| Audience | Recommended Action | |----------|--------------------| | | Do not attempt to download old versions illegally. Use Free CAD (Fusion 360 personal, FreeCAD, Onshape) for learning. | | Student | Access latest SolidWorks Student Edition (free through many universities). Older versions not needed. | | Professional with active subscription | Use SolidWorks Customer Portal to download required old version legally. | | Company with expired subscription | Renew maintenance for one year to regain access to all past versions (subject to Dassault policy). | | IT Administrator | Store ISO files of each service pack internally during active subscription for future internal deployment. |

| Reason | Description | |--------|-------------| | | Older PCs/laptops cannot meet newer version system requirements (e.g., unsupported GPUs or Windows versions). | | Customer/vendor file compatibility | Suppliers or clients use an older version; newer versions may cause feature translation errors. | | Stability | Some organizations delay upgrades to avoid new bugs or changes in the user interface. | | Legacy projects | Long-term projects started in an older release need version parity. | | Training/education | Schools may standardize on a specific older version for curriculum consistency. |

Contact Dassault or your reseller to reinstate your subscription. For a reinstatement fee (typically 1-2 years of backdated support), they will restore your portal access, allowing you to perform a for any version released during your covered period.

Save the .ISO file (disk image) or the extracted folder to a dedicated "SolidWorks Legacy" hard drive.