this sound accurate?
      I took a PC and installed Windows 7 32-bit so it would get along with XP but get the same errors. Anyone experience problems when having some PCs with one OS and others with another?
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      - Glenn Schroeder @ Steve Wargo on Jan 16, 2015 5:03 PM
        Mark Correct
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        What version of SW are you using? Starting with SW2015, 32 bit is no longer supported. Before that, if I'm not mistaken, there were separate SW downloads for 32 or 64 bit. Is it possible that your company downloaded only one, and it's installed on both types? I don't know if it's possible but if so that might account for the problem. This is not my area of expertise, but it's been several hours since you posted, so I thought I'd try to help. If any of this is inaccurate then hopefully someone who's more knowledgeable about the subject will post with better information.
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- Alessandro Frattini @ Vajrang Parvate on Sep 5, 2011 5:33 AM
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  Can I use the XP Mode to install SW 32-bit on 64-bit ?
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Mike Pogue Jan 17, 2015 12:47 AM
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Man. You can't even get the hole wizard open with 2GB of RAM.
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