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[warspite]

730 days ago I posted on a thread that Martin started.


I eluded to an issue with using an XP computer with an old copy of cad on it, well last year the PC was restarted and I started to learn the cad again, there were issues with getting the autocad 2009 to work but luckily autocad 2012 was available (it goes back to when I worked for an airconveying company and updating the software was starting to cost me).


The pc had a dual boot system where the old autocad software was on the xp and the new software was on the win 7, my youngest did the unthinkable and completely wiped the win 7 and the installed autocad 14 that was on there.


But I have been using the xp and its autocad 2012 - then yesterday the pc froze once again, it does on the odd occasion, this time autocad 2012 says that the licence has expired and will stop working in 7 days, the autocad 2009 worked for one attempt then has a fatal exception every try to start.


And the Question begs again what autocad is available out there for free and similar to R14 autocad, I restarted a project that is on it's second draft and the third and probable final draft will take longer than the 6 remaing days.


Any comments?

[mbm999]

Hi,
I don't use autocad of any version but there is a Fusion 360 available (made by autoCAD) for personal use though it does have some limitations (I did try it once but found it overwhelming and too complex for me). I don't know if it can read autoCAD files. It's quite hard to find but here is a link:-

https://www.autodesk.com/uk/products/fusion-360/overview?us_oa=dotcom-us&us_si=36d2ec56-a58b-483e-b140-f18a40f539eb&us_st=Fusion%20free%20personal%20use&term=1-YEAR&tab=subscription&plc=FSN

With AutoCAD there are some versions which use "flex" options for occasional use but I have not looked deeper than that.

You could download the latest version and use the free trial (15 days I think) and hope to complete the project by then or maybe export it to a format that could be read by different CAD software eg. freeCAD

Sadly, none of these suggestions sound ideal.


Cheers,
Mark

[Circlip]

Check your P/M Warspite.


 Regards Ian.

[warspite]

   circlip


and a reply is on its way.


Just for info, started the PC and tried 2009 again, it worked, noted that an error was fixed on start up, it might have been the cause of the problem.


This old PC runs XP, so as the program was running, each drawing in the 2nd draft of the project was printed off, 52 part drawings, 12 assembly layouts, 2 special construction pieces (a Humvee and the ambulance version). There is still the assembly drawings for similar parts to do, that's another 5 drawings.


As for other drawings, providing it continues to work (I haven't activated the 2012 Acad yet, as it probably will cease to work), I started the 5 ton truck developement drawing (this will go with the Humvee's), there are similar assemblies to do as yet unstarted, but the 3rd and final draft of the project will be started once a decision is made to what changes are needed to the hull (I still haven't done the parts drawings for the superstructure yet, they are still in the developement section and need to be completed up to first & 2nd draft).


To access the disconnected disks, it means opening up the PC and the fear is that all could go horribly wrong and I lose all Acad access, I have also been told in the past that the Acad is available to students, this also bore out many years ago when my youngest was given a groupon gift of software game development course, which also allowed him to download Autodesk products which included Acad.

[grendel]

the restrictions on obtaining a student copy are much greater nowadays, I used to be able to get a copy as a drawing office manager who taught my colleagues how to use it, but now you need a college or university email to qualify- open university account may be a possibility? I now use fusion, the free version allows you up to 10 concurrent working files - thats not an issue as you can save them as non active versions and re-activate later.

[warspite]

Well a possible reason for the issues came to light this afternoon while doing a drawing, I should have downloaded the drawings to another hard drive, it looks like the hard drive has given up (when I first tried getting the XP to work it seemed to have the same problem), so I might have to give it a couple of days before trying again and if it does start up I will save the files to the external I have.


I found the 2009 Acad disk and it says can only be on 32 bit systems, this one is running win 7 64 bit, so that's out of the question, I do have the disc for the XP professional, but for the life of me I cannot remember how to install it on another Hard drive, let alone clear the small seagate I have that has a defective copy of win 7 on it (well the startup repair function wont fix the install so the disc is effectively un-usable, if that could be cleared), so a search for how to wipe a hard drive is on the cards, and a refresher on how to fix problems with PC's, not looking forward to the next couple of months.


I do have trueview 18 on this pc, but its no use without the drawings, lol

[warspite]

Good News for me,


After starting up another hard drive in the old pc, which is a win 7 that constantly fails, it does allow me to open the command window as an option (I need to learn how to clean a hard drive and reinstall XP from the disc via the command promptto that disc).


So after looking on line (youtube etc) it allowed me to look through the disc to see what commands I needed to use, I used wmic to see what drives were available and check each one for what was there, I then reconnected the failed XP disc and checked wmic and noted another drive had connected (I had to switch off the PC each time to reconnect things, always returning to the command prompt).


I looked at the directory of the new drive and found the drawings - yipee - now to find a way of copying them and to what, I have a small flash drive which is used for storing all the accounts and other things separate to the main external drive that stores everything we do on THIS pc, so this pc has an additional internal drive that the wife used, a new folder was created and the data on the small flash drive (its capacity is huge considering how small it is - it's virtually the usb plug and 4mm - thats it - something like 28GB) was copied over.


I then connected this to the old PC and looked for it in the directory, once found, I looked on how to copy files/folders and successfully copied the folders for the project, There were two folders one for the original 2012 files and the newer folder for the dumbed down to Autocad 2009 files, up to now I have only recovered the 2009 folder files, I will be later on today looking to recover the other files.


As trueview 2018 is on this PC I can at least check the dimensions of the drawings I printed out (they are in really small print so difficult to read), I could also print copies - in fact I printed a copy of the drawing on some card - cereal box, it probably will not do the printer much good printing out 60 prints on cereal box card (removing the dimensions on the print so that they are clearer - each part fits on an A4 sheet, putting several parts together makes up a bigger part).


The bad news is that in a discussion with SWMBO, the conversation turned to how big this boat is and how small my car is in comparison, the vessel would have to be constructed in two pieces as its 1611 mm long, not a problem if I get another job, but she pointed out the other unfinished vessels and refits to be done - uuurr um, I quickly stated that this vessel may never get built and the only reason for the drawings was to relearn how to use CAD, which in the grand scheme of things isn't going to plan either, oh well, on I go.

[warspite]

some news


Using an old Toshiba laptop hard drive (salvaged before taking the device to the dump - recycled of course), I used a small 120 GB disk with win 7 that's been allowing me to access the command prompt (after it faults to windows repair options), to use diskpart to format the Toshiba hard drive (a 149 GB disc).


This disc and the XP installation disk being the only items connected allowed me start installing XP, but as it was nearly 2am in the morning and I was not getting it to move past the basic install screen i.e. the first restart, I started again this morning, and this time watched the youtube video more closely, this time I have managed to install win XP onto the drive, registered it, found and installed service pack 3, and have just installed Autocad 2009. so will take a breather and photo the corvette I have and post pictures of that shortly - if the rats in the attic haven't had a go at it.