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License alert: The files in <OS Drive>:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\Software Licenses must never be altered or deleted. Any change, even restoring them, will trigger license failure of your Autodesk licenses. You will then be required to re-authorize all impacted products. It may take up to 4 days for the failure to show up.

1. Errata

1. Inventor Crashes if MDT is installed first
2. Location of Readme and any Missing documents
3. MDT Uninstall Error
4. Can't Launch Deployment Wizard
5. FLASH (1406) error while Installing or Uninstalling or Restricted user can't run Inventor
6. Installation to other than the OS Drive
7. Inventor OEM viewer takes DWG & DXF extensions from AutoCAD based products
8. How can I access the Inventor custom installation settings?
9. Pre-check: Port 80 in use
10. sqlmgr.exe error on login after installing Autodesk Inventor
11. Product serial number displays as 000-00000000

2. Graphics Highlights

1. Nvidia Nview
2. New for Inventor 11
3. Crash or reboot while rendering a drawing
4. DirectX software fails to install

3. Installation Highlights

4. Applications that Conflict with Installation of Inventor

5. System Requirements Before Installation

6. Graphics Requirements Before Installation

7. Special Installation Situations

1. To Avoid Reboots during a Deployment Install
2. MSI Issues
3. Service Pack Issues

8. Installation Issues?

1. Hijackers that block installation
2. Not enough space on the OS drive for the Content Center
3. How can I put the content of my Media on a server for use by others?

9. Peripherals

10. General information for using Inventor

Errata

1. If MDT is installed first and then Inventor is installed, Inventor will crash every time it tries to start. Running a Repair on Inventor from the Add/Remove Programs will repair this problem.
2. Missing documents
   1. If the links from the Front End User Interface do not lead to the correct documentation, Please check bin\acadfeui\docs on either the DVD or CD1 of a CD set for the correct document.
3. During uninstall, MDT may generate an error message. click on OK and continue.
4. Can't Launch Deployment wizard
   1. Copy all files from the DVD (or CDs) to a directory.
      1. For CD images start with CD 1 and copy all CDs into the same directory, allowing overwrites.
   2. In the Media Browser directory, replace RFTMP.exe with this file.
   3. Install the Network Deployment Wizard by running the setup in the directory to which the media was copied.
   4. Run the wizard and use the same directory for creating the deployment image.
5. FLASH (1406) error while installing or uninstalling or Restricted user can't use Inventor
   1. Both of these symptoms are caused by Macromedia Flash version 8.0.24.0 or newer (but not to version 9 or newer) altering registry permissions. See http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS1056239.
      1. This applies to the installation or un-installation of Inventor 10 and 11..
         1. This applies to installation directly from the media or a deployment image.
      2. DO NOT uninstall flash player 8 from ADD/Remove programs or install Flash player 9 or later on top of it. This leaves your system in a damaged state. If you have done this:
      1. On the install DVD or CD1 navigate to bin\acadfeui\Inventor\support\Flash, install Flash Player 8.
         1. Install Flash Player 8.
         2. Run the script in the TS to clean up the damaged registry.
      3. Run the command in the TS before installing Inventor, then again after installing Inventor.
         1. At this point you may go to Adobe.com and install Flash player 9, which does not have any problems.
      4. Please note that re-installing Inventor 10 or 11, will re-install flash player 8 and require action again.
   2. News Flash (October 20006): Inventor 11, SP 2 has just been approved for production. This will replace the existing R11 media. This product does not install any Flash Player.The Media label identifies the product as SP2.
6. Installation to other than the OS Drive
   1. If the OS drive has less than 500 MB of free space the installation is blocked if the content center is included. To work around this issue:
      1. Start the installation from the media in the normal manner:
         1. Switched the installation to a different drive in the Destination Folder Dialog.
            1. This will cause Inventor to switch to the new destination.
            2. Open the options for MDT (if it is to be installed) and change it's destination.
            3. Open the options for Vault (if it is to be installed) and change it's destination.
            4. Autodesk Data Management Server (ADMS) (from the options).
               1. Click the checkbox for the Content Center to be installed in the same location as ADMS
               2. Click on Options for the Content Center and uncheck all of the Content Libraries.
      2. After the installation is finished, totally exit.
      3. Then on the installation media, go to bin/acadfeui/LibraryContent and run ContentServer.exe
   2. When the installation is finished, run Inventor:
      1. Open and save a new assembly
      2. Place a content item into the assemble.
      3. When Data Management Solutions dialog comes up, click on Login.
      4. In the Login dialog, select the "Vault" database.
         1. There will be a short wait as the Content Center initializes.
7. Inventor OEM viewer takes DWG & DXF extensions from AutoCAD based products
   1. This happens every time Inventor 11 is executed.
   2. Delete the following registry Keys:
      1. HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\MIME\Database\Content Type\image/vnd.dwg
      2. HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\MIME\Database\Content Type\image/vnd.dxf
   3. Run the AutoCAD based product (i.e.. Mechanical Desktop) to re-connect to the DWG extension.
8. How can I access the Inventor custom installation settings?
   1. The Options Installation screen provides access to the standard Install options you are used to seeing (default units etc.).. Click on the link to the Options for any given product.
      1. In this same dialog one can configure the Content Center libraries to be installed.
      2. In the Inventor Options, one has access to the checkbox to do a Network install directly from the Media.
9. Pre-check: Port 80 in use
   1. Click on the error message, it will point to the offending application.
   2. This is NOT a conflict with Inventor 10 or it's Content Center.
   3. MS Security update 908531 (MS06-015) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918165
      installs a new binary program, Verclsid.exe. The Verclsid.exe program validates shell extensions before they are instantiated by the Windows shell or by Windows Explorer. If you have some old programs such as hp share to web running then the result will be that explorer will block port 80 .
   4. To manually locate the application using Port 80
      1. In a command window type netstat -n -o
      2. This will give you a list of local/foreign connections and their PID.
      3. Look for a foreign address ending in 80. Write the PID for this address.
      4. Open Windows task manager to the process window. (Make sure that "show processes from all users" is clicked.)
      5. Add the PID column using the View pull down.
      6. This will show the process name.
   5. Possible conflicts: Skype, HP Share to windows.
   6. Thanks to the Inventor news group for this information.
10. sqlmgr.exe error on login after installing Autodesk Inventor.
    1. Use windows update to install "Security Update for Microsoft Data Access Components 2.7 Service Pack 1 (KB911562)".
       
       

Graphics Highlights

Nvidia nView

If you use the Nvidia nView desktop Manager, it must be configured such that the nView Desktop Manager does not apply effects to Invenetor.exe.

1. If you are using nView just to spread the display over multiple monitors, it works fine.
2. To use effects, Inventor must be excluded from the applications to which the effects are applied.
   1. This is done by adding Inventor as an application using a custom nView Desktop Manager settings.
   2. Then make the custom effect setting "Disabled".
   3. If nView effects are enabled for Inventor, either Inventor will freeze or the nView effects will be disabled for all applications when Inventor starts.
3. Nvidia is working on this issue. As of driver 6.14.10.9136, it is not yet fixed.

New for Inventor 11

1. The default graphics protocol in Inventor 11 is now DirectX 9. OpenGL is fully supported. Go to Tools > Application Options > hardware to switch modes. The addition of DirectX enables operation on a very large range of graphics cards. Microsoft expects that most "modern" cards will work. Some tested cards will automatically switch from one mode to the other. This means that we have found problems in the mode that the card is not allowed to use.
2. 3Dlabs is out of the workstation graphics card business. Their cards do not support Direct3D. There will not be any new drivers.

Crash or reboot while rendering a drawing

TOP

Installation Highlights

The AIS and AIP 11 installation process has changed. One installer wraps around the installation of all the major products on the media. This provides a unified installation.

1. One can easily select a standard install configuration
   1. For the AIP products the modules are now seamlessly installed and un-installed with the inventor products.
2. From the Options column, each product to be installed can be easily customized.
3. Before the installation is finished, you may be prompted to re-boot. Leave the media in the drive and re-boot. The install will re-start automatically. It will recognize everything that has already been installed and finish the installation.
4. After the installation is completed, one can re-run the installer to add additional programs to the installation. For example, if Inventor was initially installed, and one wished to add a local Content Center:
   1. Re-run the installer. Select installation of Inventor plus the Content Center.
   2. The installer will see that Inventor is already installed and just install the content center with it's data.
      1. The first time the Content Center is used you will be prompted to logon. Select the Vault database from the drop down and logon. Leave the password blank.
5. This did create one problem. If one wants to just install Inventor in trial mode, it is not clear how to do this.The solution is:
1. On the DVD (or CD1) navigate to bin\acadfeui\Inventor and run setup.exe
   1. Click Next
   2. Accept the license and click Next
   3. Under "Single User Licensing", click "Install Autodesk Inventor as a 30 day trial"
   4. Proceed with the installation.
   5. When the above installation is finished, restart the installation from the setup.exe at the root of the media.
2. After the entire installation is finished, run Inventor and connect to the Content Center (if installed).
6. Network licensing has changed. See this document for simple explanation of a single license server and Cascading licenses.

TOP

Applications that Conflict with Installation of Inventor

1. Spyware, Anti-Virus, and Internet security programs, especially during installation.
   1. I prefer to allow the installation to access the internet when it attempts to do so.
   2. Installation can be completed without internet access.
2. "Error 1406. Could not write value to key \software\Classes\CLSID\.....
3. The file Riched20.dll cannot go through the "BlackIce" firewall onto a system. The result:
   1. An AutoCAD/MDT deployment image cannot be built on a server running BlackIce.
   2. An AutoCAD/MDT deployment image cannot be installed on a workstation running BlackIce.
   3. Workaround: Either disable BlackIce for these operations or configure it to let this file pass.
   4. Support at BlackIce has confirmed that this is intentional.
4. The Inventor installers in the Autodesk Inventor® Series and Autodesk Inventor® Professional packages are not Microsoft Logo Compliment. Inventor can not be installed by Advertisement. This is a side effect of the technology that lets multiple versions of Inventor run on the same workstation.
5. An out-of-date version of Internet Explorer will have problems running our IE6 based Help system.
6. It takes 10 Minutes to load Inventor 10 or 11 in Asian OS:.
   1. This is caused by a problem in Microsoft .NET Framework. This article describes the problem and the Resolution: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=903204.
7. PDF Complete breaks Inventor. This is a PDF MS Office addin. When it is loaded into Office, Excel starts normally when run by hand. However, Excel will not open when requested by Inventor. This has been reported to Adobe. Workaround: Remove the addin from Excel or uninstall PDF Complete.

Special Installation Situations

1. To Avoid Reboots during a Deployment Install: Within the Inventor and the Professional modules install process, both install third party software before they install the Autodesk products. Sometimes, the third party software may request to be rebooted before it is used. On some clean systems, the fact that we do not reboot during the Inventor install process may cause an installation error. The simple solution is to reboot and restart the installation.
2. Deployment image can not switch between 32 and 64-bit versions of products.
   1. .Net Framework runtime 2.0 (64-bit) must be pre-installed before a deployment image is installed onto XP X-64

All of the above products may require reboot after installation, however you can suppress reboot until just before sequence 5.

3. MSI Issues: MSI 3.0 v2, shipped with Inventor 11, supports all languages that Autodesk supports.
   1. If an Autodesk Vault Server appears to conflict with the MSI installed on workstations, please double check that the instructions were followed correctly while setting up the server. A user error in this process has caused the MSI installer on workstations on the same domain to not work.
4. Service Pack Issues:
   1. Hot Fixes:
      1. Hot fixes come out to address specific problems. The descriptions with each hot fix describe exactly how to use it.
      2. Please note that hot fixes must not be blindly installed. They have had less testing than a Service Pack and may not be compatible with other hot fixes.
      3. When installing a service pack is not advisable to pre-install all of the Hot Fixes. All hot fixes, except those that may conflict with each other or have a better solution in the service pack are normally wrapped up into the service pack.
         1. Any that are left out are left out for a reason.
   2. Inventor:
      1. Starting with AIS/AIP 11, Autodesk Inventor service packs are distributed as ".msp" files. They can be used directly by the Network Installation wizard. They can also be uninstalled.
      2. Service Pack un-installation methods.
         1. Windows XP and forward: Use "Add or Remove Programs". Be sure to check the checkbox at the top of the window "Show Updates".
         2. Windows 2000: Information for manual un-installation is patch specific and can not be released until a service pack actually exists.
      3. The AIP Modules are now included with Inventor when a deployment image is created with the Network Installation Wizard.
      4. Inventor service packs are historical. They must be applied in sequence.
         1. For example, SP2 must be applied on top of the released product + SP1.
   3. MDT and AutoCAD:
      1. The service packs for these products continue to be distributed as ".exe" files. To convert them to .msp files:
         1. Copy the service pack to x:\Temp. Where "x" is the drive you have selected to use.
         2. Do not type the quotes in the following.
         3. From the start menu, select Run and type "cmd"
         4. Type "x:"
         5. Type "cd \"
         6. Type "cd \temp"
         7. Type: "<Product_name>.exe /e <Product_name>.msp". This will place the msp version of the patch in your x:\temp folder.
         8. Rule: File names with spaces must be enclosed with double quotes.
      2. Each AutoCAD based Service pack is complete by itself. They are cumulative and may be applied directly to the original release, or the original release plus updates, such as a previous service pack.
      3. For example, SP2 may be applied to either the released product or the released product + SP1
   4. Deployment images
      1. Deployment images are patched in the same manner as the released products. See the description above.

System Requirements Before Installation

1. Use Windows update to install MSI 3.1 V2 or later. Since the Autodesk R10 AIS and AIP media was pressed, Microsoft has managed to introduce a problem in their MSI 3 installer and then a fix for the problem
   1. To make sure that you are not using the problem version of the installer, in Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Windows Update. After windows update initializes, select "Custom Install" You will see a High Priority update of "Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1" if it is not yet installed. Failure to do this may damage the MSI installer on your system. This issue has only been seen on a small number of systems.
2. Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP4, Microsoft Windows XP Professional Sp1 or SP2, Microsoft Windows XP X-64:. As a practical matter, all critical updates from Microsoft (including office products) should be installed before contacting Autodesk for support.
   1. Updating workstations to current Microsoft levels will usually avoid installation problems and increase security.
3. If the Content Center (ADMS) is to be installed on your local system, file and printer sharing MUST be enabled. Search on "file and printer sharing" in windows help for information on how to do this.
4. Autodesk Inventor software may be shipped in DVD format. If you would like CD format, fill out the business reply card and send it back to us for fulfillment.
5. Please refer to http://www.autodesk.com/inventor-graphic-cards (this site) for the latest information about graphic cards and drivers.
6. An Internet connection is required for internet downloads and Subscription Aware access.
7. Microsoft Excel 2000 or later is required for iParts, iFeatures, thread customization, and spread sheet driven designs.
8. NetMeeting 3.01 or later for web collaboration
9. Installs on New systems:
   1. These may have an installation error, because a reboot has been suppressed in our installation script. Workarounds:
      1. Reboot and try again.
      2. Install the needed items from the list the Special Install Situations section, in order. If asked to reboot, do so.
10. Microsoft recommends that the size of the virtual memory swap file should be set to twice the size of the physical memory in the system.
    1. If your are using the /3GB option on Windows XP, SP2+ Pro, the size of the swap file should be set to 4GB.
11. Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0, SP1. (Note that Autodesk Inventor® Help and tutorials may require Windows Update 811630 to repair script errors.)
12. After installation, a workspace of 1GB minimum is required for the Undo file and other Autodesk Inventor® temporary files.
    1. The default location is defined by your TEMP environment variable.
    2. You can change this location by running Autodesk Inventor® and changing the location of the Undo file.
13. Actions, such as repair, related to the SQL data base for the Content Center may require a TEMP space up to 3 times the size of the database files (3 x 1.2GB).
14. When removing Autodesk Inventor®, if you have just recently run the application, you may get a message that the Remove function cannot be performed because cdilla10.exe (or cdilla64.exe) is still running.
    1. Exit the Remove function and wait several minutes for cdilla10 and cdilla64 to unload, and then try again. If this fails, you may need to logout or restart your system before you can remove Autodesk Inventor®.

• Please note that disk drive technology and the amount of physical memory has a significant impact on performance.
• We recommend a minimum of 512MB of memory.
  • This is enforced on systems with embedded graphics that use the system memory.

Graphics Requirements Before Installation

1. Graphics card and driver information can be found at: http://www.autodesk.com/us/inventor/graphic_cards/ Please check your driver.
   1. If it is rated RED in both OpenGL and DirectX, please find a different driver.
      1. If a different driver is not available, select Direct3D and Software Emulation
   2. If it is rated Yellow in one mode and Green in the other use the Green mode.
   3. If it is a workstation card and not rated Green in any mode, we are working with the vendor to improve the rating.
   4. Pease read the comments about the whole card family and the individual driver.
2. Laptops with ATI graphics: If "Enable POWERPLAY(tm)" is checked, graphics hardware acceleration is lost and the display is degraded to 16-bit color when running on battery power. Inventor then reverts to software emulation to run the graphics. The laptop must be connected to power and re-booted to resume normal operation.
3. Modern workstation graphics cards require 32-bit color (true color) to enable hardware acceleration. The performance of Autodesk Inventor® depends on the graphics card hardware acceleration. For additional information about hardware issues and tips, explore this site.

Installation Issues?

1. Hijackers: Some search tools like NTsearch.com and coolwebsearch are in reality Hijackers that take over parts of your system. NTsearch prevents any MSI installer, like the ones from Autodesk, from running.
2. If you don't have enough space on the OS drive:
   1. Click on any options link in this dialog to enter the install script for a given product. You will then have the option of installing the product on another drive. Other product dependent options will also be available from the options link.

To relocate the Content Center Libraries, change the installation location of Autodesk Data Management Server 5. Be sure to check this checkbox so that database will install to the same location as the Data Management Server.



Also note the check boxes on the left of the dialog. Use these to add or remove a given product from the installation.

• How can I put the content of my Media on a server for use by others?

1. For DVD media: Make a directory and copy the contents of the DVD to it.
2. For CD media: Do the same thing as for DVD media, except copy all of the CDs to the same directory. When prompted, allow over-write. Please include the Vault 5 CD. Only use the Vault 5 CD that comes with your AIP or AIS 11 product.

Peripherals

1. IOmega: Do not eject the zip drive while Autodesk Inventor is running.
2. If your Logitech mouse is slow when Autodesk Inventor® has the focus, check your mouse setup in the control panel. If you have a check box labeled: "Disable acceleration in games," clear the check mark. The driver is treating all OpenGL applications as games.

General information for using Inventor

1. As part of our Continuous Improvement process, Inventor contains a Customer Error Reporting (CER) system. When Inventor has an abnormal termination, you will be prompted to send a mini dump to Autodesk. To do this, you must have an internet connection. Please include an email address to enable the Rapid Response Team at Autodesk to contact you if they need more information.
2. Autodesk Inventor® 11 (Series and Professional) stores the prior versions of a document as separate files in a folder called "OldVersions" located in the same directory as the current document.
3. The resolution of images inserted into sketches depends on the display resolution. If the display is set to 16 bits, a full color image can degrade significantly. For best results, use 32-bit resolution.
4. Temporary files may remain on your system after a process is terminated. Monitor your default windows working directory (%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp AKA %temp%) and clean it out as needed.

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