NI Circuit Design Suite 14.2 Readme for Windows

March 2019


This file contains important information about NI Circuit Design Suite 14.2 for Windows, including installation instructions and known issues.


Refer to Getting Started with NI Circuit Design Suite for useful information about getting started with Circuit Design Suite. You can access this PDF from Start»All Programs»National Instruments»Circuit Design Suite 14.2»documentation»Getting Started with NI Circuit Design Suite. You can also access the PDF from the Multisim or Ultiboard Help menu.


System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems

Installation Instructions

Product Security and Critical Updates

Known Issues

Automating the Installation of NI Products

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

Circuit Design Suite Drops Support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-Bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and All 32-Bit Windows Operating Systems in 2021

Legal Information


System Requirements

Circuit Design Suite 14.2 has the following requirements:


  • Pentium 4M (or equivalent) or later (32-bit)
  • Pentium 4 G1 (or equivalent) or later (64-bit)
  • 1 GB of memory
  • 2 GB of free hard disk space
  • 1024 x 768 screen resolution
  • To develop custom LabVIEW-based instruments for use in Multisim, LabVIEW 2017, 2018, or 2019 Full or Professional Development System is required.

Refer to the LabVIEW Readme for additional system requirements and supported operating systems for LabVIEW.


Additional System Requirements for Modules and Toolkits

The LabVIEW Multisim Co-Simulation Plug-in has the following requirements:


  • LabVIEW 2017, 2018, or 2019 Full or Professional Development System (32-bit)
  • LabVIEW 2017, 2018, or 2019 Control Design and Simulation Module

To install the LabVIEW Multisim API Toolkit, you must already have LabVIEW 2017, 2018, or 2019 Full or Professional Development System (32-bit) installed.


Supported Operating Systems

Circuit Design Suite 14.2 supports the following operating systems:


  • Windows 10 (version 1809)/8.1 Update 11/7 SP12
  • Windows Server 2012 R21
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP12

1 NI software installs VC2015 Runtime and .NET 4.6.2. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 require Microsoft updates to support these items. Refer to Microsoft KB2919442 and KB2919355 for more information about how to install these updates.


2 NI software is signed with a SHA-256 certificate. Windows 7 SP1, Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 require Microsoft updates to support SHA-256. Refer to Microsoft KB3033929 for more information about how to install this security update.


Note


  • In 2016 Circuit Design Suite dropped support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, and installations of Windows 7 without any service packs. Circuit Design Suite 14.2 will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use Circuit Design Suite 14.2 to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing Circuit Design Suite 14.2, you cannot use any installers built on this computer with any version of LabVIEW, LabWindows™/CVI™, NI TestStand™, or Measurement Studio on an unsupported OS. For more information about the changes to our OS support for 2016, refer to Why Does My NI ADE Installer Fail on Windows XP/Vista and Windows Server 2003?
  • Support for Windows 32-bit operating systems may require disabling physical address extension (PAE). To learn how this might affect your system and what actions you might need to take, visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code PAESupport.
  • Refer to Circuit Design Suite Drops Support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-Bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and All 32-Bit Windows Operating Systems in 2021 for information about future OS support.

Installation Instructions

NI automates software installation using NI Package Manager. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code NIPMDownload to download NI Package Manager. Refer to the NI Package Manager Manual for more information about installing, removing, and upgrading NI software using NI Package Manager.


To install Circuit Design Suite using the installer from ni.com/download/multisim, double-click the setup.exe file in the root directory of the installer and follow the instructions on the screen to install this product.


With the purchase of the Circuit Design Suite, you have access to Multisim Live Premium, our web-based component of Multisim, at no additional cost. Visit multisim.com/premium to activate Multisim Live Premium.


Note  If you purchased this product with an NI Software Suite or NI Product Bundle, use the installer that shipped with your purchase to install this product.


Installing Multiple Versions

Circuit Design Suite 14.2 installs side-by-side with Circuit Design Suite 13.x and prior.


Archiving Circuit Design Suite Databases

NI recommends that you regularly back up the files created within the Multisim and Ultiboard components of Circuit Design Suite. Additionally, you should back up internal files that store user-created data, such as databases. For more information about which files to backup and where to find them, refer to the Multisim Help or Ultiboard Help.


Uninstalling

Uninstalling Circuit Design Suite will not remove user data. For more information about the locations of user database and configuration files, refer to the Archiving Data Help topic.


Product Security and Critical Updates

Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about NI products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from NI.


Known Issues

LabVIEW

LabVIEW functionality (LabVIEW instruments and grapher interpolation) will not work if the installation path uses characters that are not native to the "Language for non-Unicode programs" setting, available by selecting Start»Control Panel»Regional and Language Options and selecting the Advanced tab. LabVIEW functionality works for Unicode characters that are native to this setting.


Circuit Design Suite

Multisim Help and Ultiboard Help display in very small windows on high resolution monitors (e.g., 3200 x 1800). To enlarge the windows, click in a help topic, hold down <Ctrl> and spin the mouse wheel. For notebook computers with precision touchpads, hold down <Ctrl> and use pinch-in and pinch-out gestures to zoom to the desired level.


Automating the Installation of NI Products

You can automate the installation of most NI products using command-line arguments to suppress some or all of the installer user interface and dialog boxes.


If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.6.2, the .NET installer may run before any NI software installs and may require a reboot before the installation of NI software begins. To avoid a .NET reboot, install .NET 4.6.2 separately before you install NI software.


For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:


Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Microsoft Windows 10 is the latest version of the Windows operating system and features significant changes compared to previous versions. Windows 10 introduces several new capabilities and also combines features from both Windows 7 and Windows 8. For more information about NI support for Windows 10, visit ni.com/windows10.


Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

When you install NI software on Microsoft Windows 8.1, you will notice a few additional tiles in the Apps view, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX), and NI Launcher. For more information about NI support for Windows 8.1, visit ni.com/windows8.


Circuit Design Suite Drops Support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-Bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and All 32-Bit Windows Operating Systems in 2021

Circuit Design Suite will drop support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and all 32-bit Windows operating systems starting in 2021. Versions of this product that ship after May 1, 2021, will not install or run on these operating systems. For detailed information about NI operating system support, visit ni.com/r/win32bitsupport.


For detailed information about NI application software product life cycles, visit ni.com/info and enter one of the following Info Codes:


Product Info Code
LabVIEW lifecycle
LabWindows/CVI cvi_lifecycle
Measurement Studio mstudiolifecycle
TestStand tslcp
DIAdem ddlcp
SignalExpress selcp
VeriStand nivslifecycle


Legal Information

Copyright


© 2006–2019 National Instruments. All rights reserved.


Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.


NI respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. NI software is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Where NI software may be used to reproduce software or other materials belonging to others, you may use NI software only to reproduce materials that you may reproduce in accordance with the terms of any applicable license or other legal restriction.


End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices


You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:


  • Notices are located in the <National Instruments>\_Legal Information and <National Instruments> directories.
  • EULAs are located in the <National Instruments>\Shared\MDF\Legal\license directory.
  • Review <National Instruments>\_Legal Information.txt for information on including legal information in installers built with NI products.

U.S. Government Restricted Rights


If you are an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government ("Government"), the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the technical data included in this manual is governed by the Restricted Rights provisions under Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.227-14 for civilian agencies and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement Section 252.227-7014 and 252.227-7015 for military agencies.


IVI Foundation Copyright Notice


Content from the IVI specifications reproduced with permission from the IVI Foundation.


The IVI Foundation and its member companies make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The IVI Foundation and its member companies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.


Trademarks


Refer to the NI Trademarks and Logo Guidelines at ni.com/trademarks for information on NI trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.


Patents


For patents covering the NI products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the NI Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.


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