Install 32bit AutoCAD Mechanical 2016 on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10

NOTE: This blog post specifically solves issues related to these error messages on installation of 32bit AutoCAD Mechanical 2016 on 64bit Windows…

  • “This operating system is not supported by AutoCAD® Mechanical® 2016”
  • “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® 2016. It cannot be installed on 64-bit Windows”

Installing 32bit AutoCAD Mechanical 2016 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. Using Windows Explorer, copy Disk 1 of your AutoCAD Mechanical 2016 install media to your hard drive, to a folder path c:\Autodesk\MDT2016
    2. If you have more CD’s, copy them all directly over the top of Disk 1, overwrite all files in your previously copied c:\Autodesk\MDT2016 folder
  3. If you have a single self extracting exe downloaded from Autodesk called something like Mechanical_2016_English_Win_32_64bit_en-us_Setup.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\MDT2016), now click OK. Wait until all of the files have extracted, when they do, the AutoCAD Mechanical 2016 setup will automatically launch – simply close it and move to the next step.
  4. Now, start the Longbow Converter tool, select the 1st tab, pick the c:\Autodesk\MDT2016 folder, and click the Convert button.
  5. Once the conversion process is complete, click Install/Run Setup to start setup. Simply install as normal.
    1. Once installed, we recommend you disable the AutoCAD Communication Center/InfoCenter toolbar as it uses a lot of memory, causes slow startup and most people don’t use it anyway!
  6. Now you can happily run your AutoCAD Mechanical 2016 32bit on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10!

Troubleshooting:

– If you are unable to activate your product, or the activation process crashes:

– 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

Copyright 2016 (c) Longbow Software