[ThomasAlva]

I can't believe that Autodesk wants to charge people $4,000 for their software. My son is a student at a high school, and we downloaded a copy of Autocad that was free for students and then had a miserable experience trying to get it to work.

It popped up with some error (unhandled exception E0434352 ) multiple times. And then we went to their site and tried to track down what to do with this. On the website, there were 45,000 views of that one thread about this error. That means that it is a major problem with this software and the problems happen to tens of thousands of users.

I can't imagine them releasing such garbage and charging so much. We followed the instructions to re-install a service pack for .net framework, but that STILL didn't work. Then we were supposed to erase the .net framework from the computer and then re-install it. We did that. Then, after we did that, it came up with some message like, "Be sure your control panel on-off settings are correct for the .net framework" or something like that. BUT... it doesn't say what the settings should be! So, we tried a few different possibilities, and none of them worked. Lastly, the error message was "Either Autocad didn't install correctly or you're not authorized to use it."

We were further behind at the end than at the beginning. After installing the .net framework again, it then came up with an entirely NEW error message.

Am I the only one having problems like this with Autocad installations? Oh, no I'm not, 45,000 views of that forum page to correct this problem says a lot.

I can't believe they sell this bundle of annoyances for $4,000. It's crazy. Anyone else have similar experiences? This whole experience took HOURS. And it still doesn't work!

[dkowalcz]

Sorry to hear about your frustration. On the plus side, it's good that your son is taking an interest in CAD, and that you're involved with him too.

I've had great success with AutoCAD products for over two decades (they were on version 4 when I started - back then we had digitizer pucks instead of mice!) If there's a problem with a release they will fix it.

In the meantime if you just want free 2D CAD, Draftsight is a good and free AutoCAD clone - I checked it out a few months back on the suggestion of a friend and was amazed at the capability.

DraftSight - Free* CAD software for your DWG files - Dassault Systèmes

Hope this helps.

[ger21]

Like Dave, I've been using AutoCAD for about 20 years. I've found it to be one of the most stable and bug free software packages I've ever used.

I'm assuming that the OS is compatible with the AutoCAD version your trying to use, as AutoCAD won't normally let you install it otherwise. At this point, you may be worse off than you started, and a fresh install of windows might be your best option (But least desirable.)
I did a little searching, and something to try may be to disable UAC and make sure your running as administrator with full privileges.

Also, the error message you posted can appear to apply to multiple errors, and you'd need to post the full error message to try to track it down better?

[ThomasAlva]

Thanks for the response Dave. He's taken a great interest in machine shop and probably will make it a career he likes it so much. I have great success with Autocad as well when I used it at work. It's the industry standard, and so I don't want to just get frustrated and stop without getting it installed. I guess I could call the company on Monday.

I usually use Sketchup, but it has it's limitations though still excellent. (You can't get dimensions to stay put on the drawing for example). Wasn't there a Sketchup forum here on CNCzone a while back? Anyway. Installing Autocad takes hours of downloading, reloading, setting changes, downloads from Microsoft etc. At this stage in the computer/software and with this many users, it should be easy and trouble-free. He's not using any kind of special operating system, or anything unusual at all. If I had paid $4000, I'd be pissed right about now.

[ThomasAlva]

It let me get far into the installation, even to the point of Autocad starting up, up right until it's time to use it. So I think Admin properties were right. I wouldn't load up Windows again, as it's not a Windows problem. Not only because I don't want him to lose all his saved stuff, it's a ridiculous hassle. Autocad should frigging work. Yeah, I just need another day of fiddling around with this crappy software. Besides, reloading Windows is like the tail wagging the dog.

I probably will give it another shot. It's just that this is a real waste of time for something that should work right. I think I might take notes on exactly what I do, because typically people like you want to give a hand, and I can't cite the exact error message verbatim. I did write down that error number though.

Thanks for the help so far.

[ger21]

Every version I've ever installed has been a standard 5 minute software installation. I've installed a 32bit version of 2013 on an XP machine, and a 64 bit version on a Windows 7 Pro machine, both with no trouble at all.

[Spk64]

Same here. Been using and installing since late 80s
Definitely one of the better software packages I have dealt with.

[ger21]

I really thing this is more of a Windows issue than an AutoCAD issue. There are plenty of things that can mess with your Windows install, but AutoCAD is what it is, and in most cases, installs and runs painlessly, just like any other program.

Do you have another PC you can install it on to see if it installs correctly?

[salzburg]

You need to look at your PC. It's probably not suitable for Autodesk.

You need a PC with a topnotch graphics/video card and lots of memory.