Can I run Sonar Home Studio 6XL on a Windows 8 machine???

I have 100s of hours of recordings done with 6 XL on an XP machine which runs fine, but my interface fried out and my new Presonus interface wont run on my XP machine.  Microsoft will not be supporting XP anymore, so now I have a Win 8 laptop I want to access my stuff on.  I've downloaded the trial version of X3 and am seriously considering upgrading.  When I try to open the 6XL songs I get error messages and tracks are being "replaced with silence".  I've done searches to find tracks.  Do I have to do a search on every track for every song?  That could take years.  What do you suggest is my best option?  Help!!!

To answer you question, I say why don't you try it? there's nothing to loose and it just might run. 
But I will probably be unstable.
I highly recommend upgrading to say X3 or even better X3 Studio. X3 Pro might be overkill for you if you've been happy with HS 6. 
 
To bad you interface has no XP drivers but this is true all new interfaces coming out. Good news is you don't need an interface to run HS 6 and open and re save the projects properly using the old XP computer.  
 
I have a feeling HS 6 did not have the per project option mentioned above. But you can accomplish the same thing buy creating folders for each song using Windows Explorer. Then performing a "save as"  and point  the project to the folder you made.  
 
Be sure and check the:" Copy all audio with project"  box. This will give you a folder for each song with all the needed data inside. 
Important- Save the projects as Normal- CWP files, do not use Bundle - CWB  Bundle files are known to behave as you are describing. 
 
I know this works because I have opened a few  CWP files I created with HS 5 back in 2004 and it worked just fine on X3. Only issue was a missing reverb plug in. 
One other item that will cause Sonar to not load an audio file is when the clock rate is different. 
Make sure the clock rate of your new interface matches the old one. 
 

I believe that HS6 will work on Windows 7 but I would not be confident about running it on Windows 8.  Would you consider a dual-boot setup?

By the way, two separate threads would have been preferable for your two unrelated questions.

Can I save all the HS6 projects on an external hard drive? I don't believe they will fit on my xp machines HD.

Hey Bob,
 
how do I run in Windows Compatibility Mode?
 

Yes and like I said make sure and check the "Copy Audio with project" button. 
 
If you are using per project folders/ If not, follow my instructions and it will work. 
 
You cannot convert wave files to CWP but they are saved with each project inside the Audio folder.

OK,

I've got my new Presonus 1818 USB interface running. I've saved all my music recordings as .cwp on my Ex HD. I've installed the x32 bit version of SHS6XL on my Win 8.1 laptop. I can open all my stuff on the new set up. Everything seems to be working, though I haven't tested Session Drummer 2 yet.

My question is this:

Should I install the x64bit version also? To use for recording new projects from this point forward? I did install it and then uninstalled it because I got a screeching sound when I opened one of them. I don't recall which one now. I'm not even sure that was the cause of the noise. I just didn't want to blow up my gear.

What do you guys think?

Try right-clicking on the installation file and select "Run as Administrator."