AccuRender 4.0 and Windows Vista

The Service Release 2 (SR2) patch for AccuRender 4.0 is required for use on Windows Vista. Newer CDs with the text "SR2" printed on them around the outside edge are already compatible with Vista.

SR2 is available from http://www.accurender.com/download.htm as a download for AccuRender users who already have AccuRender 4.0 installed.

Preliminary testing shows that AccuRender 4 does run on 2008 installed on Windows Vista. More testing will be required to determine how stable it will run and this page will be updated to give you our findings as they become available.

Vista related issues with AccuRender 4.0

AccuRender SR1 CDs and Windows Vista

Due to a bug in Windows Vista, the AccuRender 4 SR1 installation CD stalls during installation. The symptoms of this problem are that the installation proceeds only as far as the language selection dialog and no further.

While this bug exists in Windows Vista, we have released this small patch which should be run before inserting your AR4 CD and running the installation.

AccuRender 4 CD patch for Windows Vista.

Unzip the file and place the patch installer on your desktop. Then restart your computer. When the computer has restarted, run the patch installer. The patch will ask you to insert your CD when it has completed. Insert the CD and run the installer immediatly when the patch install has completed.

Please note that this patch is not required if you do not encounter this issue. SR0 and SR2 CDs do not have this issue.

AccuRender Upgrade CDs and Windows Vista

New security features in Windows Vista cause some errors while running the installation if you are required to insert your AR3 CD for upgrade validation. The error appears on a dialog box with the caption "AccuRender 4.0: Windows - Wrong Volume".

If you receive this error message, simply replace the AR4 CD in the CD drive and press "Try Again" twice. This will cause the installation to continue as normal.

We are currently working on a fix for this problem. However, all old CDs will exhibit this problem on Windows Vista unless the behaviour is modified by Microsoft in a future service release.

Other solution to the problem is to copy the entire "AccuRender" folder on the CD to your harddrive, and install the program from there.

AutoCAD 2008

AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD 2008-based products (like ADT2008) are the only Autodesk products that are currently certified for Vista.

AccuRender 4 does work on AutoCAD 2008 if you use the same procedure required to install it for 2008 running on Windows XP. This involves a registry patch before installing the product CD and then patching with the current service release 2. For details, pick here

We have additional recommendations that changes setting in the Windows AutoCAD 2008 icon.

1) Right-click on the AutoCAD 2007 or 2008 icon on your desktop and select "Properties"

2) Click on the "Compatibility" tab.

3) CHECK the option "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and then select "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)" from the Windows list control.

4) Further down on the dialog CHECK these 2 options:

        [X] Disable visual themes
        [X] Disable desktop composition

Note 1: Disabling visual themes will hide the red X closer button on floating toolbars. This will also cause all of Vista's Ultimate "effects" to be temporarily disabled (ex. see through windows, etc..) while AutoCAD is running.

Note 2: You will be required to load the model before the WalkAbout and Render tabs will appear. Pick "Load the Model" off the AccuRender pull-down or by picking the "Load Model" button off the WalkAbout Manger. This is a bug.

Note 3: The WalkAbout Windows will appear floating outside the layout tab on Vista. It can render to it but will breakup at the top part that sits over the AutoCAD toolbars. If you find it distracting, you can render to the AutoCAD View as workaround until this is fixed. To do this pick AccuRender menu > Render Tasks > Render Settings. For destination pick Render AutoCAD View off the Main tab.

AutoCAD 2007

Autodesk has released an update for the the AutoCAD 2007 products which makes 2007 compatible with Windows Vista. Download it from the AutoCAD web site http://www.Autodesk.com or pick here http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=9444984&linkID=9240618. After 2007 has been patched, use the procedure above to install AccuRender 4.

AutoCAD 2006 and Earlier

Because AccuRender is a add-on to AutoCAD, it relies on AutoCAD's display, memory management, and more. Testing to determine if AccuRender runs on Vista can only happen on an AutoCAD that is running well under Vista. Since AutoCAD is not going to patch AutoCAD 2006 or earlier to work on Vista, we will never be able to support AccuRender on those combinations. We will test AccuRender on AutoCAD 2007 and Vista when the patch becomes available.

In our experience, AutoCAD 2006 will not even install on Vista. We have heard of an AccuRender customer who updated from XP to Vista a machine that already had AutoCAD 2006 installed. However AutoCAD did not run satisfactorily, and the new Vista security features kept the AccuRender 4 libraries from working.

We will update this page as the situation progresses.

AccuRender Development Team