Revision as of 18:12, 7 February 2011

Commons issues with PSpice 9.1 and the standard solutions.

OrCAD PSpice 9.1

Installing PSpice 9.1

• NOTE: You cannot have different versions of OrCAD PSpice installed. Before attempting this install, remove any previous versions of PSpice (see Removing PSpice)

1. Download OrCAD PSpice 9.1 from the OpEL website - http://www.opel.ece.vt.edu/Pspice/9_1/pspstu91.zip
2. Extract the zip file to a location on your computer and open the folder
3. IMPORTANT: Right click on setup.exe and select "Run as Administrator"
4. During the installation, make sure to select both Capture and Schematics, otherwise choose the default options
5. IMPORTANT: After the install, you need to run both Capture and Schematics as Administrator. Right Click on the program icon and select "Run as Administrator"
   • You can set Capture and Schematics to run as Administrator permanently by doing the following
   • Right Click on the program icon -> Properties -> Select the Compatibility Tab -> Check "Run this program as Administrator"

Removing PSpice 9.1

• NOTE: Please reboot your machine before attempting to remove PSpice. This will kill any hanging processes that might interfere with the uninstall procedure

1. Open the Control Panel and select Add/Remove Programs (XP) or Programs and Features (Vista/7)
2. Uninstall PSpice Student 9.1 (and any other versions of Orcad PSpice you find)
3. Open Windows Explorer (File Browser) and delete the following folder (C:\Program Files\Orcad_Demo). PSpice 10.0 and 16.2 place their folder on the C:\ drive.
4. Download and install CCleaner http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
5. Open CCleaner and use it to clean your registry http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner/registry-cleaning

Using Standalone PSpice 9.1 Executables

The PSpice Standalone programs are unofficial repackaging of the PSpice 9.1 Capture and Schematic. They do not require installation, and behave exactly as the installed versions. These versions are recommended for use if you have troubles with the installed version of PSpice or just want to not bother with the installation process. Be aware that these versions can still be affected by the same issues that the installed versions have.

• NOTE: The PSpice Standalone versions will cause errors if a PSpice program is installed. Please see Removing PSpice before attempting to use these programs.

1. Download PSpice_Capture_Standalone.exe and PSpice_Schematics_Standalone.exe from http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~pspice/
   • VT PID and Password required to access this site
2. Open and use Spice_Capture_Standalone and PSpice_Schematics_Standalone as you normally would the installed version of PSpice.

Troubleshooting PSpice

Nothing happens after opening 91pspstu.exe

91pspstu.exe is merely a self-extracting zip file. The default location is the user profile temp directory. After unzipping into the directory, the 91pspstu.exe will NOT execute setup.exe, you must navigate to the folder where the installation files were extracted. Here are some ways to find the installations files.

• After unzipping and with the unzip window still open, highlight and copy the folder location and paste into Windows Explorer, and run Setup.exe as an Administrator
• Create a folder on your desktop or documents, copy the folder location from the Windows Explorer toolbar and paste into the unzip window.
• Download a regular zip file of the pspice installation files from http://filebox.ece.vt.edu/~pspice/pspstu91.zip

(fig.1) 91pspstu.exe

Schematics will not open properly, Capture works

Mostly likely this is an issue with another service or background program interfering with Schematics. To verify this, boot up your computer in Safe Mode and run Schematics. If Schematics works properly, then you have a program or background service that is interfering.

The only solution to this problem is to determine what program(s) are interfering with Schematics. Some suggestions to do so are as follows:

• Close all running applications.
• Open your Control Panel and open Programs and Features (Add/Remove Programs). Uninstall anything that you do not use/need to have installed.
• Close any programs that are running in your taskbar that are not currently in use.

Known Programs that interfere with Schematics: Veoh Webplayer

Capture is missing PSpice menu option

Both Capture and Schematics require Administrator privileges. Right click on the program icon and select "Run as Administrator"

• To set Administrator permanently: Right Click on the program icon -> Properties -> Select the Compatibility Tab -> Check "Run this program as Administrator"