Install Toolkits for Use with Multiple Versions of LabVIEW

Issue Details

How do I install toolkits so that I can use them with the multiple different versions of LabVIEW that I have installed on my machine?

Solution

Newer versions after LabVIEW 8.6 will simply install the newest version of the Toolkit that is available. Toolkits should be installed after the LabVIEW Development Environment's are installed. Toolkits will install auto-detected compatible versions of LabVIEW as well as its supporting resources.

Before LabVIEW 8.6, it was not possible to automatically have multiple instances of a single toolkit for various LabVIEW versions on the same machine. Here is a general method that should allow all Toolkit installers to install to multiple versions for LabVIEW 8.5.1 version or earlier.

1. Install the Toolkit to a temporary directory with the same top-level directory name as the version of LabVIEW for which you are installing.
   • NOTE: If you are using general Toolkit installation CD, install only the particular Toolkit that you wanted supported in multiple versions of LabVIEW. To do so- open the CD folder and select the setup.exe file for that Toolkit
   • Example: Installing Toolkit for LabVIEW 8.5 located in C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW 8.5, install the toolkit to C:\Program Files\National Instruments\TEMP\LabVIEW 8.5.
2. Once installation is complete, make a backup copy of the temporary directory
   • Example: Copy the LabVIEW 8.5 backup directory (on your desktop) to the C:\Program Files\National Instruments directory.
3. Uninstall the toolkit from the temporary directory.
   • Go to Settings»Control Panel»Add/Remove Programs
   • Click on National Instruments Software.
     • The wizard that opens up gives a list of the National Instruments software that is installed.
   • Select the toolkit that you had just installed
   • Click Change/Remove and follow through the rest of the wizard to complete the uninstallation.
     • NOTE: The backup copy that you made of the toolkit will remain.
4. Copy the backup directory to your LabVIEW installation directory
   • Example: Copy the LabVIEW 8.5 backup directory (on your desktop) to the C:\Program Files\National Instruments directory.
5. Windows will inform you that there are files of the same name in the directory and will ask you if you want to add or replace the files from the backup LabVIEW 8.5 directory to the existing LabVIEW 8.5 directory. Select yes.
   • NOTE: This will not delete any files but will merely add the Toolkit files to the existing directory.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for all versions of LabVIEW installed on your machine except for the most recent.
   • Example: If you have LabVIEW 8.0, 8.2, and 8.5 installed, follow steps 1 through 5 for LabVIEW 8.0 and 8.2.
7. Install the toolkit to your most recent version of LabVIEW.
   • NOTE: It is important to leave the toolkit properly installed for your most recent version of LabVIEW to maintain any shared components that are installed to locations other than the LabVIEW directories.
   • Example: Install the toolkits to the LabVIEW 8.5 version.

Additional Information

For older versions of LabVIEW, you may have to select a Custom install type to choose the directory to which the installer will install.