Customizing AutoCAD® Mechanical Parts libraries on Windows Vista™

Issue

Solution

The User Access Control (UAC) on Windows Vista™ prevents non-administrator users from accessing certain portions of the operating system (for example, the Program Files folder). Because the Standards Parts library used by AutoCAD® Mechanical is saved under the Program Files folder, you will need to use one of the following options to customize the content of the Standards Parts library:

• Log on to Windows as an Administrator in order to make the changes to the library.
• Have an Administrator grant the Standard User permissions to the folder that contains the library (by default, C:\program files\autodesk\acadm2007 [or 2008]).
• Copy the Mechanical libraries from C:\program files\autodesk\acadm\gef\gdb to a folder on the system that is accessible by the user, such as the My Documents folder, and then configure AutoCAD Mechanical to use this location by changing the default file path in the Database Configuration File on the AM:Standard Parts tab of the Options dialog box to the file path of the copied data.
• Turn off the UAC in the User Accounts section of the Control Panel (Windows).

For more information on the UAC, refer to the following Microsoft article:

Understanding and Configuring User Account Control in Windows Vista