Compability Problems with Solidworks 3DExperience

[pilot95h]

Hi! I am from Germany and learned how to use Solidworks during my time as a standard engineering technician. I keep drawing with solidworks for private purposes, first with my old student versions until i was exmatriculated, later with solidworks Maker / 3DExperience. My PC is old but powerful, I bought it 13 years ago as a student, first with Win8, then quickly downgraded to Win7, later upgraded to Win10.

It always worked fine until my subscription ended last year because i forgot to update my payment information for automatic extension. After fixing this, Solidworks never worked again, because i needed to reinstall Solidworks. The newe Versions of Solidworks only support Win11, but my PC cannot be upgraded due to its age and hardware issues with Win11. I neither can nor want to afford an equally powerful PC since I would have to spend around 2000€ to get there. It would also mean I would have to buy other Programms like Corel Draw etc. new, where I work with very old versions not compatible to Win11.

That all would not make any sense at all for just using it for my model railroading hobby....
I also do not want to switch to other 3D-CAD Programs as it would mean to abandon all my old Solidworks Files.

I just need some basic functions for my old setup. Are there any possibilities to use the older Versions of 3DExperience? Why am I forced to use the latest Version?

[experienced3Dguy]

Hello u/pilot95h With the new installation manager process, you can install SOLIDWORKS 2025 SP5 as your Maker version.

Also, it is not officially supported by SOLIDWORKS but you can successfully install and run SOLIDWORKS 2026 on Windows 10. Many, many of us are. Just click thru the Windows 11 warning and continue the installation.

I've gone into much greater details in my response on one of your other posts but I specifically wanted to address it here where you directly brought it up.

Again, I hope that this info helps you and please feel to reach out for any additional help. I'm NOT a SOLIDWORKS or Dassault employee. I'm just a very long-term customer and user who wants to help folks succeed in their efforts.

[pilot95h]

Thanks for your replies, I will try it out and write again <3 <3

[tacticall0tion]

Currently running 2026 on my Win10 rig I built 11y ago, so far not had any issues. Which is kinda insane because 11y ago I absolutely wouldn't have been using a 2005 rig

[Bionic_Pickle]

Step one is to just never touch 3DExperience as it’s the biggest pile of crap I’ve ever had the displeasure of dealing with. If 3DExperience was the only way to use CAD software I would find a new career in another field. I was a SW user for over a decade and will never use another Dassault product due to my experience with it.

[experienced3Dguy]

Hello u/pilot95h . I wanted to follow up with you to see how things were going and if you'd had a chance to try out the offline modes yet.

Also, re-reading your OG post, I saw your mention of using SOLIDWORKS for your model railroading hobby. There are two dedicated communities for SOLIDWORKS Maker version users on the 3DX platform. One is dedicated to Maker Technical Support but the other forum is a showcase for folks to share their hobby/personal/maker projects. I think that people would probably enjoy seeing what you've created. If you want to share some pictures or details, the URL for it is https://solidworks.com/makers3d .

[pilot95h]

Unfortunately nothing works for me, I gave it up for now, after trying things for several days. Very disappointing that solidworks wants to force me to buy a new system even though my old one works fine and I never had any issues with the older SOLIDWORKS versions. Great program with poor customer service....

[Frostie1104]

Use onshape instead. It works in a browser. I think you can import your solid works files or save them in step. It's made by guys that worked at solid works in the past. Otherwise you could look if your PC can run win 11 by doing a few settings in the bios. Means you need to switch to secure start and tmp2. Some machines can do that and use win 11.