Installing 32bit AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 64bit

Posted on by

NOTE: This blog post specifically solves issues related to these error messages on installation…

  • “This operating system is not supported by AutoCAD Mechanical® 2010”
  • “You cannot install this product on the current operating system”
  • “You are attempting to use a 32-bit installer on a 64-bit operating system”
  • “This is a 32-bit AutoCAD Mechanical® 2010. It cannot be installed on 64-bit Windows”

Installing AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 (MDT 2010) 32bit on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 64bit can be very easily defined in these short steps…

NOTE: These steps do not bypass normal Autodesk licensing/authorization, you should expect to use your own serial numbers in the normal way.

  1. Obtain your copy of the Longbow Converter here
  2. If you have CDs (if not check (3) below):
    1. Insert your AutoCAD MDT 2010 CD into your CDRom drive, cancel setup if it starts
    2. Next, start the Converter App
    3. Select the 1st tab in the Converter tool named “32bit AutoCAD Installer Converter“
    4. Using the “…” button pick the path to your AutoCAD MDT 2013 CD
    5. Now click the “Convert” button and follow the instructions.
    6. (Skip to step 4)
  3. If you have a single self extracting exe downloaded from Autodesk called something like AutoCAD_Mech_2010_English_Win_32bit.exe
    1. Simply run the exe, it will ask to unzip to a folder inside of c:\Autodesk, make a note of the folder for later use (we’ll refer to it from here as c:\Autodesk\MDT2010), now click OK.
    2. Wait until all of the files have extracted, when they do, the AutoCAD MDT 2013 setup will automatically launch – simply close it and move to the next step.
    3. Now, start the Longbow Converter tool
    4. select the 1st tab titled “AutoCAD 32bit Installer Converter“
    5. pick the c:\Autodesk\MDT2010 folder
    6. and click the “Convert…” button.
  4. Once the conversion process is complete, click the “Install/Run Setup” button to start setup.
    1. Install as normal!
  5. Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 users: Once the installation process is complete, go back to the Converter
    1. select the 3rd tab named “Old AutoCAD Program Reviver“
    2. pick the newly installed C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 folder
    3. then click “Fix Old Program”
  6. Now you can happily run your AutoCAD MDT 2010 32bit on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10!

Installing AutoCAD MDT 2010 Service Pack 2

  1. Here’s sp2 – AutoCAD Mechanical 2010 sp2 – install as normal

Troubleshooting:

  1. If your installed AutoCAD is hanging on startup then read this post first AutoCAD Freezes on startup (AutoCAD visible but the menus don’t appear)
  2. if your AutoCAD hangs on startup (stuck at the “Checking License…” message, try installing the 32bit version of AutoCAD 2010 on 64bit Windows – we’ve actually found the 32bit AutoCAD 2010 running on 64bit Windows is much more stable and actually faster than the 64bit version of AutoCAD 2010.
  3. If your AutoCAD crashes while interacting with the Ribbon click here
  4. If you are unable to activate your product, or the activation process crashes:
    1. Try uninstalling the July 2014 Microsoft security update
    2. Try downgrading your Internet Explorer (IE) from version 11 to version 10 by following the instructions detailed here
  5. If you have crashing problems using the File->Open or File->Save dialogs inside of AutoCAD please read this blog entry on the File->Open or File->Save Crash in AutoCAD
  6. If your Windows hangs on startup after installing please refer to this help blog
Copyright 2017 (c) Longbow Software