SolidWorks has issued a critical alert for 64-bit systems that are running 2009 SP5, 2010 SP1, and 2010 SP2. It is a bug in the PhotoWorks program and it is recommended to not use it until the hotfix has been applied to your system. The hotfixes are available for download and a service pack will be available shortly. The downloads for the above mentioned service packs have been removed from the SolidWorks web site and will be replaced by 2009 SP5.1 and 2010 SP2.1 when they become available.

SolidWorks 2009 SP5 (x64), SolidWorks 2010 SP1 (x64), and SolidWorks 2010 SP2 (x64) have been temporarily removed from the SolidWorks Downloads pages due to the technical issue listed below.

An issue with PhotoWorks has been identified in 64-bit versions of SolidWorks 2009 SP5, SolidWorks 2010 SP1, and SolidWorks 2010 SP2 in which the SolidWorks installation, the operating system, program files and data files may become damaged or unrecoverable if the PhotoWorks add-in is enabled when SolidWorks is running and the SolidWorks process is already using more than 2GB of virtual memory.  These service packs have been removed from the web site as a precaution in order to prevent the risk of damage to customers’ systems under these circumstances.

This problem does not affect 32-bit versions of SolidWorks; hence all 32-bit Service Packs are still available for download. Furthermore, SolidWorks 2010 SP0 (x64) is not affected, nor are SolidWorks 2009 SP4.1 (x64) and earlier Service Packs of 2009. Please note also that this issue only pertains to enabling the PhotoWorks add-in and has no effect on the use of PhotoView 360 for renderings.

All customers with PhotoWorks on a 64-bit operating system with SolidWorks 2009 SP5, 2010 SP1, or 2010 SP2 MUST apply this hotfix.

Hotfix instructions:

 Select the version to hotfix from the links below. (Note: SolidWorks cannot be running when the hotfix is applied):

- SolidWorks 2009 SP5

- SolidWorks 2010 SP1

- SolidWorks 2010 SP2