Sonar 8.5 Crashed while recording Audio, now unresponsive

I've been using 8.5 for a few years.  It survived my machine's forced "update" to Windows 10.  But yesterday while recording audio, it froze and I had to use Task Manager to end it.  Now, it takes nearly a full minute to even open, and even longer to open a file, and will freeze immediately if I try to do anything in the file.  I'm pretty sure my next step should be to try an Uninstall and Re-Install.  Has anyone had this experience and does anyone have help/guidance to offer me for doing the Un/Re-Install?  
 
Incidentally, I'm somewhat dismayed that I can't call anyone at Cakewalk to get help with this, because my software is apparently deemed too old to warrant even a basic level of customer service 
 
Thanks.
Dan

luckychrm9 Incidentally, I'm somewhat dismayed that I can't call anyone at Cakewalk to get help with this, because my software is apparently deemed too old to warrant even a basic level of customer service  

Tried getting support from Microsoft for XP recently?

 
***After posting the reply below, I stumbled upon a fix; disconnected and reconnected my Focusrite.***
***But yes I'm going to upgrade.  Is Platinum the best/only choice?***
 
Thanks for the comments.  Now I have a new problem, which might shed light on the old one:
I did an Uninstall-Reinstall of Finale 2014.5 today because it's been crashing repeatedly since I got Win10, and lo and behold, now it's doing the same thing the Sonar's doing:  Taking forever to open, and then freezing if I try to click on most anything. 
 
I want to stress:  I was running fine with this rig until Win10 took over, and even then it was mostly ok until this crash the other night.  Now I'm fooked.
 
Intel Core2, 4 GB RAM, Windows10, Focusrite 2i4 I/O
 
 
 

I have to agree with the previous comments.
 
Do you have the media for your previous O.S. so you can reinstall it?  Failing that, you could probably get a new XP disc off Ebay fairly cheap... and then load Sonar 8.5.   I'd say this would be the least painful fix.

Widows 10 is terrible for older software, Software from the XP 32 bit days runs fin for me on Windows 7 and even 8.1.
But the slow response and freezing is what you can expect with W10 from old software. Some things like my Canon Scanner software take 6 tries just to open. 
Sonar 8.5 is a great version and I used it for longer than any other version as I skipped over X1 and X2 as I saw too many issues reported here on this forum. But that was using Windows 7. 
Owning an older version gives you begging rights for a lower price point on the new versions. 
Check your store page. 
 
And as said above, your system specs are really not even close for running W 10. It's now standard to have a min of 16 Gigs. 
 
If I was you I'd look into a new machine first and then think about a new version of Sonar next. Nothing wrong with 8.5. You'll have to look at the features list, however, and you'll see they have added a ton of good stuff. The biggest reason for the flagship is the add ons, the lower versions do most of the same work, but it's the add ons like Addictive Drums that are well worth the ticket price. 
 
For now as said above your actually better off running Windows XP and Sonar 8.5 on that computer. Windows 7 might not be an option as it was expensive to purchase back when. 

Many thanks to everyone for the advice and information.  As I noted above, my gigantic problem was solved by rebooting my Focusrite.  btw, there's a cute little MIDI analysis freeware called MIDI-OX that helped to point me to the Focusrite.  I recommend it.
 
My use of Sonar is pretty exclusively for rough demos of arrangements.  8.5 has done fine for me, but if it's not certified for use with Win10 it's probably time to upgrade, even if I don't really need the add-ons - I'll probably end up using some of them if they're there. 
 
As to that, should I first try adding RAM to my existing computer, or is my processor speed an issue now?  The machine is only about 4-5 years old, but apparently that's the modern equivalent of driving a '78 Dodge.
If I were to backgrade to Win7 that would mean getting a second computer for everything else (I sense that many of you have done that), and resigning myself to no updates or support for my old programs.  
 
I do still get Finale 2014.5 crashing fairly often since the update to Win10.  The MakeMusic customer service guy has been really helpful in trying to solve the problem, but so far it persists.  I imagine a clean re-install of Win10 would be my next step, but what a headache. 
 
Any processors you all can recommend?  Any that I should stay away from?
 
Dan

Thanks for the reply.  I'm going to get a quote from my computer repair guys down the street, whom I like.  It would be fun to build my own machine - I'm geeky enough - but as always, my "musician" time needs to take precedence.  Also, my hunch is that buying those elements separately might not save me any money over buying a machine put together by people who can buy the parts in quantity.  Not true?

On a different note, my biggest issue since Win10 took over my machine is that Finale is crashing constantly.  As I mentioned earlier, the tech support guy has walked me through a bunch of attempted fixes, but nothing is helping.  I un/re-installed it, changed drivers, bypassed the Focusrite, created a zillion event and crashlog files, even let him wander around my machine remotely for awhile.  His latest suggestion is that I create a new admin account on my computer.  My current account is admin, but he thinks this might make a difference; something about permissions.  He swears that Finale 2014.5 is fully compatible with Windows 10, but the proof is in the pudding IMO; something is causing the crashes.  Being an old-school guy, I keep suspecting an interrupt conflict, though I honestly don't even know if those are a thing anymore.
 
A possibly-related problem is that Win10 stops being able to play YouTube videos.  I can fix the problem by putting the machine to sleep and waking it up; then - voila - they can play again.  Since Finale only crashes sporadically - sometimes it'll go for half an hour before crashing, sometimes only a few minutes - it's hard to correlate the two.
 
I might solve this problem by obtaining a new machine.  But the nerd in me wants to know why the crashes are happening . . . 
 

I do arrangements for HS show choirs mostly.  I have to create rough demos of the arrangements for a small ensemble (usually guitar, bass, drums, keys, synth, and horn section) using a MIDI keyboard to create all tracks (not at all studio quality).  I don't even put actual vocals on the recordings, but just a dorky-sounding synth "voice" sound to approximate them.  They pay me for the arrangements; the demos are just to give them (and their combo) an idea.  
 
I do several dozen of these per year, as well as an occasional chart for band or a take-down of a song.  I'm also a musical theater composer, and would like any prospective new setup to be able to record live vocals (again just for decent demos); probably just one at a time, since I'm not in a studio.  For that, I imagine the Focusrite can do what I need with regard to main/monitor functions, and I have a multi headphone box.
 
In the past, the current setup, with Finale, Sonar, an I/O unit and decent computer have been sufficient for the choir demos.  Since the Win10 update, Finale crashes constantly, but I'm working through that, since I don't have a choice.
 
I would love some input as to what I should make sure my computer guys include in my new system; especially if there's particular hardware one should use, or stay away from.
 
Thanks.