Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System 1 Many of us have ?dual boot? OS PC, most likely Windows XP & Vista in dual boot. If you just installed Vista, its irritating that CATIA doesn't run, you might re-install CATIA in Vista, but chances are CATIA might fail to run under XP after that. This tutorial will explain how to make CATIA work in Windows Vista, provided CATIA is already installed under Windows XP.. 1. Boot into XP, run a “Registry Editor” like “TuneUp Registry Editor” (it’s user friendly, safer & has more options) or Window’s default Registry editor, to run the later, click Start->run-> type regedit ->ok. 2. Browse to “Dassault Systems” folder in left pane. [Refer picture 1] PICTURE 1

Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System 2 3. Right click “Dassault Systems” folder, click “Export” [refer picture 2], now give a file name (e.g. “catia registry”), & location to save the registry file PICTURE 2

Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System 3 4. Reboot into Vista, now double click that registry file, a pop up window will open, click ?yes?. [See picture 3] PICTURE 3 5. Open “Registry Editor”, again browse to “Dassault Systems”, click the “down” arrow, and browse to folder named “0” under “B18” folder, now on right pane of the registry editor you'll see some data. [refer picture 4]

Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System 4 PICTURE 4 Registry Editing Be careful when editing registry values. If you make a mistake in editing, it can make the OS unstable, or corrupt it & or other applications might fail to run.

Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System 5 6. The DEST_FOLDER & DEST_FOLDER_OSDS “string” will have the path name to CATIA directory. 7. All you need to do here is CHANGE the DRIVE LETTER. Change the drive letter according to your CATIA installation. 8. Now close the registry editor. 9. Now run “CATIAENV.exe” from “X:?\CATIA\intel_a\code\bin” folder. [replace “X: “ with drive letter of partition where CATIA is installed].

Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System CATIA’s “Environment Editor” opens up, click “New”, and follow the onscreen instructions. Note the path name. [Refer picture 5, 6 & 7]. PICTURE 5

Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System 7 PICTURE 6

Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System 8 PICTURE 7

Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System Almost done. Now run CATIA, if it fails to start & returns ?set environment? error, then close CATIA & goto next step. 12. Browse to “X…:\CATIA\intel_a” folder, make a back-up of “EnvName.txt” & “EnvDir.txt”. 13. Open these text files, edit the content according to Step 10. [Refer picture 8]. After editing, save the files (ctrl+s) & close. PICTURE 8

Running CATIA on Windows XP & Vista Dual Boot System All done, now CATIA should work flawlessly both in XP & Vista. Why do you need to change the DRIVE letter? It’s because Vista changes the drive letter automatically. When you’re working in Vista, open “Computer” & see where Vista is installed. Even if you installed it in drive D/E/F... It’ll show as Vista is in C: drive. When you boot in to XP, XP will show that it is installed in “C:” drive. This interchanging of Drive letter between XP & Vista changes the drive letter of other partition/hard drives respectively. Open that registry file with “notepad”, you’ll see the “install directory” path. As you “exported” the registry file of CATIA from XP, it shows drive letter “E:”, but when you boot in Vista, that partition’s drive letter changes to “F”. All this registry editing tells CATNEXT.exe that CATIA is installed in Vista. One big difference about using CATIA on Vista is the “command/tool” animations. It’s so much better than in XP & CATIA in a way runs smoother on Vista.