Here’s an issue that keeps popping up and I just came across it on my own machine this morning, I thought I would share in case others come across this issue as well and need a solution.
The issue presents itself in removing the ability to upgrade the service pack of SOLIDWORKS provides this very unhelpful error message. “Previous Toolbox detected. Select Installation Method.”
The issue being faced is the toolbox is either damaged, or the user lacks permissions to access the directory it’s currently stored on.
There is however a couple of very simple solutions, repair the installation of SOLIDWORKS or point SOLIDWORKS to a toolbox with the correct permissions. If the toolbox is on a network, see the change toolbox section if it’s local repair SOLIDWORKS.
At this point the installation manager will open with several options for what can be changed about SOLIDWORKS. Choose “repair the individual installation”
Proceed through the windows and repair the installation of Solidworks. Once the repair is complete this should correct the issue. Try launching the upgrade again. If after this process SOLIDWORKS still cannot be upgraded. Please let our support team know so they can help get this taken care of.
Change Toolbox
If the toolbox is stored remotely write permission could be the cause of the problem. Most installations of SOLIDWORKS install a local toolbox during initial installation. It’s possible to upgrade the installation while referencing this local toolbox.
NOTE: If you do not have a local toolbox please contact GoEngineer support.
Click ok and close SOLIDWORKS, try running the upgrade again. The upgrade should be able to complete without issue referencing the local toolbox. After upgrading though SOLIDWORKS will still reference the incorrect toolbox and needs to be directed to the network toolbox.
To fix this launch the Copy settings wizard tool used earlier. Choose “restore settings”, navigate to the location the backup was stored, then choose ‘Next’, in the following window leave the default setting of ‘Current user’. Choose next, this will restore the location of the network toolbox to SOLIDWORKS. Test the toolbox after upgrade verify it’s working correctly.
If these steps don’t correct the problem, please contact our support team they would be more than happy to help get these issues corrected.