I realize this is an arranger KB forum, and this may not be the most appropriate place to ask a music software question, but since I know many of you here also use Cakewalk Sonar, I thought it ok to ask you, my arranger keyboard friends:

I currently have Sonar XL version 1.31 installed on my computer, so I've finally decided it's 'time overdue' to install the Cakewalk Sonar 2.0 CD, which I purchased quite a few months back now, as well as install the upgrade patches, to bring it to the current 2.2 version.

My questions:

1) Do I need to de-install SonarXL 1.31 first, or should I install Sonar 2.0 first, and then delete version 1.31 later on?

2) How about all the settings & paths which were saved with version 1.31? Can they be transfered and applied to Sonar 2.0, or do I need to reinstall all this too?

I'm running Windows XP with a Delta 66 Sound Card and Omni I/O. For a midi interface, I'm using a Midiman USB 'Midisport 2x2'. Will I need to reinstall any drivers after installing Sonar 2.0 ?

I also want to use my Yamaha Tyros & Yamaha PSR2000 'Instrument Definition' files with Sonar 2.0.

All assistance in helping me achieve a painless upgrade from Sonar 1.31 to 2.0 would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance to all.

Scott

I've done some Cakewalk upgrades (6 thru 9) and generally I've found that the newer version tended to be installed to a different directory than the older one. To update configuration, sys-ex strings etc I just copied the required files into the relevent new program directory. The instrument definiton file format was unchanged.

The biggest area of difficulty was updating projects containing audio (due to the new audio file location differing from the old one), and as a result I now have a dedicated "Cakewalk Audio Scratch File" directory which is somewhere different to Cakewalk, so that I just tell the later version of cakewalk to use the "my" audio scratch file location.

As I think Sonar is a "well behaved" application, then I would personally not remove the old version prior to installation in the hope that the new version will pick up the old version settings. I can't remember this happening with the older versions, however.

YOur "new" Cakewalk should "see" all installed Midi devices and should not corrupt their installations. You should not have to reinstall any drivers.

I'd copy the "Old" cakewalk somewhere safe first just in case!

Hope this helps!

John: Many thanks for responding and providing guidance re installing Sonar 2.2 from 1.3. I will take your advice and keep 1.3 installed until 2.2 is up and running smoothly. I assume that de-installing 1.3 later on, will NOT affect any of the files associated with version 2.2, right? Ok, I'm off to perform the install now. - Scott

There should be no problem removing 1.3 once 2.0+ is up and running, assuming the 2.0+ install doesn't automatically de-install the previous version.

Hope it goes OK; I'll feel a bit of an idiot if it messes up!

John: Thanks to you, installation went smoothly, and all my Sonar 1.31 settings got migrated over to Sonar 2.2 successfully. I'll probably go ahead and remove verion 1.31 in a few of days (to save disk space), once I'm assured that 2.2 continues to run well. Thanks again. - Scott

Pleasure. I can sleep soundly again now!