If your system gives you a memory error before crashing or just crashes outright when attempting to create a Helix do the following.

“Follow these steps to register the Flexgrid control and avoid a crash:

1. Open a command prompt (cmd at the Run line)
2. Type "regsvr32 msflxgrd.ocx" (without the quotes)
3. A notification will announce that the registration succeeded
4. When next launching SolidWorks, the helix can be edited/created”