Mise à jour manuelle de la boîte à outils SOLIDWORKS

When upgrading SOLIDWORKS to a new major version, the default upgrade will write over any customizations you’ve made in the Toolbox. To keep your customizations, manually updating SOLIDWORKS Toolbox is necessary.

Before beginning, BE SURE to save a copy of your existing Toolbox for backup purposes. The simplest way to do this is to compress the Toolbox into a zipped folder and save it in a safe location.

To upgrade the Toolbox, there are two methods. The first step of the upgrade is the same for both methods:

Step 1: Update SWBrowser.sldedb

1. Navigate to the installation folder of SOLIDWORKS, which by default is located in C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS.
2. Go into the Toolbox folder, then the Data Utilities folder.
3. Right-click on UpdateBrowserDatabase and select to “Run as administrator”.
4. This will bring up a dialog box called Mise à jour de la base de données de la boîte à outils. The Toolbox Database version has to match the version of SOLIDWORKS you are running.
5. Click the three dots at the end of the path line for “Database to Update”.
6. Navigate to your customized Toolbox and go into the lang\english folder.
7. Select the file called swbrowser and hit Open. It should be the only option since the file type is filtered to *.sldedb.
8. Check that the Database Version is different (typically lower number) from the Update Version.
9. Click Update.
10. If this runs successfully, please move on to Step 2. If it does not, please see the Troubleshooting section below.

The second step is to update the content in the Toolbox so that the files themselves match the new major version of SOLIDWORKS. There are two ways to do this:

Step 2.1: Repair SOLIDWORKS installation – Automatic upgrade

1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features.
2. Scroll down to SOLIDWORKS, right-click on the new major version, and select Change. If you only see Uninstall/Change as an option, then the SOLIDWORKS installation was through an administrative image. Please either speak with your SOLIDWORKS administrator and have them update the Toolbox for all users, or see Step 2.2.
3. In the Installation Manager dialog box, select the option to Repair your installation.
4. When selecting the products to repair, you will only need to update SOLIDWORKS. Deselect the other options and leave SOLIDWORKS checked, then click Repair.
5. Once this finishes, your Toolbox should be fully up to date! To test its functionality, launch SOLIDWORKS and go to Tools > Options > System Options > Hole Wizard/Toolbox and make sure the file path is pointing to your newly updated Toolbox.

If the repair was unsuccessful or you are unable to run the repair due to administrative privileges or an administrative image installation, then you can update the Toolbox content manually or see the Troubleshooting section below.

Step 2.2: Run SOLIDWORKS Toolbox updater – Manual upgrade

1. Navigate to the installation folder of SOLIDWORKS, which by default is located in C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS.
2. Scroll down to sldtoolboxupdater and double-click to run the application.
3. Check the box that says Show completed updates so that you can monitor the update process.
   • If you are missing a Toolbox standard or want to add it fresh, select SOLIDWORKS/Toolbox installation media location. This will prompt you to navigate to the source or download files for the new major version of SOLIDWORKS, which usually is located under Documents\SOLIDWORKS Downloads. Navigate to this location, then select the Toolbox\updates folder and click OK.
4. Click Process to begin the upgrade.
5. A green progress bar will appear next to Index Toolbox Content while it runs through the updates. If the update is successful, this progress bar will become a green check mark icon.
6. Your Toolbox should now be fully up to date! To test its functionality, launch SOLIDWORKS and go to Tools > Options > System Options > Hole Wizard/Toolbox and make sure the file path is pointing to your newly updated Toolbox.

Troubleshooting Updating SOLIDWORKS Toolbox

If you experience any issues while running Steps 1, 2.1, or 2.2, please test the solutions below:

1. If you launch SOLIDWORKS and go to the Tools > Options > System Options > Hole Wizard /Toolbox and get an error message that says “Toolbox is not the expected version”, or you experience errors while updating the Toolbox Database from Step 1:

1. • Make sure the UpdateBrowserDatabase is run as an administrator. Sometimes the application will seem like the update went through, but it will only be successful when run as an administrator.
   • If you have run as an administrator and it still didn’t update successfully, make sure you have Write access to the UpdateBrowserDatabase application. This can be checked by right-clicking on the file, going to Properties > Security, and seeing if your user account/group has Read and Write access. If it does not, please check with your IT team that adding these permissions will not be an issue.
2. If the SOLIDWORKS repair fails from Step 2.1:
   • Try updating the Toolbox manually using Step 2.2. For further errors, see below.
3. If while running the manual update from Step 2.2, a red X icon appears next to any of the update versions:

1. 1. • In the Toolbox\browser folder, delete or rename the ToolboxFiles.index file. Also, delete or rename the entire Toolbox\updates folder. Rerun the sldtoolboxupdater.
      • If this doesn’t resolve the issue, run the sldtoolboxupdater and select SOLIDWORKS/Toolbox installation media location. Navigate to the source or download files for the new major version of SOLIDWORKS, typically located under Documents\SOLIDWORKS Downloads. Select the Toolbox\updates folder and click OK.
        • Make sure the Toolbox *.tbox files in the SOLIDWORKS source/download files do not include any atypical characters, such as trademark symbols or other non-ASCII characters.
      • If this still is unsuccessful, please obtain a new copy of the source/download files for SOLIDWORKS, then follow the above test using the new media location in case the old source files were improper, and run the update again.

Should any of the troubleshooting steps be unsuccessful or you have other questions about updating your Toolbox, please share a copy of the following files with our support team for further investigation:

1. 1. • C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS\Toolbox\data utilities\UpdateBrowserDataErrors.txt
      • Toolbox\updates\UpdateLog.txt
      • Your original, backed-up Toolbox folder

Happy updating!

Click here to learn the Best Practice for Managing User Settings in a Shared Environment

SOLIDWORKS Sources: S-056686, S-056687, S-057028, S-069332