Clean Uninstall of SolidWorks

One frequent request that comes across my desk, is how to perform a clean uninstallation of SolidWorks.  SolidWorks installs too many locations on a user’s local disk drive.  When a user uninstalls SolidWorks, a lot of these folders are retained on the system and you can end up with unnecessary or duplicate folders.  Also, at times a SolidWorks installation can become corrupt and it may be necessary to completely wipe SolidWorks from the systems registry and start fresh.

If you decide you need to do a clean uninstallation of  SolidWorks, you can follow these steps to find all the locations on a system created by the program:

• From Add or Remove programs in the Windows Control Panel, uninstall all SolidWorks listings.
• Then you’ll want to delete any folders relating to SolidWorks on your hard drive. 
• You might find SW folders in the locations listed below.
  • Make sure you do not have any custom templates or library parts existing in these folders that you’d want to keep.
  • Depending on your installation, there may be additional folders from previous installs or folders may not be named exactly the same.

• For Windows XP: (64-bit systems will have additional folders in C:\Program Files (x86))
  • C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\SolidWorks
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SolidWorks
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\DassaultSystemes
  • C:\Documents and Settings\CURRENT_USER\Application Data\SolidWorks
  • C:\Documents and Settings\’your user name’\Application Data\SolidWorks
  • C:\Documents and Settings\’your user name’\Application Data\DassaultSystemes
  • C:\Program Files\Common Files\SolidWorks Installation Manager
  • C:\Program Files\Common Files\SolidWorks Shared
  • C:\Program Files\SolidWorks
  • C:\Program Files\SolidWorks(2)
  • C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp

• For Windows 7 and Vista: (32-bit systems would not have folder locations in C:\Program Files (x86))
  • C:\SolidWorks Data
  • C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp
  • C:\Program Files\Common Files\SolidWorks Shared
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\SolidWorksx86
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\SolidWorks Corp
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\SolidWorks
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\eDrawings2010
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SolidWorks Shared
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SolidWorks Installation Manager
  • C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks
  • C:\ProgramData\DassaultSystemes
  • C:\Users\’your user name’\AppData\Roaming\SolidWorks
  • C:\Users\’your user name’\AppData\Roaming\SolidWorks 2010
  • C:\Users\’your user name’\AppData\Roaming\DassaultSystemes
  • C:\Users\’your user name’\AppData\Roaming\DWGeditor
  • C:\Users\’your user name’\AppData\Roaming\EDrawings

• After deleting folders, edit the Windows registry to remove the following keys (some keys may not be present on your system).
  • To access the Windows Registry Editor select Run… in the Windows Start Menu, type regedit, and hit OK.
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\eDrawings
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks BackOffice
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SRAC
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ eDrawings
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\SolidWorks
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\SolidWorks Corporation
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\SRAC