Installing and Running Mentor Graphics PADS & Cadence OrCAD Capture on the same machine

In the past I’ve always used separate machines or dual booted a machine to ensure my environments were working when I needed them to, but I’m finally using both tools enough that it was time to spend the 5 minutes asking the ‘Google IT Engineer’ for help installing and simultaneously using both tools on one machine.

My quick search lead me to this 2010 forum thread that has some info on the OrCAD-PADS coexistence on the same PC. In their case they used OrCAD 16.3 and PADS 9.2.

I’m using OrCAD Capture CIS 16.6 and PADS Layout PADS VX.2.6 update 10, but the advice is the same:

1. Install in the proper order OR
2. Edit your path file appropriately

Installation Order

It is simple – install Mentor PADS first, then install OrCAD next.

In my case I had OrCAD installed, and I decided to uninstall all of the 16.x & 17.x versions from my Windows 10 machine first.

Then I installed PADS VX.2.6 update 10, and verified I could edit my .pcb files.

Next I installed OrCAD and verified that it worked.

Edit Path File

I probably should have followed this path to save some time because it appears simple.

I cold have edited the Windows Environment Variables Path to ensure that all Cadence paths appeared first. My path is below:

%CDSROOT%\openaccess\bin\win32\opt;%CDSROOT%\tools\capture;%CDSROOT%\tools\pspice;%CDSROOT%\tools\specctra\bin;%CDSROOT%\tools\fet\bin;%CDSROOT%\tools\libutil\bin;%CDSROOT%\tools\bin;%CDSROOT%\tools\pcb\bin;%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;;C:\MentorGraphics\PADSVX.2.5\SDD_HOME\CAMCAD;C:\MentorGraphics\PADSVX.2.8\SDD_HOME\CAMCAD;C:\MentorGraphics\PADSVX.2.6\SDD_HOME\CAMCAD

More readable version below:

%CDSROOT%\openaccess\bin\win32\opt;
%CDSROOT%\tools\capture;
%CDSROOT%\tools\pspice;
%CDSROOT%\tools\specctra\bin;
%CDSROOT%\tools\fet\bin;
%CDSROOT%\tools\libutil\bin;
%CDSROOT%\tools\bin;
%CDSROOT%\tools\pcb\bin;
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;
;
C:\MentorGraphics\PADSVX.2.5\SDD_HOME\CAMCAD;
C:\MentorGraphics\PADSVX.2.8\SDD_HOME\CAMCAD;
C:\MentorGraphics\PADSVX.2.6\SDD_HOME\CAMCAD

I’m not sure why there is a dual semicolon in the path, but I wanted to leave it in to show you my entire file

Conclusion

This is simple, and hopefully my knowledge and experience with this simple thing can someone else.