Installing PC-DMIS on a new Computer

Hi Aaron,
Cloning the PC is not a good idea. You have three different types of CMM which will all have different settings unique to their configuration. If you are going to replace the PC’s then it would be better to do a fresh install and set up each PC individually, ideally before connecting the PC’s to your company network. Generally, as soon as a PC is connected to a company network the security policies get applied and this can make setting everything up more difficult. If your IT team will not allow this then it can still be done but will require a lot more help from their side – either approach will require a user account with full admin rights to do the initial install and setup. The approach I normally take is detailed as follows…

On each brand new PC, fresh out of the box use the built in administrator account to do the following

1) Turn off the CMM controller and connect the PC to the CMM via the ethernet cable then switch the controller back on. It is important to re-boot the controller to ensure it is fully reset.
2) If an internet connection is available, download the required build of PC-Dmis. If no internet then download on a different PC and copy the file across.
3) With an internet connection, install PC-Dmis and enter the license EID for the relevant CMM when prompted. Without internet you will need to install CLM and go through the offline license activation process first.
4) On the final page of the installer tick the checkbox to launch PC-Dmis when the install is complete – this will ensure that it gets launched with the required admin rights.
5) Ensure the TCPIP connection is set up correctly in Windows 10 “Network & Internet Settings” (the easiest way is to check what it was set to on the old PC but your local Hexagon applications team can help if necessary).
6) Go to EDIT>MACHINE INTERFACE SETUP, verify that the IP address is correct (as above, make a note of what it was on the old PC or talk to your local applications team).
7) On one of the tabs of the machine interface setup dialog there should be a check box for reading the default controller settings on startup – select it and then exit PC-Dmis.
8) Open Windows Regedit and set the permissions for the following keys…
a. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Hexagon\
b. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Hexagon Metrology\
c. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Hexagon\
d. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Hexagon Metrology\
e. HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\Software\PC-DMIS 50 Converter
All keys and subkeys should have full control for all users.
9) Open Windows File Explorer and set permissions for the following folders…
a. C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet\
b. C:\ProgramData\Hexago\
c. C:\ProgramData\Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence\
d. C:\ProgramData\Hexagon_Metrology\
e. C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hexagon\
f. C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hexagon-CLM-LogFilesz\
g. C:\Program Files\Hexagon\
h. Any other locations that will be used to store .prg, .prb, .cad, .aln, .bas, .dat or other files associated with your PC-Dmis programs.
Again, all folders and sub folders should be set to full control for all users
10) Copy any existing .prg, .prb, .cad, .aln, .bas, .dat or other files associated with your PC-Dmis programs To their desired locations
11) Re-start PC-Dmis by right clicking on the PC-Dmis 2021.1 online option, selecting “more” and then “run as administrator”. You should be asked if the controller was just re-set, select yes and then go through the normal process to select a probe file (select “no probe”) and home the machine.
12) Once the machine has finished it’s homing cycle, Go to EDIT>SET SEARCH PATH and set up your search paths.
13) PC-Dmis is now setup for the current user account.
14) Exit PC-Dmis and shut down the PC. Connect to your companies network and re-start.
a. Each individual user account that needs to access PC-Dmis will need to be granted full administrator privileges temporarily so that they can launch PC-Dmis using the “run as administrator” method. This is needed so that each user account can generate the required user keys in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Hexagon section of the registry. Again, IT should ensure they do not block each user from having full control of their user keys and sub keys. They should also ensure each user has full control of their "C:\Users\current user name\AppData\Local\Hexagon" folder.
15) Once PC-Dmis has been run as administrator under each user account they can be reverted to standard user accounts. As long as IT do not block access to any of the areas mentioned above, PC-Dmis will function correctly and any future installs will inherit the required permissions so long as they use the same file and registry locations.
Best Regards,
Neil

Hi Aaron,
When you install PC-Dmis on a fresh system it will have default settings based on the license options it detects. Reading the controller settings on startup updates the machine specific settings based on what is stored in the controller. One thing I forgot to mention in my previous email is that you may want to copy the TOOL.dat, TOOLC.dat, ROTAB.dat and Usrprobe.dat from your old PC’s if applicable. Those files are stored in the program data folder and can be copied onto the new PC once the install and setup are complete. Tool.dat contains the calibration sphere information, ToolC.dat is for the probechanger (if you have one) and rotab.dat is for the rotary table (again if you have one). Usrprobe.dat will contain any custom probe file definitions you may have set up.