A note from Jeff Ray & Rich Welch regarding this week’s technical issue

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Last week, we became aware of a potentially serious issue that
could affect SolidWorks users running on a 64-bit operating system with SolidWorks
2009 SP5, 2010 SP1, and SP2 with the PhotoWorks add-in.  The cause of this issue was not immediately apparent,
so we began an investigation in order to understand the exact nature and extent
of the problem.  Fortunately, this has
only directly affected a small number of our customers. Following the
investigation, we instantly launched a series of activities to resolve the issue.

 

These activities included:

1.      
January 18:

a.      
Removed all affected service packs from our web
site.

b.     
Inserted a technical alert through the RSS feed
when SolidWorks software is launched.

c.      
Posted detailed information regarding the issue
on the technical support and knowledge base sections of our web site describing
the issue.

d.     
Contacted the affected customers to offer
assistance, including onsite resources to help recover from any effects
resulting from this issue.

2.      
January 19:

a.      
Created and posted hotfixes to resolve the issue
and mitigate any potential problems for other customers.

b.     
Contacted all VARs to reclaim all affected
SolidWorks media in their possession, and to retrieve and replace any affected
media that may have been delivered to customers.

3.      
January 20 and 21:

a.      
Sent a detailed explanation to customers
identified as having activated SolidWorks on a 64-bit operating system.   This included step-by-step instructions for
installation of the hotfix.

 

We currently plan for
Service Pack SW2010 SP 2.1 to be available for download by January 27 on our website
(www.solidworks.com) with SW 2009 SP 5.1 available by February
1.  These service packs will resolve the
issue without the need to install a hotfix.

 

You can find details and a link to the hotfix here:  SolidWorks
Technical Alerts

 

PLEASE NOTE: This
issue only occurs if the
PhotoWorks add-in is loaded after more than 2GB of model data is loaded in
SolidWorks.  Our data indicates that this
issue is NOT applicable to
customers using:


  • PhotoWorks on 32-bit standard operating systems

  • PhotoView 360 on either 32-bit or 64-bit systems

  • SolidWorks 2010 SP0
  • SolidWorks 2009 SP4.1 or earlier

 

We sincerely apologize on behalf of Dassault Systèmes
SolidWorks Corp. to anyone impacted by this issue, and for any inconvenience
this may have caused. If you experience any technical issues regarding the
installation of the hotfix, please contact your local reseller or our technical
team directly.  If you have any additional questions or concerns, please
feel free to contact us directly.  

Regards,

Jeff Ray
CEO
DS SolidWorks Corp.
Jeff.Ray@3ds.com

Richard Welch
Vice President, Worldwide Customer Services
DS SolidWorks Corp.
+1-978-318-5202
Richard.Welch@3ds.com

Jeff Ray