You may have heard by now, SolidWorks 2012 software (including CAD, Simulation, Sustainability, and Enterprise PDM) will be the last release that supports Windows XP.  This action is being taken as a follow-up to Microsoft’s retirement of the Windows® XP operating system in April of 2009.  SolidWorks 2013 will not install on Windows XP.

Now that most of us will be upgraded, let’s take another look at some of the Windows 7 shortcuts that may make our lives easier, regardless of what we are using our computers for:

HOTKEYS

• WIN + Up Arrow or WIN + Down Arrow = toggle between window states, Maximized, Restore and Minimized
• WIN + Shift + Left or Right Arrow = move window to another monitor
• WIN + 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 = Launch the corresponding application on the Task Bar
• WIN + P = Projector and video output sett ings
• WIN + X = Mobility Center – Several convenient controls such as projector, WiFi, etc.
• WIN + T = Task Bar navigation via arrow keys
• WIN + D = Show Desktop
• WIN + E = Windows Explorer
• WIN + L = Lock Windows
• WIN + “+” = Magnifying Glass
• Win + Tab = cycle through the open application using Aero Flip
• Alt + Tab = cycle through the open applications
• Ctrl + Tab = cycle through the open documents within an application
• Ctrl + Application Icon = cycle through the open documents within the application
• Ctrl + Shift + Application Icon = Run application as Administrator
• Shift + Application Icon = Run a new instance of an application
• Alt + F4 = Terminate the active application
• Ctrl + Shift + Escape = Windows Task Manager
• Ctrl + C = copy
• Ctrl + X = cut
• Ctrl + V = paste
• Ctrl + Drag = copy
• Shift + Drag = move

Now that’s hot!

So 2012  is now released, and they have finally fixed a couple of things that had changed if you upgraded to Windows 7 or Vista. If you never used XP with a Workgroup vault, you may not be aware of these functions. You used to be able to browse the vault from the “SolidWorks Open” dialog. There was a link on the left in the favorites along with Desktop and My Documents. In 2012, they have brought this back for users of Windows 7 and Vista. It is a little different then it is in XP as it is not added to favorites, but it still gets the files you want to open.

The button can be found at the bottom of the open dialog. When selected, it opens a “Select from Vault” dialog that allows you to browse the vault. By default, it is set to check out and if you just select “Check Out” it will go back to the SolidWorks Open and this will then point to the check out location called out in the Workgroup client options. There is also the “Check Out Advanced.” This will open the standard check out dialog for Workgroup and populate with the selected files from the Select from Vault. This makes it easier to open a file to a specific configuration even if it was not last saved to that one.

There is also one thing that is not listed in the “Whats New for 2012″  but I have had a few customers bring this up as being an annoyance.This is also primarily seen in Windows 7 & Vista. This has to do with searching in the vault from inside SolidWorks. So you set up the search criteria and tell it to “Find” and it searches down the Vault View Tree. When it finds the first to meet the criteria it stops and highlights the file in the tree. Really it does, but it is very light and not always easy to see. Recently, I received a fixed SPR notification for this issue and you can now actually see the highlighted file. Once again, this is not an issue if you are still using Windows XP as you could adjust the brightness of the monitor if this was not visible enough.

Back in the olden days (Windows XP) many of us were told to turn off all of the graphical bells and whistles to free up more resources for SolidWorks. So if you’ve upgraded to Windows 7 you might still think that’s what you should do. Well come to find out, in Windows 7 you want to use one of the cool desktop themes (called Aero) if you want SolidWorks to work at its best. Using basic themes disables some 3-D graphical acceleration that SolidWorks uses.

Microsoft calls this the “Aero desktop experience.” According to Microsoft: “You can enjoy visually appealing effects and appearance and also benefit from better access to your programs.” If you want to read more about the Aero experience go to http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-is-the-Aero-desktop-experience.  There is a great explanation about the visual effects and switching between programs.

To check to see if you are currently using an Aero theme, right click on the Desktop and select Personalize. Scroll down and you will see a group called Aero Themes. Select one of those or go online and download one of the many other themes available and enjoy!

When you Restart your computer it’s considered a “warm boot”.  Performing a Shut Down is referred to as a “cold boot”.  During a “warm boot” power to the memory chips is not completely lost as it would be on a “cold boot”.  Therefore, if you want to ensure that memory on your system is completely flushed, Shut down your computer and wait approximately 30 seconds before rebooting.  On a system utilizing SolidWorks, it’s recommended that you perform a cold boot daily.

Do you ever get the feeling that your computer is doing things behind your back?  Does it take a long time to boot up in the morning?  If so, then you probably have programs running in the background that open on startup that you aren’t aware of.  To see a list of these, run the msconfig program built into your Windows operating system.

In Windows XP, click on Start, then Run, and then type in msconfig. 

In Vista or Windows 7, click on Start, and then type msconfig in the Search box.

Click on the Startup tab and uncheck the ones you don’t want to run at start up.  The next time you reboot, those programs will not start.