Drafsight v's Autocad LY2002

[michael mott]

recently I had a crash on my older computer.

I took it o be fixed at a local computer repair business that has been in business for over 10 years, they told me that my AVG virus protection was a viral type program and that it was what caused the problem and that my computer was full of viruses?

 

I could not afford to get a newer computer, I am running Windows XP and it is pretty stable. They fixed the problem and added Norton virus protection (I agreed to this) removed the AVG and now my Autocad LT2002 crashes and aborts after 3 or four commands.

The auto desk help group told me to reinstall AVG dump Norton and that will fix the problem.

 

I did pay for a years license of AVG in February and I presently have Norton installed.

 

I was also advised that there are newer free CAD programs that run look and behave in a similar way to the Autocad LT 2002.

 

I have downloaded Draftsight it looks good and has the same sort of feel so far as my LT2002.

 

My question is has anyone out there in model shipworld any experience either with Draftsight or the Norton/ AVG debacle

 

Sincerely Michael

 

 

[captainbob]

Michael,

 

I used AutoCad at work but could not take it home when I retired.  I found and downloaded Draftsight (Made by the people who make SolidWorks) and have been very happy with it. 

 

I got rid of Norton and use Microsoft Security. Which is a free down load.

 

Bob

[michael mott]

Bob Thanks for your thoughts, The look of Draftsight is close to what I am used to with the Autocad 2002LT I will play with it a bit.

 

Michael

[michael mott]

Janos

Thank you for your recommendation. As an aside a good friend of mine who was building and selling computers demonstrated "Solidworks" to me 10 years ago and I was impressed.

 

Being a bit of a Luddite, change does not come easily to me.  I still like using a pencil!

 

Michael

[Jim Lad]

At least you can use CAD, Michael.  I look at it and just get confused!  

 

John

[pompey2]

Draftsight is an unashamed 'clone' of Acad really.

Dassualt bought it and made it a freeby to entice Acad users to SolidWorks rather than Inventor.

That way potential customers can continue editing legacy Acad documents whilst converting away from Acad to SolidWorks.

Which means we all benefit from a free Acad look alike.

I have used all three in anger for years. DraftSight is a very good replacement for Acad.

However SolidWorks or other 3D offerings are where we want to be for modelling.

Nick

[Yambo]

Thanks to cog on here I'm happily using my AutoCad 2002LT on my Windows 7 computer. Cog told me about Virtualbox which I downloaded onto this computer. I then loaded Windows XP into Virtualbox and AutoCad into the Windows XP virtual computer.

 

It works a treat.  

 

Thanks once again cog!

[Don9of11]

I downloaded and started using DraftSight this week. It took me a few days to get up to a production level and still learning things as I go. I really don't care for the command line interface otherwise it seems very robust. What I haven't figured out is how to take something full size and print it out to a 1/4 scale or 1/8 scale. I'm also a SolidWorks 2004 user and I would like to have a newer version but darn if it isn't pricey.

 

As for AVG and Norton, I would dump them both and switch over to Microsoft Security Essentials. I used AVG, McAfee and Norton in the past and just got tired of having to pay for the darn things. With MSE, I have never had any problems with viruses or malware. You might want to check it out and it's free!

Edited November 19, 2013 by Don9of11

[WackoWolf]

Don9of11,

 

      I agree with you 100% about Norton, AVG and McAfee. I think they are a joke, been into computers to long not to know. I also use Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes for the last few years and have had no problems with Virus and malware

 

But this is just my option, everyone has there own choice and what works for them doesn't always mean it will work for you. As far as Soildworks, I love it, hard to learn but it is dam good. But that is also my option.

[Don9of11]

WackoWolf,

 

I had prior CAD experience before learning SolidWorks. I was using Anvil 1000 which is like Draftsight except for the command line thingy, so my learning curve to get up to a production level wasn't very long. I think SW is the perfect tool for modeling. I'm between jobs at the moment and decided to learn Draftsight, figured it wouldn't hurt to have another CAD program on my resume.

[Don9of11]

Speaking of Drafsight, I'm having trouble with splines. The spline passes through the first and last points but only passes through some of the points in between. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong.

 

Maybe this needs to be it's own thread?

[popeye the sailor]

perhaps a bit of a tutorial here would be a good thing........I recently downloaded Draftsight,  and I'm still a newbie with it.   there is a  sad note here.......windows XP  will no longer receive any more updates for it soon  *sigh*.........another great system pushed by the wayside.

[Don9of11]

DraftSight does have limitations as I discovered last week. I was trying to use a spline to create a reconciling sweep for the lower body of the ship. I wanted to run a spline through three points and then make the spline tangent to those sweeps at each end. DraftSight can't do that. The other issue I ran across is when a point is created and when it is at the intersection of two lines. The created point is recognized as an end point, a point at the intersection of two lines is recognized as a node and if you want to draw a circle from the center of a floor sweep through a point at the intersection of two lines DrafSight won't do it.  I may take another look at it tomorrow to see if there is another way. It's a little disappointing as I was making good progress.

 

Edited January 19, 2014 by Don9of11

[captainbob]

As it turns out, Dassault Systèmes went to Auto Desk and bought the rights to an older version of AutoCad to release as DraftSight for free in the hope people would update to 3D Solid Works.  So in reality you are comparing an old version of AutoCad with a new Version of AutoCad.  DraftSight will never win that battle.

 

Bob

[AON]

We use Draftsight at the office strictly for 2D drawing or opening customers AutoCad files (using Solidworks for 3D models and 2D prints) and so I loaded it at home to do some office work here.

It is cheap (free) and you get what you pay for.

Many times I have to close and re-open the darned program because it forgets what it is... or simply refuses to work for free?

[captainbob]

If you are having that kind of trouble you should contact Dassault Systems, the same people that make SolidWorks. They are the ones the put out Draft Sight.  Or talk to your IT person at work you use it there with out problems.  I make all my model drawings in Draft Sight and have never had any problems.

 

Bob

[michael mott]

Interesting to see this up again though not really.

 

I did not like the way Draftsight worked for me, I am of the older school of drafting with a pencil and it took me too long to switch from Generic cad which was a great drawing /cad program but was eating into Autocad sales too much. After Autocad bought out Generic they did one upgrade then dropped it for the first version of Autocad LT which by any stretch of the imagination was a difficult change, for the generic mindset that I was used to.

 

when the newer version of Autocad Lt came out it was far superior to the original and so I did buy it and have become reasonably comfortable with it. At my age I did not want to go through the hassle of learning yet another drawing program(I'm still learning new things with Autocad).

 

All that said We all work with what we know and like and I will be looking to transfer my autocad Lt to a newer computer that I can put my XP operating system on. I am hoping that I can get something that will accept XP asap so that I can keep the drawing in the XP operating system that I find to be a good one for me. because my old tower is beginning to get a bit grumpy mechanically, The newer hard drives and usb sticks have more than enough capacity for what I do.Yes and I still like a stick shift in a car.

 

The new computer that I can use for internet connecting will also be acquired but nothing fancy as long as I can transfer stuff to email or post here it no doubt will come with 7 or 8 operating system . 

 

It is a good thing we don't have to rely on horses and carts for our major transportation needs though.

 

Michael

[flying_dutchman2]

Interesting to see this up again though not really.

 

All that said We all work with what we know and like and I will be looking to transfer my autocad Lt to a newer computer that I can put my XP operating system on. I am hoping that I can get something that will accept XP asap so that I can keep the drawing in the XP operating system that I find to be a good one for me.

I have used numerous CAD apps all my life, both for Mac & PC and in both mechanical and landscape architecture.

 

You also need to look at the following. 32 and 64 bit applications. XP is 32 bit and is the ACAD app. you use 32 bit as well or 64 bit?

 

For instance: I have been using Canvas since version 1 for the MAC. In version 3.5 I switched over to the PC. My version 9.2 worked great on XP. I upgraded to Windows 7-64 bit and my Canvas 32 bit kept crashing on 64 bit. Win 7-64 can run 32 bit apps but sometimes there are problems.

 

I was going to upgrade my Canvas app but $500.00 for the 64 bit app was a bit steep. I purchased TCad 20 Deluxe ($100.00) and can do everything and then some. This version does not do any lofting. But I went to the TCad forum and asked away. Several very knowledgeable people mentioned a work around.

 

The TCad community is extremely large and there are many third party apps. created as well.

 

 

The new computer that I can use for internet connecting will also be acquired but nothing fancy as long as I can transfer stuff to email or post here it no doubt will come with 7 or 8 operating system . 

 

Michael

You can always take the new PC and wipe the drive and then install XP. It will work and it will scream.

 

I still run Win 2000 on a Pentium 4 with lots of RAM as I have a CAD app. where the company went belly up. It is called "WalkThrough". I use it my free-lancing landscape design. You creat a 2D garden and set point A and then B. The app. will take all the points from the garden and create a 3D movie. Then the customer gets an idea of what the garden looks like.

 

I have an app. at work called Pro-Landscape and pretty pricey ($1500.00) and it does what I do with WalkThrough but I can't justify buying that one...... yet.

 

Marc