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This page is dedicated to users installing the latest Advance Steel version. This section provides useful information related to the Advance Steel installation (requirements, installation steps, licensing, etc).  Advance Steel Installation Troubleshooting Guide - This page offers solutions to the most common issues that might be encountered while installing Advance Steel. Several troubleshooting tools can also be downloaded from this page. |
Supported Windows and AutoCAD® Platforms
Windows Vista (starting with Advance Steel 8.1)
Windows XP Pro
Windows 2000 Pro – SP 4
AutoCAD® 2010 (starting with Advance Steel 2010)
AutoCAD® 2009 (starting with Advance Steel 8.1 - SP 2)
AutoCAD® 2008 (starting with Advance Steel 8.1)
AutoCAD® 2007 (starting with Advance Steel 7.1)
AutoCAD® Architecture 2010
AutoCAD® Architecture 2009
AutoCAD® Architecture 2008
ADT 2007
Advance Steel should run on all AutoCAD® based applications (e.g., AutoCAD® Mechanical, AutoCAD® Map 3D, AutoCAD® Electrical, etc) if is started under the pure AutoCAD® integrated in such software.
Installing Advance Steel may take from 5 to 10 minutes depending on the installation type (typical, compact, customised) and on the system speed.
Advance Steel 2009: approx. 800 MB.
If you are familiar with Windows installations, you can run a customised installation and choose to not install certain files such as help or tutorial documents. Thus you will save disk space (not recommended).
When starting the new version of Advance Steel, if a new license file must be requested, a wizard will help you proceed with this operation. More about installing the license...
Hardware and software requirements
Hardware:
PC with Pentium Processor min. 2 GHz (4 GHz recommended)
Main memory min. 2 GB
AutoCAD® compatible graphics-card (for more information, see http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-graphicscard)
Min. 1 GB free disk space on the hard disk
Network adapter
DVD Drive
Software:
Windows XP Professional with the latest updates or Windows Vista (32-bit or 64-bit versions)
AutoCAD® 2007, ADT 2007, AutoCAD® 2008, AutoCAD® Architecture 2008, AutoCAD 2009, AutoCAD® Architecture 2009, AutoCAD 2010 or AutoCAD® Architecture 2010
Installed TCP/IP Protocol
Minimum screen resolution: 1024*768
Installing several Advance Steel versions on one computer
Installing a new Advance Steel version will not affect the previous installed versions of the software, only if the default folder suggested at installation is kept (or a different folder from the one used for the previous version is specified). This option is available since Advance Steel 8.1.
Uninstalling a previous Advance Steel version
Advance Steel uninstalling operations delete only the application files, and not the user created files that are stored in the installation folder (e.g., projects, symbols, libraries, databases, etc.). Therefore, before deleting the entire installation folder of an older Advance Steel version, it is strongly recommended to check its contents.
When installing a new Advance Steel version it is not necessary to uninstall the previous versions. However, if you want to uninstall older versions, use the command "Add / Delete Programs" from the Control Panel.
1. Check the available disk space on your computer
2. In your Windows session you must be logged in as administrator or you must have administrator rights
3. Disable any antivirus software running on your computer during the installation
You can specify an installation folder during the software setup, but it is recommended to keep the default folder suggested by the installation wizard.
Insert the installation DVD into the DVD drive. The setup program starts automatically and the following dialog box appears.
| Click SETUP. |
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| Select the preferred language. |
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| Proceed with the steps in the installation wizard to complete the setup. |
Server and client configuration
Specify if the computer is a server or client using a small program called License Server. This program is available on the Advance Steel installation DVD (path: Tools\License server):
1. Launch the program by running the Setup.exe file.
2. Select the preferred language.
3. On the following screen, read the message and click Next to continue.
4. Select the setup type:
a) Client: if you have more than one license and the current installation is for a Client (not Server):
- The name of the server is required during the next installation step.
- After clicking the Next button, the installation program searches for the specified computer. This search might take some time.
- If the server is not found, an error message will appear. In this case, check if the name of the server is correct or if the server is turned on. You can then continue the installation.b) Server: if you have more than one license and the current installation is for the server, install the Server License Management only. When installing the product as a Client on other workstations you will have to set the name of the server as being the name of the current computer.
c) Client and server at the same time: if installing multiple licenses on a network and if your workstation is a Server and Client at the same time, you have to install the License Management for both Server and Client. In the next step, you will have to provide the name of the machine on which the license manager is installed in the Server option.
Request a license
To request an Advance Steel license, proceed as follows:
| 1. Start Advance Steel and select, from the starting screen, the "Request your user license" option. Click Next. You can also click on Start \ Programs \ Graitec \ Advance Steel 2009 \ License request. This is a direct access to the license request tool that one can find after starting Advance Steel. |
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| 2. An information window appears. Click Next after reading the messages. |
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| 3. Enter all the required information for the license request and click Next. |
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| 4. Advance provides the option to send the information by e-mail or by fax. Select your preference and click Next. |
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| 5. A window with a new information message appears. Read the information and then click Finish. If the method for sending the license request was by e-mail, an e-mail message is automatically prepared. Send the request to authorization.advance@graitec.com. |
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6. If the method for sending the license request was by fax, a fax is automatically prepared with the formatted text. Print the fax and send it to (450) 628-0400. Within 24 hours an e-mail containing the required advance.aslic file (for network or standalone license) will be sent to you. This license file can be used only on the computer that sent the license request. Save the file on the hard drive and double click it to authorise the software. |
The LMTools application is installed with the license server software. This application verifies whether the license server is active. 1. On the Start menu, select the License Server icon in the GRAITEC group. 2. In the "LMTools" dialog box, enter the complete path to the license file using Browse on the "Service/License File" tab. This file is in the directory where the license server was installed. |
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| 3. Select the Server diagnostic tab and click Perform Diagnostics. |
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| 4. Close the application |
Working with old projects in the new version
Once the new version of the software has been installed, you can open the projects already created in previous Advance Steel versions. It is important to know that, once opened with the new Advance Steel version, these files can no longer be loaded in the older versions of the software. Thus, it is recommended to create a copy of these files for backup, or even duplicate the folder structure containing old projects.