Using the SOLIDWORKS Rx Utility

Rx Utility

A utility that is installed with SOLIDWORKS is called SOLIDWORKS Rx and it is very useful for maintaining a healthy installation of SOLIDWORKS and for gathering information that can be used for troubleshooting. Access it via Windows Start –>All Programs–>SOLIDWORKS 20XX–>SOLIDWORKS Tools.

Once the interface is open, you may notice a small window indicating that it is gathering system information. This is an important part of the process if you are trying to capture an issue with your SOLIDWORKS installation, so don’t cancel that window. The interface has several tabs; here’s a brief explanation of each:

Home Tab:

Links on this tab take you to some of the others and can also start SOLIDWORKS in one of two safe modes; one will open it with the System Performance option, “Use Software OpenGL” activated. This is a quick way to troubleshoot video card driver issues. The other mode will bypass the System options settings altogether, to help determine if a user setting is causing a performance issue or odd behavior of the user interface.

Diagnostics Tab:

Here you’ll find useful information about the computer system and its video card with a comment about whether the system is running a supported card/driver combination. If a recommended driver is available, a link will be provided to download it; otherwise a link to the graphics card testing page on the SOLIDWORKS website is available. The color-coded status column on this tab provides quick confirmation about other areas like the O/S, disk space, backup directory settings, etc.

Troubleshoot Tab:

The links here simply take you to the Knowledge Base search field in the Customer Portal section of the SOLIDWORKS website. If not logged in to the Portal, you are taken to the login page. Once in the Portal, you can refine the search criteria. The Knowledge Base contains a wealth of information that can be helpful to resolve some issues and answer questions about SOLIDWORKS functions.

System Maintenance Tab:

This part of the utility allows you to setup a customized cleanup of the many folders used by SOLIDWORKS and the Windows operating system. Temporary folders with much data (in the gigabyte range) can affect the performance of SolidWorks. Also, you can optionally start the “checkdisk” and “Windows Defragmenter” processes from this tab. Once you’ve selected the desired options to use, pick the “Start Maintenance” button to initiate the commands.

Problem Capture Tab:

A very useful part of the Rx utility, Problem Capture allows you to document a particular workflow within SOLIDWORKS that may be creating a problem and record a video of it. Alternatively, you can just package those system information files that were saved when the utility was opened. Steps that were taken in the last SOLIDWORKS session get loaded into a “SOLIDWORKS Journal” file and the way the program responded is contained in the “Performance Log” file. This, and the other data collected is useful for the tech support engineer to help diagnose issues with the installation.

Add-In Tab:

The performance benchmark test can be run from here. Also, other administrative applications from your system can be added using the “Browse” button.

Blog Post By: Kurt Kurtin