I am upgrading from Solidworks 2017 using Workgroup PDM to Solidworks 2024 using PDM, and have run into an issue with loading external references.

What I want to happen is for inserted parts (i.e. external references) to be LOADED but NOT OPENED.  This means that when I open a part, it will reference the correct version of the inserted part WITHOUT opening the inserted part in a separate window.

In SW2017, the settings I used successfully are as follows:
 

• Options -> External References -> Load referenced Documents = NONE
• Options -> External References -> Load documents in memory only = CHECKED (default, greyed out)

In SW 2024, I found that using the settings above did not load any inserted parts at all.  In order to make it work, I needed to change the setting as follows:
 

• Options -> External References -> Load referenced Documents = CHANGED ONLY (incl. assemblies) or ALL
• Options -> External References -> Load documents in memory only = CHECKED

The problem is that no matter what I select for "Load documents in memory only", all the updated inserted parts open in separate windows.  This setting does NOT seem to stop separate windows from opening like the Solidworks user guide suggests.

Due to my upgrade process from SW2017 to SW2024, ALL files are being considered as "changed" because they are automatically converted from SW2017 format to SW2024 format.  That means that ALL inserted parts will open in separate windows.  I have some assemblies with nearly 200 parts that have inserted parts, so obviously I do not want to have 200 windows opening.  I did not have this problem when upgrading from SW2013 to SW2017 many years ago.

The trouble is, most of these parts that have inserted parts are NOT going to be re-saved any time soon.  They are already approved and do not need to move through the workflow again, perhaps ever.  Additionally, all my past history (as-built) of my entire vault will of course never be re-saved either.  So I am left with the problem that these files will ALWAYS be converted to SW2024 when opening, which means I will never be able to prevent inserted parts from opening in separate windows.  It does not appear as though there is a way to prevent this from happening.

So, I thought perhaps I could solve this with an alternative strategy.  For example, if I choose "NONE" as the option for external references (i.e. no external references are loaded OR opened), is there a way to force Solidworks to LOAD the external references AFTER the assembly has been opened?  I have tried a forced rebuild (crtl+Q) and a reload without success.

I did find that if I right-click on an inserted part, and click "Edit Feature", the inserted part will re-load.  Then I can just cancel the edit without changing anything and that inserted part is now updated/reloaded.  The problem with this is that with a large assembly with 200 unique parts made from inserted parts, I can't possibly do this manually one-by-one.  Is there a way to force ALL external references to update?
 

Thanks in advance for your help!