Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 18

Thread: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

  1. #1
    Active Member
    Join Date
    2006-04
    Posts
    85
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    I've customised my 2008 quite heavily but am just about to install 2009. Bearing in mind how different the latter appears to be, is there a migration procedure I can follow to avoid losing all my tweaks, custom buttons, workspaces and macros. We have both network and stand-alone licensed versions.

  2. #2
    Certifiable AUGI Addict
    Join Date
    2015-11
    Location
    Jo'burg SA
    Posts
    4,512
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    Leave 2008 installed, then after 2009 installs & you run it for the 1st time. It asks if you want to migrate the 2008 CUI and other. It's not going to do absolutely everything, but it'll take care of 50% to 90% depending on what you've done.

    Leave the 2008 running for the time being, until you know that you've got all the stuff migrated. That way, if you find something's not correct - you've got a reference to check instead of having to learn the whole 9 yards again.

  3. #3
    Active Member
    Join Date
    2006-04
    Posts
    85
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    Yes that's probably the safest bet. From what I've heard so far, it's going to take some time to acclimatise to all the changes. Just got Office 2007 and Vista as well. First thoughts are that I'm not getting rid of XP or Office 2000 at home 'til the men in white coats come for me!

  4. #4
    Certifiable AUGI Addict
    Join Date
    2015-11
    Location
    Jo'burg SA
    Posts
    4,512
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    You know of course you've got about a month until MS discontinues XP? No more updates / fixes / support. BTW this is contrary to what they said last year ... "We're going to discontinue development on Vista and rather focus on the next gen OS". Seems as if too many have sued them because of Vista, so they had to repair the half-done OS with SP1. Wonder if that "next gen" is going to run the same marathon.

  5. #5
    I could stop if I wanted to Steve Johnson's Avatar
    Join Date
    2004-11
    Location
    Western Australia
    Posts
    294
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by david.pugh View Post
    Yes that's probably the safest bet.
    Actually, no it's not. It superficially appears to be easiest thing to do, but it's unreliable, incomplete and can leave you in a mess in both the new and old releases. Frankly, I never trust Autodesk's Migration to do anything. It works fine in some simple cases, but when things get heavily modified from AutoCAD's standard environment it vacuums badly, and has done since 2006. Have a look here at the Migration polls down the page. The numbers are small, but there's a trend: dissatisfied Migration users outnumber satisfied ones by about 2:1.

    If you are going to use it, take the precaution of first copying all your 2008 custom stuff elsewhere for 2009 to use, and making a safe backup that no AutoCAD knows where to find (e.g. in a zip file). In 2008, save your existing profile, then set up and save a new profile that points to the new copy. In 2009's first use, cancel the Migration dialog. When you're in, save a vanilla 2009 profile as a backup position. Only then allow 2009 to migrate. You can do this using Start > [All] Programs > Autodesk > AutoCAD 2009 > Migrate Custom Settings > Migrate From a Previous Release.

    Now, it's time to fix up the Migration damage. Delete any 2009 profile that points to the old 2008 stuff. Restore the safe backup of your 2008 custom stuff, overwriting anything that 2009 did to it. If you don't do this, you will find that your 2008 CUI is either not editable in 2008 (best case scenario) or completely broken (worst case).

    If that worked, great. If not, it's either a case of fixing up the 2009 broken stuff manually or going back to the drawing board, starting with your 2009 vanilla profile.

    Alternatively, you could just start from vanilla in the first place and forget Migration. Many people set up scripts or LISP routines that set up various settings in a new release, and just run that each time, adding to it over the years to allow for new features.

    You can also export a profile from one release, import it into another, and make adjustments afterwards, having taken similar precautions to those outlined above. That's not actually a supported method so you're on your own, but I find it usually works better than Migration anyway...

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    2008-06
    Location
    Phoenix, AZ
    Posts
    11
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    We didn't have any problems. We had to export custome tool palette items we had and import them into 2009 tool palettes. You can make 2009 look exactly like 2008 except for the colors. There are a few bugs, but nothing major.

  7. #7
    Certifiable AUGI Addict
    Join Date
    2015-11
    Location
    Jo'burg SA
    Posts
    4,512
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    Just be careful about uninstalling the old version. The migration doesn't copy the CUI (and other files) from that Documents & Settings folder to the new one. It simply points the new installation to the old one's settings. So if you uninstall and decide to remove all the "junk" left behind ... you're probably going to remove the settings files as well.

    What steve was referring to is that when Migrating the new 2009's installation is pointed to any old CUI files you had. Now in most instances, this shouldn't give a problem ... that is if there's noting like the following happening:
    • AutoDesk decides to change the format of the CUI (or any of the other files)
    • A new section is added in the CUI which might break the rest when read from 2008
    • You add new features into your menu, then AC 2008 cant read these and assumes the CUI is corrupt.
    • Starting 2008, might even remove the sections it thinks is corrupt, which may have adverse affects in 2009 again.
    That's why steve's proposing you rather do these things manually. Because you'd be much smarter than this automatic script ... which some programmer at AutoDesk was probably given an hour to write as some sort of punishment. You'd thus rather make a copy of the old settings files into the new folder which the new installation's already made - rather than just use the old folder which looks like an old install. That way you'd be sure that 2009 isn't going to mess with any 2008 settings (and visa-versa). And then when you finally decide that 2009 is alright and you don't need that old 2008 install anymore, you don't have to worry that deleting the old install from your PC is going to mess up the new install.

  8. #8
    Certifiable AUGI Addict
    Join Date
    2015-11
    Location
    Jo'burg SA
    Posts
    4,512
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by irneb View Post
    You know of course you've got about a month until MS discontinues XP? No more updates / fixes / support. BTW this is contrary to what they said last year ... "We're going to discontinue development on Vista and rather focus on the next gen OS". Seems as if too many have sued them because of Vista, so they had to repair the half-done OS with SP1. Wonder if that "next gen" is going to run the same marathon.
    Oh and BTW ... M$ lied about this as well, they're still pushing Vista ... but said that XP is going to be discontinued and that its SP3 will be the last update ....

    Uhmmm! I've personally had that new update available pop-up come up at least 3 times after installing XP SP3. So they're still lieing ...

  9. #9
    Certifiable AUGI Addict robert.1.hall72202's Avatar
    Join Date
    2004-07
    Location
    Detroit Michigan
    Posts
    2,508
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    I was able to carry over all of my customizations except for the dashpanel.
    The ribbons can be used in a similar manner.

    I had some trouble hunting down where autocad was looking for acad.lsp and
    acaddoc.lsp.

    Something like "blah/blah/blah/support/enu/17.2/.......", windows profiles are
    tricky.

  10. #10
    The Silent Type RobertB's Avatar
    Join Date
    2000-01
    Location
    Seattle WA USA
    Posts
    5,859
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: Migration from AutoCAD 2008 to 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert.Hall View Post
    Something like "blah/blah/blah/support/enu/17.2/.......", windows profiles are tricky.
    %AppData%\Autodesk\<version>\enu\Support.

    But, in all honesty, you ought to be placing your own customizations in a folder of your choice, and then just adding that folder to the top of your AutoCAD support folders in Options, Files.
    R. Robert Bell
    Design Technology Manager
    Stantec
    Opinions expressed are mine alone and do not reflect the views of Stantec.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. 2008 forward migration of content
    By petervanko in forum Revit - Platform
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 2009-07-30, 10:48 AM
  2. Migration from AutoCAD 2006 to 2009
    By don.rogers in forum Software
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 2008-10-17, 02:58 PM
  3. 2008 Migration problem
    By KellyR in forum Inventor - General
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 2008-07-10, 03:58 PM
  4. Migration biliothèque 2008 vers 2009
    By Benoit D in forum Revit Architecture - Tips & Tricks
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 2008-05-23, 10:54 AM
  5. Which one to go with - AutoCAD 2008 or 2009
    By CAD CHICK MTY in forum AutoCAD General
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 2008-04-04, 07:22 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •