Some users (even legitimate ones) block update servers to prevent a new version from downloading, as major updates can sometimes break existing workflows or custom macros. The Most Commonly Blocked Domains In a typical piracy tutorial, you will see lines like this:

Never use the hosts file to modify SolidWorks behavior. You are gambling your company’s legal standing and intellectual property security to save a few thousand dollars. A single Dassault audit will cost you 10x the license fee.

If you are maintaining an old version of SolidWorks (2019 or earlier) on an air-gapped (offline) machine, the hosts file block is technically valid. However, treat your hosts file as a sacred system file. Backup the original before editing, and sanitize any Patch.exe you download in a virtual machine first.

A: SolidWorks does not run natively on Mac (only via Bootcamp or Parallels). On a Mac with Windows VM, the hosts file is inside the VM, not the Mac OS.