best practice update to creo 2.0 from Creo/Elements 5.0

[jhall2]

We are getting ready to upgrade our Creo/Elements 5.0 to Creo 2.0. We have just upgraded our Windchill from 9.1 to 10.2 and are ready to do Creo as well.

I am wondering if it would be the best practice to unisntall the current installation of Creo/Elements 5.0 BEFORE we install Creo 2.0? We have 64 bit Windows 7 machines.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance, James

[TomD.inPDX]

In all my updates to date I have uninstalled the previous version using the Windows 7 program uninstall procedure. I left the license manager in tact. Some files will also remain in your common Windows user folder. I also leave those in place.

I don't use Windchill but it is obviously a good idea to check all files into the PDM before the uninstall. Remember that a lot of customization goes into the Creo <loadpoint> sub-folders. Be sure you have all your custom configurations copied from the <loadpoint>. Of particular interest to my installation are fonts and formats since Creo points to their default folders.

[jhall2]

Thanks!

What does < loadpoint > mean?

[TomD.inPDX]

<loadpoint> is whatever folder you specifiy as being the install location. For instance, I always load mine in C:\Creo2_M0(n)0\

[Inoram]

Interesting, if you uninstall Creo/Elements, then you can't run both (if needed). If you are fully commiting to Creo2, I guess that doesn't matter.

I have never used Windchill, so I don't the effects of running 2 versions with it.

[TomD.inPDX]

Going from Creo 1.0 to Creo 2.0 was a "no going back" proposition to me. But with the release of Creo 3.0, I have an interest in running multiple versions. Since I have a couple of active contracts using Creo 2.0, it is a scary proposition to experiment using both.

I think the real message is that I don't trust the installer that tries to "update" the current datecode to the latest. It failed miserably in early Creo 2,0 and Creo 1.0 so I don't even give it a chance to mess things up again.

[Inoram]

I will run 3 and 2 for awhile, if 3 seems stable, I will move forward with new projects with it, after I have done some trials with it.

On my old computer I ran WF3 and Creo2, that was when I started on Creo2, this computer only has Creo2, I think build m060 or m070? was the first on it. I install to default directory and have let it update itself and it has seemed to work fine so far.

However I do copy (and store) the whole PTC directory before an update. And then like recently when I backed down a from M110 to M100, I just reboot in safe mode, delete the directory and copy back the old one.

And M100 never crashes, so I can't say I have seen any negative effects?

[jhall2]

I am pretty much of the opinion that in ANY 3d Software when you upgrade, you have to seriously consider that it is most likely a one way trip. I don't know of any that can save back a version.

That being said, we tested Creo 2.0 on a seperate system, and when we install it will be the only version used for our enterprise.

I know that there are times when it is necessary to run two versions on one machine, it just makes me very uncomfortable and I do my darndest not to do that.

I think our IT people are going to unisntall Creo/Elements Pro 5.0 (what a name) and then do an install of Creo 2.0. In the end, I think we will have fewer problems that way.

This is a very interesting discussion, though!

James

[Patriot_1776]

I totally agree with testing it on a separate system. We wiped out 2 Workspaces here (to 5.0, anyways) because we didn't know. I'm not willing to run it on my system again. We're going to try and test it on a different system the IT guys just put together.

I'm really peeved that PTC saw fit to infect modes other than dwg with the dreaded ribbon, completely hosing ALL of our mapkeys. Hopefully it's implemented better than the 5.0 rubbish........

[msexton]

I realize it's been a while sense this was posted, but I just run across it while looking for something else and thought it might bear answering.

There is no problem actually running multiple versions of Pro/E and/or Creo on the same computer. Most people have problems because of WIndChill. This is caused because the cache folder from 1 version doesn't play well with the cache folder from the other version. There are a couple of things that must be addressed before starting either version

I'll use Creo 2 and Creo 3 as an example. But this works for Pro/E and Creo version as well.

1st make sure that both installs have their own folder structure. They can even have the same top level Folder in the structure. i.e. PTC.

C:\PTC\Creo2

C:\PTC\Creo3

DO THIS BEFORE STARTING THE ADDITIONAL LOADS OF PRO/E OR CREO...

2nd we will need to modify the parametric.psf file needs to be modified. The original version of Pro/e-Creo doesn't really need to be addressed in this modification as the cache folder location it uses is the default. We are only going to modify the additional loads added to the computer. The parametric.psf can be found in the load point folder.

Open parametric.psf in notepad.

Add a line at the very bottom of the file for the folder location of the cache folder of the additional install.

ENV=PTC_WF_ROOT=%APPDATA%\PTC\ProENGINEER\Creo3\.wf

%APPDATA% is the C:\Users\(username) folder. This will allow multiple users to use the same computer and not interfere with the others work.

This just shows the bottom few lines of the parametric.psf file with the cache location added.

RUN="%PRO_DIRECTORY%\%PRO_MACHINE_TYPE%\obj\xtop.exe"

ENV=DBG_NCPOST_PATH=%CREOAPP_DIRECTORY%\bin

ENV=PRO_ALLOW_EARLY_RETURN=TRUE

// USER - PSF

// Add User specific environment or run applications below here

ENV=PTC_WF_ROOT=%APPDATA%\PTC\ProENGINEER\Creo3\.wf

Any questions let me know.