Get to know your Windows Admin

Windows domain features can minimize the workload for a PDM administrator while enhancing the user experience PDM users.

A PDM administrator typically operates within the IT support framework of an organization. What may come as a surprise is the frequency with which they remain confined within the scope of PDM responsibilities, missing opportunities to harness the skills of their IT peers. Collaborating with colleagues can enhance the PDM user experience while simultaneously reducing the administrative burden.

For instance, in the realm of SolidWorks and PDM, numerous configuration settings should remain consistent across all user accounts. Leveraging the capabilities of Windows domain administrators allows for user logins to trigger scripts that load these registry settings, ensuring each user's environment is correctly configured. What's even more efficient is housing these registry files within the PDM vault. A single file serves as the payload for deployment during each login. If changes are necessary, simply update the vault file(s), and users receive immediate updates during their next login.

The range of configurable items using this method is extensive, encompassing all SolidWorks options and many PDM settings, including the display of the '@' tab in PDM, among others. Given the breadth of these configurations, employing a login script for file deployment proves invaluable.