Installation

Snail Addin Installation Guide

System Requirements

ItemRequirement
Operating SystemWindows 10 / 11 (64-bit)
SolidWorks2020 or later (64-bit)
.NET Framework4.8 or later (included in Windows 10/11)
Disk Space~50 MB
InternetRequired for license activation

Step 1 — Download

  1. Go to：Download page.
  2. To find and download SnailAddin_Setup_.*.*.*.zip
  3. (Optional) Verify the file using the SHA256 checksum shown on the download page

Step 2 — Close SolidWorks

Important: SolidWorks must be closed before installation. If it is running, the plugin may not load correctly.

  1. Close all SolidWorks windows
  2. Confirm no SLDWORKS.exe process is running in Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc)

Step 3 — Run the Installer

  1. Double-click SnailAddin_Setup_1.0.0.0.exe
  2. If Windows shows a User Account Control prompt, click Yes
    • The installer requires administrator privileges to register the plugin with SolidWorks
  3. Select the installation language (English or 简体中文)
  4. Follow the wizard:
    • Accept the default install path (C:\Program Files\SnailAddin) or choose your own
    • Click Install
  5. When finished, uncheck Open installation folder (unless you want to inspect the files)
  6. Click Finish

If Windows SmartScreen shows “Windows protected your PC”, click More info → Run anyway. This warning appears because the installer is not code-signed yet.

Step 4 — Launch SolidWorks

  1. Open SolidWorks
  2. Look for the Snail Addin tab in the CommandManager (top of the window, next to the standard tabs)
  3. Click any button to verify the plugin is loaded

If the tab does not appear, see Troubleshooting below.

Step 5 — Activate Your License

Free Version Not Need

The plugin works out of the box. No activation needed.

Pro Version

After purchasing, you will receive a license key by email (format: SNL1-P-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX).

  1. Open SolidWorks
  2. Go to the Snail Addin tab
  3. Click Like me
  4. Paste your license key into the input field
  5. Click Activate
  6. You should see “Activation successful.” and the status changes to Pro Version

Your license is bound to this machine. To use it on a different computer, click Deactivate first, then activate on the new machine.

Troubleshooting

The Snail Addin tab does not appear in SolidWorks

Cause: The plugin was not registered, or SolidWorks was running during installation.

Fix:

  1. Close SolidWorks completely
  2. Run the installer again
  3. Open SolidWorks

If it still does not appear, run the following command in an Administrator Command Prompt:

"C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\regasm.exe" /codebase "C:\Program Files\SnailAddin\MainAddin.dll"

Then restart SolidWorks.

Installation fails with “.NET Framework 4.8 required”

Cause: Your system does not have .NET Framework 4.8 installed.

Fix:

  1. The installer will offer to open the download page
  2. Install .NET Framework 4.8 from Microsoft
  3. Restart your computer
  4. Run the Snail Addin installer again

Activation fails with “Network error”

Cause: The plugin cannot reach the activation server.

Fix:

  1. Check your internet connection
  2. Make sure snaddin.com is not blocked by a firewall or proxy
  3. Try again

If the problem persists, contact support.

Activation fails with “Machine code mismatch”

Cause: The license key was already activated on a different machine.

Fix:

  1. On the original machine, open the Like me window and click Deactivate
  2. Then activate on the new machine

If the original machine is no longer accessible, contact support.

“Unknown publisher” warning during installation

Cause: The installer is not code-signed yet.

Fix:

  • Click More info → Run anyway
  • This is safe. A signed version will be available in a future release.

Uninstallation

  1. Close SolidWorks
  2. Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps (Windows 11) or Control Panel → Programs and Features (Windows 10)
  3. Find Snail Addin in the list
  4. Click Uninstall
  5. Follow the wizard
%LOCALAPPDATA%\SnailAddin

Manual Registration (Advanced)

If the automatic registration fails for any reason, you can register the plugin manually:

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Run:
"C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\regasm.exe" /codebase "C:\Program Files\SnailAddin\MainAddin.dll"
  1. Expected output: Types registered successfully
  2. Restart SolidWorks

To unregister manually:

"C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\regasm.exe" /unregister "C:\Program Files\SnailAddin\MainAddin.dll"