Instability in SOLIDWORKS due to conflict with

Microsoft KB3072630
Summary
There is a conflict with Microsoft KB3072630 (published July 14 2015) which can cause SOLIDWORKS
to become unstable when installed or updated after KB3072630 is applied. The Microsoft update
makes changes to Windows Installer which prevents SOLIDWORKS installations (new, modify/repair,
update or uninstall) from being executed correctly. We are working diligently to produce a software fix
as soon as possible in SOLIDWORKS 2015 and 2016, however in the interim please review the
information below to prevent and correct instability caused by this conflict.

Affected software
SOLIDWORKS 2011 - 2015, and SOLIDWORKS 2016 beta.

Symptoms
Instability may appear in many different functional areas of the software, so the list below may not be
complete. Known symptoms are:

Missing add-ins from the SOLIDWORKS add-ins list in the Tools menu.
Error when launching SOLIDWORKS or opening a file: "Could not load SOLIDWORKS DLL:
GdtAnalysisSupport.dll".
Crashes when recording, playing or editing a SOLIDWORKS Macro.
Instability when using Equations.
Error when launching SOLIDWORKS or SOLIDWORKS Explorer: "DWG document manager
library is invalid or missing".

Solution
First, check if you have KB3072630 installed:
1.

From the Windows Control Panel, click Windows Update.

2.
3.

In the left pane, click View update history.

Browse the list of installed updates to check if KB3072630 was installed. If present, it will

4.

have been installed on or after July 14 2015.

If KB3072630 is installed on your system please review the recommendations in the
applicable scenario below.

Important: We do not recommend uninstalling KB3072630 since it is an important security update.

Please see below for next steps.
Important: Serious problems may occur if you make incorrect changes to the registry. We advise you
to make a backup of your registry using the information here. We advise you to work with your IT
administrators when following the procedures below.
Scenario 1
Users who have not yet installed or updated SOLIDWORKS since KB3072630 was applied.To prevent
problems we recommend temporarily disabling KB3072630 before installing or updating
SOLIDWORKS:

1.

Temporarily disable the KB3072630 security fix (we do not recommend uninstalling it) by
either following steps (a)-(f) below or double-click KB3072630_Disable.reg from this zip file.
a. Click Start, click Run, type "regedit" in the Open box, and then click OK.
b. Locate and click the following subkey in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
Note If this subkey does not exist, create it.
c. In the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
d. For the DWORD name, type "RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy", and then press Enter.
e. Right-click RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy, and then click Modify.

2.
3.

f. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

Install, update or uninstall SOLIDWORKS in the normal way.
After SOLIDWORKS installs or updates successfully, reset
the RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy DWORD value to 0 to re-enable the security fix for KB
3072630.

Scenario 2
Users who have installed or updated SOLIDWORKS after KB3072630 was applied where
SOLIDWORKS was installed using the standalone installation method. Your SOLIDWORKS installation
is likely to be unstable and subsequent uninstallation will likely fail. We recommend the following
method to repair your SOLIDWORKS installation:
1.
Follow step 1 from Scenario 1.
2.

3.

Run a Repair of your SOLIDWORKS Installation from Programs and Features in the
Windows Control Panel. Find the SOLIDWORKS installation then select Change, then
choose Repair from the Installation Manager options and follow on-screen prompts.
After the SOLIDWORKS installation is repaired, reset
the RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy DWORD value to 0 to re-enable the security fix for KB
3072630.

Scenario 3
Users who have installed or updated SOLIDWORKS after KB3072630 was applied where
SOLIDWORKS was installed using an Administrative Image. Your SOLIDWORKS installation is likely to
be unstable. It is necessary to uninstall SOLIDWORKS, we recommend following this procedure:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Uninstall SOLIDWORKS from Programs and Features in the Windows Control Panel. Find
the SOLIDWORKS installation then select Uninstall.
Follow step 1 from Scenario 1.
Install SOLIDWORKS from your Administrative Image.
After SOLIDWORKS installs successfully, reset
the RemappedElevatedProxiesPolicy DWORD value to 0 to re-enable the security fix for KB
3072630.