Friday, June 29, 2012

Educational Plot Stamp Finder for AutoCAD DWG drawing files

This is the first public release of EduFinder from JTB World.

  • EduFinder is an add-on to AutoCAD based products.
  • Find and identify AutoCAD drawings (DWG) that contain the educational stamp.
  • Available as AutoCAD App (Plug-in).

Do you want to find and identify AutoCAD drawings (DWG) that contain the educational stamp because the DWG has been "infected" by an Autodesk educational product? EduFinder quickly can search through all your drawings on your network quickly and produce a log of the drawings affected.

If you want to do an inventory of all drawings on your network EduFinder will quickly help to locate all the drawings with the educational stamp.

Download and try EduFinder and see how it works.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Units Converter

The Units Converter from Autodesk is a “handy tool that lets you convert a wide variety of measurements from one system to another. Use it anytime, from anywhere, all for free”.

Another option I often us is Google where I in the search field enter for example 1 ft to m and get the result 1 foot = 0.3048 meters.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Autodesk's license models are complex and confusing

Gartner’s report, Software Vendor Auditing Trends: What to Watch for and How to Respond (May 23, 2012) contains this snippet about Autodesk network licenses:

Autodesk: “…Autodesk's license models are complex and confusing, particularly the way in which subscription entitlements and prior version rights work… Autodesk products are notoriously difficult to audit and many clients find that their incumbent tools are unable provide the necessary information to demonstrate compliance with negotiated license terms and conditions…” – ref

Cascade Licensing for Autodesk Products explained shows some of this complexity.

Cascading Sequences for Autodesk 2013 Products let you know in what order cascade licensing checks for available licenses in Autodesk 2013 products and here are the Autodesk FlexNet Feature Codes with descriptions that are useful to understand Package licenses and prior version support as well as Prior version support and license usage of Autodesk Suite products.

Many have found JTB World’s JTB FlexReport useful to monitor and audit their Autodesk license usage. There are many different reports that can be generated in chart or list form. There is still room for improvements though. JTB FlexReport supports email notifications when licenses are denied but when cascading is used there will often be denials when the license cascade from one feature to another. Another problem with the cascading is that there is no way from the license server logs to see what actual Autodesk product was started by the user, hopefully Autodesk can do something about this in the future. If it is of interest to know that information we have JTB Process Monitor that will be able to tell if it was AutoCAD or Revit or whatever product being used and how much.

Monday, June 25, 2012

DWG Columns for Explorer with DWG 2013 support

DWG Columns 1.3 is now available with support for the new DWG 2013 file format for drawings that was introduced with AutoCAD 2013.

With DWG Columns you can show the DWG properties and DWG metadata in Explorer columns or even in file dialog boxes within AutoCAD or other applications.

For a limited time you can download a fully functional time limited trial from the DWG Columns page. You can use it until 30-SEP-2012. After that it will work as a freeware but only showing the DWG version column.

Existing customers will be emailed a link to the fully functional version.

Use DWGPROPS to edit the drawing properties with AutoCAD and automate it using Propulate tutorial for DWG properties. Properties supported are from the Summary tab: Title, Subject, Author, Comments, Hyperlink base and from the Custom tab the first 10 custom properties in the list.

To see properties in an infotip (tooltip) see DwgInfoTip.

DwgInfoTip with support for DWG 2013 files

DwgInfoTip 1.3 is now available with support for the new DWG 2013 file format for drawings that was introduced with AutoCAD 2013.

Show the DWG properties as an Infotip (tooltip) in Explorer or even in file dialog boxes within AutoCAD.

Freeware and trial version available to download at DwgInfoTip.

Existing customers will be emailed a link to the fully functional version.

Use DWGPROPS to edit the properties with AutoCAD and automate it using Propulate tutorial for DWG properties.

To see the properties in Explorer columns see DWG Columns.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

ACAD/Medre.A Malware AutoCAD AutoLISP Malware!

ACAD/Medre.A – 10000′s Of AutoCAD Files Leaked in Suspected Industrial Espionage

According to ESET Threat Blog here and here:

An AutoCAD worm, written in AutoLISP, the scripting language that AutoCAD uses, suddenly showed a big spike in one country on ESET’s LiveGrid® two months ago, and this country is Peru.

The main motive of the malware is to steal AutoCAD drawings from the infected system. These are sent to the attacker via email. Apart from the stolen drawings, some additional information is also sent.

ACAD/Medre.A is a serious example of suspected industrial espionage. Every new design created by a victim is sent automatically to the authors of this malware. Needless to say this can cost the legitimate owner of the intellectual property a lot of money as the cybercriminals will have designs before they even go into production by the original designer. The attacker may even go so far as to get patents on the product before the inventor has registered it at the patent office. The inventor may not know of the security breach until his patent claim is denied due to prior art.

You can download the ACAD/Medre.A removal tool here.

The sample is able to infect versions 14.0 to 19.2 of AutoCAD by modifying the corresponding native startup file of AutoLISP (acad.lsp) by being named as the auto-load file acad.fas. It employs Visual Basic Scripts that are executed using the Wscript.exe interpreter that is integrated in the Windows operating system since Windows 2000. The author assumes that his code will even work for future versions of AutoCAD as it has support for the AutoCAD versions that will be released in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The Autodesk Knowledge Base article TS19860569 says:

What is the nature of the malware?

ACAD/Medre.A is an AutoLISP program disguised as an acad.fas file. When a user opens a DWG from a folder containing this file, the malware sends a copy of the DWG via an email (using SMTP protocol). For additional information on an AutoLISP based malware, visit: AutoCAD and Viruses.

ACAD/Medre.A is also known as: ALisp/Blemfox.A (Microsoft), Trojan.Acad.Bursted.W (BitDefender), ALS.Bursted.B (Symantec).

Which Autodesk products may be affected?

The malware targets AutoCAD releases 2000 and newer, and other products based on AutoCAD. AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD for Mac and other Autodesk products are not affected.

How can I know if my system is infected?

The malware is easily detectable by major antivirus solutions with up-to-date virus definitions. We recommend users perform a full virus scan to see if their system is infected by this malware.

There are alternative methods of detecting possible infections by this malware:

  • acad.fas or cad.fas files on your system may indicate the presence of this malware.  You can search for these files in Windows Explorer.  Since these files could be hidden, you may need to show hidden files using the following Microsoft solution:Show Hidden Files.
  • Search for the acad.fas from the AutoCAD command line by typing (findfile "acad.fas"), including parenthesis.

If the search finds a match, compare an MD5 or SHA-1 cryptographic hash of the discovered acad.file with - md5: 7b563740f41e495a68b70cbb22980b20; SHA1: 3ea33bedadc9bfc92c570b316b78b6fd9787f09.  If MD5 or SHA-1 hash values match, your system is infected.   For more information on how to compute an MD5 or SHA-1, see: How to compute the MD5 or SHA-1 cryptographic hash values for a file.

How can I remediate the infection?

This malware can be remediated through leading commercial antivirus solutions. Autodesk has confirmed that Microsoft, Trend Micro, McAfee, Symantec, and Kaspersky antivirus solutions can clean this malware. We have also verified that ESET’s ACAD/Medre.A stand-alone cleaner can clean this malware.  We will update this FAQ as we test additional antivirus solutions.

What best practices can I follow to reduce my chances of being infected?

We recommend users protect their systems through use of an antivirus solution with up-to-date virus definitions. In addition, the following best practices can reduce the chance of an infection:

  • Do not open archive files (i.e. zip) from unknown users. 
  • Do not run an unknown AutoLISP file without inspecting it first.
  • The following Autodesk knowledge base article also provides additional best practices:
    AutoCAD and Viruses

On the topic of viruses: Acad.vlx Virus Cleanup improved, AutoCAD and DWG viruses made in VBA or AutoLISP and AutoCAD Adware Trojan

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Activation screen shows only two radio buttons

I was emailed about this problem and the AutoCAD user found that the last solution helped in his case. If you have this problem take a look at the links below.

Register Today (Product Activation Wizard) displays only two radio buttons

Issue
When you started the product and chose the Register and Activate option, the Product Activation wizard displayed only two radio buttons that did not have any associated text descriptions. Also, there were no Next or Cancel buttons that would allow you to proceed with the activation or cancel it.

Solutions are found at TS1053941 and if it does not work try the Discussion Group advice to create another Windows user account with administrator rights.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Export layouts to separate drawings freeware for AutoCAD

Want to export layouts to separate drawings? This can be done with LayoutsToDwgs.lsp that recently was updated to handle Map prompt with WBLOCK “Include AutoCAD Map information in the export? [Yes/No] <Y>:”.

Export Paper Space tabs to individual drawings made easy and works for most AutoCAD versions and verticals.

Monday, June 18, 2012

How to automatically remove Autodesk 360 icon in AutoCAD 2013 file dialog boxes

AutoCAD 2013 came with the new Autodesk 360 icon showing up in the places list in file dialog boxes like the open or save as drawing dialog boxes. If you as a CAD Manager wants to remove it automatically from a lot of machines it can be done. To manually remove it is easy, just right click on any of the icons in the places list and you can remove, add or restore. If you have a network drive or folder location it is even possible to add it too.

I’ve updated the RemIcons.lsp AutoLISP code so that any of the icons Autodesk 360, Buzzsaw, RedSpark, Point A and FTP can be removed or added. There is also a VBScript sample included. The icons History, Documents, Favorites and Desktop can also be removed but I’ve not included that in the code. A tip is to look in the registry (where R19.0, ACAD-B004:409 and <<Unnamed Profile>> needs to be changed depending on AutoCAD version, vertical and profile): HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R19.0\ACAD-B004:409\Profiles\<<Unnamed Profile>>\Dialogs\AllAnavDialogs

Friday, June 15, 2012

DimNotes available on Autodesk Exchange Apps

DimNotes price has been lowered and can now be downloaded and installed as an app from the Autodesk Exchange Apps site for AutoCAD 2012 and AutoCAD 2013. If you often add notes or comments or want to override dimension text in AutoCAD DimNotes can save some time for you.

Purchase is also available through this site.

How to add dimension notes in AutoCAD 2013 - DimNotes

Thursday, June 14, 2012

AutoCAD Architecture 2013 FATAL ERROR: Unhandled e0434352h Exception at 75c7d36fh

I got this error when trying to copy text from the command line in AutoCAD Architecture 2013. Same problem using paste to command line. I could reproduce it several times but not on another computer. A restart of the computer did help for some reason.

AutoCAD Error Aborting: FATAL ERROR:  Unhandled e0434352h Exception at 75c7d36fh

Unfortunately the problem with acad.exe The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000043) is not solved and reinstalling have not helped.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Budweiser DWG 2013 Compatibility Drawing

AutoCAD 2013 introduced the new DWG 2013 file format and CAD Studio has released an updated version of their popular benchmark drawing for testing of DWG-compatibility - BUDWEISER.DWG. Now you can test if the AutoCAD clone that adds DWG 2013-support can handle the news. Not sure if any of the non-Autodesk DWG compatible applications have support for DWG 2013 yet though.

Here is the most recent test that has been added featuring the new DRAWINGVIEW objects:

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

AutoCAD 2013 Wipeout Bug

In AutoCAD 2013 there is a new bug introduced. When running Wipeout in a non WCS UCS the first coordinate is not drawn where you click. Time for a hotfix or to be included in AutoCAD 2013 SP1. Workaround is to draw a rectangle or polygon and convert it to a wipeout.

This is the expected result.

But here is the erroneous result with the first point picked ending up way off.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Compare AutoCAD Products

Autodesk has a site where you can compare AutoCAD products, applications and suites:
http://usa.autodesk.com/compare-autocad-products/. Select up to 5 products to compare and you can filter to narrow your choices to General Design, Building Design, Infrastructure Design, Product Design, Factory Design or Plant Design.

And here is what it look like when comparing AutoCAD vs AutoCAD LT. Compare prices and features to easier find what AutoCAD product fits you best. Finally there are buttons to try or buy any of the products.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Compare CAD software

I got a tip about a site that among other topics compare CAD Software. You can compare and filter software by features, effects, price, platforms, and more.
You find it here: cad-software.findthebest.com

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

AutoCAD Architecture 2012 SP 2

AutoCAD Architecture 2012 Service Pack 2 is here.

NOTE: When AutoCAD 2013 and AutoCAD Architecture 2013 are installed side by side, uninstalling Service Pack 2 on AutoCAD Architecture 2012 will cause AutoCAD Architecture 2012 failing to launch. To work around, uninstall and reinstall both AutoCAD Architecture 2012 and Service Pack 2.

Get the AutoCAD Architecture 2012 Service Pack 2 download here: DL19684160.
AutoCAD 2012 SP 2 is included.

AutoCAD Mechanical 2012 Service Pack 2: DL19659831
AutoCAD MEP 2012 Service Pack 2: DL19684112

Problems Reported with the Customer Error Reporting Utility

As a result of detailed information from customers who used the Customer Error Reporting Utility, a number of problems were identified and fixed. Updates have been made in the following commands and features:

  • AEC Dimension
  • Layer Key
  • OMF
  • Stair

The following AutoCAD Architecture defects have been fixed:

AEC Dimension

  • Dimension lines created in previous versions of AutoCAD Architecture might not display in AutoCAD Architecture 2012.

Installation

  • Installing Service Pack 1 on Nordic version of AutoCAD Architecture 2012 displays an Installer Information error message.
  • Installing Service Pack 1 in silent mode on Nordic version of AutoCAD Architecture 2012 fails.

Wall

  • Some body modifiers might not display after installing Service Pack 1.

AutoCAD Architecture 2012 Service Pack 1

Autodesk Sync Error Hotfix

Have you got this Sync Error: A customization sync error has occurred?

One way to avoid this is of course to sign out from the Autodesk account or disable the feature in Options > Online. See further details below on that.

In the system tray you might get Autodesk 360: Sync Error: An error occurred while synchronizing your documents with Autodesk 360.

Now there is a solution available for this Autodesk 360 Sync problem. Unfortunately the hotfix does not help to solve the error I have.

Hotfix - Persistent Autodesk Sync error in the system tray

This hotfix is for users that have a persistent Autodesk Sync error in their System Tray. Persistent errors can occur when uploading settings or files through publish and save to Autodesk 360.  Errors can also happen if you choose to automatically copy to the cloud.

Please consult the readme document for installation instructions. Be sure to install the correct update (32-bit or 64-bit) for your software.

Download here: DL19683742. This hotfix is for AutoCAD 2013 based products and Inventor 2013.

Here are some processes that you might see in Task Manager that are related to Autodesk Sync. I’ve seen that some of these processes have used a lot of CPU and RAM. I’ve seen that AdSync.exe have been using up to 1 GB in virtual size.

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Autodesk Sync\AdSync.exe

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\CloudFolderManager\AcCloudManager.exe

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2013\AcSettingSync.exe

Uninstalling Autodesk Sync

Issue

You cannot uninstall Autodesk Sync from the Control Panel, but you do not want your products Syncing your information to the Cloud.

Solution

To uninstall the Autodesk Sync component, you must first uninstall all the Autodesk products that rely on the component and then uninstall Autodesk Sync. (Re-installing products will also re-install the component.) So if you want to still have the newer Autodesk products installed, but don't want to have them using the Autodesk Sync functionality, you will need prevent the Autodesk Applications from using this component in an alternative way.  

Alternative to Uninstalling Products That Use Autodesk Sync

Autodesk Sync is a desktop software component of the Autodesk 360 cloud platform. Some Autodesk desktop applications rely on this technology to move data between the local desktop environment and Autodesk 360.

  • AutoCAD 2013 and AutoCAD 2013 Vertical Products use Autodesk Sync for Customization Sync, Online Documents, and the Share Document feature.

  • Inventor 2013 uses Autodesk Sync when you choose Save & Send to Cloud.

  • Showcase 2013 uses Autodesk Sync when you choose Publish > To Web.

Rather than uninstalling the Autodesk applications that rely on Autodesk Sync, below there are two suggestions for keeping Autodesk Sync installed, but preventing the Autodesk applications from using the component.

Sign out of your Autodesk Account

Autodesk Sync only synchronizes data when signed in to your Autodesk Account--and even then, only when you use features that rely on the component.

The simplest way to keep Autodesk Sync from running at all on your computer is to sign out of your Autodesk Account. You can tell if you are signed in because your Autodesk ID will appear in the InfoCenter (AutoCAD and Inventor) or in the status bar at the bottom of the main window, (Showcase). If you see the words, "Sign In" instead your Autodesk ID, the sync component will not run – it only runs when there is a signed in user.

Note: Your Autodesk Account Sign In is linked globally to every Autodesk application. If you sign out in any application, say AutoCAD, for example, you will be automatically signed out from every other Autodesk application on the same computer.

Don’t use the Autodesk 360 Features

AutoCAD and AutoCAD vertical products

Instructions to disable Autodesk 360 after signing in:

  • Go to the Options dialog

  • Choose the Online Tab

  • Uncheck  “Enable Cloud Storage”

  • Uncheck “Sync my settings with the Cloud”

  • Click OK to close the Options dialog

Inventor

Instructions to not use Autodesk 360 after signing in:

  • Do not use the feature “Save and Send to Cloud”  in the Online panel

Showcase

Instructions to not use Autodesk 360 after signing in:

  • Do not use the feature "Publish Web Presentation..." in the File Menu
  • Do not use the feature "Publish > To Web" in the task UI

Applies to:
AutoCAD 2013
AutoCAD Architecture 2013
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013
AutoCAD Electrical 2013
AutoCAD LT 2013
AutoCAD Map 3D 2013
AutoCAD Mechanical 2013
AutoCAD MEP 2013
AutoCAD P&ID 2013
AutoCAD Plant 3D 2013
Autodesk 360
Autodesk Inventor 2013
Autodesk Showcase 2013
Autodesk Showcase Professional 2013

TS18966285

How to turn on logging for Autodesk Sync Features

Issue

You are experiencing Sync Errors when using an Autodesk product.  Autodesk will need to review the log files related to your product and will ask you to send them the sync log file so they can see what is happening.  Since the log files are disabled by default, you will need to enable logging first.

Solution

When you are asked to send an Autodesk employee the sync log file, you will first need to enable this function.

There is a registray key wrapped in a zip file that needs to be enabled for the log files to be collected on your computer.  Here are the steps to enable the logging:

  • Sign out of Sync inside AutoCAD or any other Autodesk product using Sync.
  • Close AutoCAD or any of the Autodesk products that are using Sync
  • Using Task Manger, make sure the flowing applications are no longer running--if they are, you need to terminate them:
      • acad.exe
      • accloudmanager.exe
      • acsettingsync.exe
  • Using Task Manger: terminate AdSync.exe process
  • Using REGEDIT.exe: create DWORD registry entry, EnableLog=1 in HKCU/Software/Autodesk/Autodesk Sync
  • To turn verbose logging on, create String registry entry LogLevel=Verbose in HKCU/Software/Autodesk/Autodesk Sync
  • Double click the reg file to enable the logging.
  • Restart your computer and launch AutoCAD or the product that needs logging enabled.  
  • Sign into Sync if you are not already signed in. 
  • Run for at least 30 minutes to let the log file gather information.  
  • Using Windows explorer, navigate to the location of the log file.  

    Then for Windows 7 and Vista navigate to the file location and send us the correct files:

    C:\Users\<user login id>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\AutodeskSync

    Select the following files and then right click and select “Send to” Compressed (zipped) folder

    We will want the following files.

  • AdSync.db
  • AdSync.log

    By default the name will be “AdSync.zip” We suggest renaming the file with your name and what product it was from so we know it is from you: AdSync_ACAD_2013_first_Last.zip

  • TS19838237

    If you still experience problems with Autodesk Sync you can leave feedback at Community-powered support for Autodesk 360.

    Autodesk Sync issues when installing a 2013 release product

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