A Complete Guide to Using SOLIDWORKS Rx

How do I open SOLIDWORKS Rx?

SOLIDWORKS Rx can be opened from the Windows start menu or from the SOLIDWORKS task pane under the SOLIDWORKS Tools.

In Windows 7 and older you will find the SOLIDWORKS Rx tool by following this path:

Windows Start > Programs > SOLIDWORKS 20xx > SOLIDWORKS Tools folder

On the newer Windows platform you can either search type in the name, if you are using Cortana, or you can manual scroll through the apps.

Why use SOLIDWORKS Rx?

SOLIDWORKS Rx is a valuable tool that can help you monitor and test your computer and SOLIDWORKS performance.

When you open SOLIDWORKS Rx you will see this window.

Next, you will see a listing of tabs at the top of your window. These are also listed in the first inset window as hyperlinks for faster access.

There is another inset beneath the first.

This has two tools that you can use for testing purposes.

1. The ‘Click here to Launch SOLIDWORKS in OpenGL mode’ will open a session of SOLIDWORKS that will not use on CAD video card. This can be helpful test to see if the graphic issue in SOLIDWORKS has to do with your graphics card or graphics card firmware or software.
2. The other tool you will see is ‘Click here to launch SOLIDWORKS while bypassing the Tools/Options settings’. Click here to launch your SOLIDWORKS. Since this tool bypasses your SOLIDWORKS Tools and System Options, you might use this as a test to verify the SOLIDWORKS issue you are seeing is related to something you have customized in your options or something that is not functioning correctly.

SOLIDWORKS Rx Diagnostics Tab

This will list your current hardware and system settings that affect SOLIDWORKS.

Most important is the graphics card information on the very top.

You should always go to the SOLIDWORKS video card tested website and filter through the options to get a tested SOLIDWORKS video card driver for your system.

An out-of-date driver can lead to instability and strange graphical behaviors.

If your graphics card is out of date, you may need to update your graphics by going to the video card testing website.

You can also see a diagnostic test warning about our Toolbox.

SOLIDWORKS Rx Troubleshoot Tab

This will need a login to your SOLIDWORKS Customer Portal for full access. You can see by the list there are 12 areas you can explore to fix information in the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base (KB).

System Maintenance 

This allows several optional automated tasks with a single click.

• Clean SOLIDWORKS backup directory
• Clean SOLIDWORKS temporary directory
• Clean Windows temporary directory
• Clean temporary internet files
• Cleaning temporary files in SOLIDWORKS data folders
• Run Checkdisk
• Run Windows Defragmenter

SOLIDWORKS Rx Problem Capture Tab

SOLIDWORKS may or may not be running in the background when you run the tool. If an issue starts to occur during your SOLIDWORKS session, for example, you can start Rx and begin recording a video of what you are seeing. This information is invaluable when troubleshooting issues. This information can capture the process flow to create an issue you are seeing in your SOLIDWORKS as well as gathering important operating system information. There are three steps to a Problem Capture.

STEP 1: Record

After clicking on start capture you will see this screen.

In most cases you will select ‘Use Current Session’.  If you are going to start a new session of SOLIDWORKS and demonstrate the issue in its entirety, then choose ‘Restart SOLIDWORKS Now’.

Click on the ‘Start Recording’ button.

Note: if you have dual monitors and the SOLIDWORKS menus do not appear inside the SOLIDWORKS graphics window, then these windows will not be recorded.

Click the record, move the record menu window aside so we can capture and access all of SOLIDWORKS as we record this issue. When done recording, click on ‘Finish Recording’.

Next, you will be prompted to close SOLIDWORKS to complete the next steps of the problem capture.

STEP 2: Package Files

Be sure to add your SOLIDWORKS files using ‘Add More Files to Zip’ if necessary and make sure you select a location, to save this information so you do not have to search for after the Problem Capture creation is complete.

Next, select ‘Continue to Step 3’.

STEP 3: Description You will need to completely fill out the Problem Capture Details form.

Once you click ‘OK’ your RX package will be saved. The resulting zip folder will need to be sent to Alignex. If the zip folder is larger than 10MB, please upload it to our FTP server.

SOLIDWORKS Rx Reliability Tab

The Reliability tab provides you with information on sessions that have been terminated in the past 60 days. To use this tab you can review the daily summary to see different color icons.

• Blue is a normal termination
• Orange is terminated by user

Red indicates terminated unexpectedly

For sessions terminated by the user or terminated unexpectedly, the Session Ending section lists Windows events. This includes events like driver crashes or network failures.

For sessions that terminate unexpectedly, the Reliability tab displays a call stack.

Click on the number in the session with the same stack to display the list. This data can help communicate important information about what might be causing SOLIDWORKS to terminate.

Windows and installation events shows us windows drivers and patches.

(When you create the Problem Capture, all this information is collected into a zipped file folder.)

SOLIDWORKS Rx Benchmark Tab

The SOLIDWORKS Performance Benchmark Test is used to run tests and compare results with other SOLIDWORKS users.

www.solidworks.com/benchmarks

Before running a Benchmark, note the following:

• Reboot your computer before starting
• This test can take 30 minutes or more depending on your computer configuration
• Do not use your computer for other applications during this test

Written By: Matthew Kusz , Application Engineer at Alignex, Inc. Matthew is a regular contributor to the Alignex Blog. Find more tech tips on the Alignex Blog and subscribe to get content like this delivered straight to your inbox.