Autodesk Mechanical Desktop 2009 & Inventor 2012 - MDT

By Chris Turner (May 2011)

Autodesk Mechanical Desktop has been discontinued as a product for some time now, but there are still some users using MDT and are in the process of migrating their data to Inventor. The important thing to note, is that the 2009 version was the last and final version of MDT. Autodesk however, have made a new installer for Inventor 2010 which also works with 2011. At this stage, we have had no confirmation that this will be updated for 2012. Because we have had quite a few questions and issues about this lately, I have put together a white paper which covers the install in detail. There is also information on how to authorise it if you are on Subscription. Please click the link below to see my technical document MS2011039:

You will need to register and download the MDT 2009 software again from http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?id=13744274&siteID=123112 before you can install it with the 2012 Inventor software. The white paper below outlines the installation more fully.

I semi think that this may be the last time Autodesk update the installer for MDT 2009, so I really do recommend that customer’s make every effort to make the move completely over to Inventor. I too grew up using Mechanical Desktop software, but once I made the move to Inventor, I certainly wouldn’t want to go back to it. As good as MDT was in its day, Inventor is way more flexible and better to use. You also have the great DWGTrueConnect with Inventor, which gives you the industries BEST AutoCAD DWG interoperability!

• Install_MDT_2009_with_Inventor_2012.pdf500 KB