Vault Thin client cannot download dwg's within Internet Explorer 11

Recently a Vault customer reported that they had lost the capability to download AutoCAD .dwg files from the Vault Pro 2016 thin client in Internet Explorer.

 

 

The visualization file downloads fine, but when trying to download the actual .dwg file, the Thin Client screen blanks out but nothing else occurs.

What was occurring is that for AutoCAD .DWG files, Windows was attempting to open an inline viewer, similar to how an image or a PDF are displayed in a web browser.

What we found was that this DWG download procedure had worked as expected until Autodesk DWG TrueView was installed. The installer for TrueView adds a web page preview capability that will not work with the Vault Thin Client in Internet Explorer 11.

So, the solution is to remove the Windows registry key for the previewer that is located here in the registry as viewed in RegEdit*.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MIME\Database\Content Type\image/vnd.dwg

Note: If you would still like to view .dwg files from a web page displayed in the browser tab, using DWG TrueView to display it, then Export this reg key to reload later.  If not, then delete this key. (You might export it to save it for later anyway).

With that reg key removed, now the download prompt will work in MSIE 11 as it did before DWG TrueView was installed.

Note: Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox show the download option whether this key exists or not.

 

*Warning! Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft provides a wealth of critical information that you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support. Use the Microsoft® Registry Editor only at your own risk and only after backing up the registry as well as the system.dat and user.dat files as outlined for your operating system in the Microsoft Knowledge Base and in the related solution, TS66513. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topics in the Microsoft Registry Editor.

 

Update October 11, 2016:

For applying this adjustment to multiple workstations, consider using the following syntax in a batch file for the candidate workstations:

To delete this key to disable opening a .DWG as an image preview in a web page:

reg delete "HKEY_Classes_Root\Mime\Database\Content type\image/vnd.dwg" /f

 

Thanks to Mark Heppner of A-DEC in Oregon for this tip.

 

Comments

[manjakction]

I love all details that you give in your articles.
Wireless Internet