Running Inventor 9 on Windows 7

[reno]

Thought I'd ask on here as I know a few of you are CAD users.

I'm considering getting a laptop; thing is they're all coming with Windows 7 home premium installed on them now and I'll be wanting to run Inventor 9 on it.

Has anyone here managed to successfully install and run Inventor 9 on Windows 7? The Microsoft website says that they "are working with the software publisher to confirm this product’s compatibility." Which doesn't fill me with confidence.

Any thoughts, opinions greatly received.

Cheers, reno

 

[dopplershift]

I havn't tried it, but I think Windows 7 has a "run in XP compatability mode" that you can set for certain programs. This might be only for the "premium" versions, but 7 apparently has an "entire" version of XP built in.

Then again, it is a Microsoft product, so it may not work.... or not be useable.

 

[Dave Sherwood]

If you mean inventor 2009,beware. My son uses this on Xp and great but will not work on Window 7, keeps getting error message about needing drivers but the graphic card is top of the range.Tried running in XP mode but that seems to be for the likes of windows office programs.

 

[Archie]

It's not exactly what you asked but Inventor 2010 runs fine on Windows 7. Being as Windows 7 and Vista are to all intents and purposes the same thing (under the hood at least) I would say if it works on Vista is should work on 7. However if it doesn't work on Vista then they are unlikely to have gone to any length to make it compatible with 7 as Inventor 9 has already been superseded. Does that make any sense at all?! Safest route, 'obtain' a copy of Inventor 2010.

 

[reno]

Then again, it is a Microsoft product, so it may not work.... or not be useable.

That's exactly what I'm worried about. I don't fancy parting with the cash if I can't run Inventor its one of the main reasons for getting the laptop.

Cheers, reno

 

[reno]

Thanks for the replies chaps!

Its Inventor version 9 which is circa 2005 and is a relic of student days. I don't think there is much chance of me obtaining a newer version of the software.

The autodesk website states that Inventor 9 will operate on Vista which is a good sign if windows 7 is heavily based upon vista. I was hoping that windows 7 would be backward compatible but wasn't sure if 2005 would be seen as too far back.

Out of interest what is windows 7 like to use? Any major quirks or faults?

Cheers, reno

 

[MrFluffy]

You know it works with windows xp. Lots of things work (better) with windows xp than vista, or potentially 7.
So, do what half the industry does, blatt the install of windows7 on it, and put xp on it. MS have tried to end of life XP twice already, and the large corporate customers have forced them to rethink that decision.

Or you can stay on windows7 and be a unpaid beta tester for microsoft, just like all those nice vista guineapigs.

Im just about to blatt the window7 on a laptop ive bought my wife for xmas, itll be getting linux for day to day, and for those pain in the bottom programs that will not run any other way and need real hardware access (which means her sewing machine with proprietory computer interface ) , will dual boot to xp.

 

[Archie]

Out of interest what is windows 7 like to use? Any major quirks or faults?

Cheers, reno

A damn sight better than Vista but that's not saying much. I suppose the best thing I can say about it is it's more like OS X!

 

[reno]

I've only ever used vista a couple of times usually when the boss wants me to play with the network settings on his laptop and every time his laptop has been mighty close to flying out the window...

I was hoping to avoid having to trash the pre installed operating system and start again as I'm guessing that will affect the warranty.

 

[Wozzaaah]

I don't think there is much chance of me obtaining a newer version of the software.

You just need to know where to look for it (for 'evaluation' purposes only, of course).

 

[snowcat]

I run full version autocad 2007 (same template really), I know this has issues with both Vista and 7, I run this on Windows 2000 and its nice and stable.

XP as others have said is a much better O/S also for CAD your not pulling 1GB of ram away from the app before you start....

also on the "evaluation front", autodesk are getting very good at finding versions of software that are not 100%.....

I'm in the same quandary as you, Iv found the laptop I like, but its loaded with 7, so is effectively useless for what I want......

 

[reno]

I had a long chat last night with an IT pro who explained a bit about 7 to me. The back end of 7 is based on vista but its system requirements are much lower than that of vista. I would assume that this should mean that it won't sap as much ram as vista did either?

I'm still not totally sure that I'll be able to install and run the program trouble free so I'm going to try and see if I can get up to see my mate at the weekend and try installing inventor on 7. I'll report back with how it went.

As for obtaining a newer version as snowcat says autodesk have got pretty hot on finding dodgy copies so I don't think that's something I would want to chance.

Thanks for the help guys!

Cheers, reno

 

[English Steve]

Like Snowy, I'm also running full AutoCAD 2007, but on XP. No problems at all. Also have Solidworks 2006 on the same machine - slow but it works.

 

[HasBean]

We use XP Pro at work, it also seems to be the weapon of choice for most of our clients.
My laptop's got Vista I don't quite understand what Microsoft were trying to do with the file structure and the OS fights back at every opportunity

My wife's old laptop was running XP untill the motherboard died and she now has one with lovely Windows 7 So far I'm not impressed, almost inclined to say I prefer Vista but it's early days yet.

Then again it's said an OS is flakey until service pack 2 arrives

Paul

 

[reno]

I'm running XP Pro on my desktop and have never had a problem with it running Inventor or AutoCAD.

I'm not intending to replace my pc with the laptop for my cad work; I just want to have the option of using the laptop when I can't get to the pc.

I'm trying to avoid having to remove the pre-installed OS to replace it with XP.

I'm going to try loading inventor onto 7 this weekend so will let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the help chaps!

Cheers, reno

 

[MrFluffy]

I had a long chat last night with an IT pro who explained a bit about 7 to me. The back end of 7 is based on vista but its system requirements are much lower than that of vista. I would assume that this should mean that it won't sap as much ram as vista did either?

Who does he work for? microsoft?

Another note, removing the original o/s from the laptop should not invalidate the hardware warentee. You won't get any software support or backup of course but thats understandable.
If your dealing with a company who insist despite all the precedent set so far, you should do what we do, remove the hard disk citing commercial privacy reasons. In fact I do this regardless nowadays for all sorts of reasons.
We unbox new machines and job #1 is remove the os and put something more suitable on.

 

[reno]

So, I went and had a try at installing inventor onto laptop running windows 7 yesterday and was pleasantly suprised when it installed without hassle. You have to run the install as the administrator, which is a new feature on 7 (right click and 'run as administrator') but otherwise it was straight forward.

Just to check I did a couple of part models, a quick assembly and a dimensioned line drawing. I then converted the part into an IGES file which is something that I have to do quite often.

I'm reasonably happy with that result so think I'll take the plunge.

Thanks for all the input chaps!

reno