Solidworks 2011 used to work before without software OpenGL

That is typical of the GeForce cards. They are not suitable for SolidWorks. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

If the card has been working for some time, it could also be the card has "gone bad". A component may be breaking (or broken) down.

Short-term fix ... try re-seating the card.

Permanent fix ... get an approved card.

if there were no software changes - one possibility is that your graphics card is simply wearing out.

One of the problems with the GeForce cards (at least as far as Solidworks is concerned) is that they have a subset of the full OpenGL implementation.  Now in the case of my old GeForce 7600, the fallout from that was Solidworks wouldn't turn on HDRI and reflections (realview) altough judging by Half Life 2, the card was certainly capable of rendering them.  So, Solidworks is not only checking for hardware opengGL support, but also the full ICD implementation.  In the case of some drivers Solidworks won't turn on hardware acceleration. 

This behavior is the result of Solidworks tests with specific card and driver implementaitons which they do with every release.  So, while it's not arbitrary what cards Solidworks will support, there are human decisions involved-which is why you're OpenGL tester program may say it works fine but Solidwork still won't use it.

OK, so how does this apply to you, you wonder

First, you might be using a driver verison/card combination that did OK when Solidworks tried it out on 2010, that they subsequently decided not to support (for reasons of stability, usually) in 2011.  First thing to try is updating the driver. I'd suggest an Nvidia unified driver instead of the vendor-specific one.  If that doesn't work, I'd try a microsoft compatibility driver.  Back in the day, Solidworks reported on uncertified cards like the GeForce so you could tell what the worst combinations were.  Nowadays, it looks like they're only reporting on workstation cards.

If that doesn't work, try a microsoft compatibiliity driver.  It's possible, that Solidworks may better implement a generic driver for a non-certified card than the latest vendor version.

If that doens't work, try bumping hardware acceleration back in Windows (display settings dialog, troublshooting tab in XP) and let the CPU render controls, cursors and application frames.  One of the problems with gaming cards is that they don't support multiple accelerated application windows usually, so Solidworks might enable openGL acceleration if it knows it doesn't have to compete with Windows for GPU handles.

I don't have an explanation for why performance has progressively declined.  My Geforce 7600 had a fan go south on me.  I put a utility fan in the case, aimed at the GPU heatsink.  It worked at first but after a couple of months, it would only boot in safemode.  When I tried to boot the machine normally, it would shut down shortly after entering my user name and password.  Interestingly enough, I put an old Oxygen GVX1 in the machine and it came up right away with now problems.  I guess the lesson is that hardware problems can be subtle at times.

Anyway, good luck.  Let us know how it works out.

JOhn

I am also having the same problem as the person who started this thread. The difference is that I do have an "approved card" with the correct driver. I have installed and reinstalled as well as repaired. Haven't had any luck. I have not only had the problem on our workstation, but also on my mobile workstation. The workstation uses a Quadro 2000 graphics card and the mobile uses a 2000M. Without OpenGL enabled, I am not able to start a new part/assembly or open a part/assembly. Drawing works just fine. I do not see how this could be a graphics card issue mainly because I am experiencing this on two well-equiped computers, with 2 somewhat different cards. Has anyone found a solution to this program yet?