Sonar says files are incompatible ----Also, keeps asking for REG key upon each start

I think if you purchase the latest SONAR (platinum), that would all that is required for the upgrading.  More information is readily available on the products page.
 
No idea about the registration key issue.  8.x hasn't been 'officially' supported in some time now.

https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007012920/SONAR-8-5-3-AudioSnap-Update
 
You can work your way backward from there. 8.5.2 is required for 8.5.3. Previous versions generally needed to be installed prior to a subsequent upgrade.
 
Happy hunting.

What "previous files" are not compatible? Is it that you cannot run projects created on an earlier version of SONAR in your 8.3 installation on Win7?
 
Did you run the installation file for SONAR 8.0 as administrator when you installed the program?
 
Have you tried running SONAR in XP compatibility mode?
 
What happens if you put the registration key in when the program asks you to do that?

OK, Now I know what you mean by running it in XP compatible mode - it's upon start of the SONAR.exe file...
 
YEs, I went ahead and ran it in WIN XP compatibility mode. THe result? - Still doesn't open the file.
 
Program is still not registering  my KEy.

support for Sonar 8 was discontinued long ago. so if your not receiving a reply, im not surprised.
the update for Sonar 8.5 is also not available anymore (as far as I know) I believe its only the X series there are updates for (still I could be wrong, but I don't think so).
 
anyway, have you tried running windows 7 as administrator ?
right click on the sonar Icon and choose "Run as administrator".
use the reg key as normal. then close the program and re open.
 
some of the sonar VST's (like Rapture) was like that. you needed to run it as administrator in order for it to take the reg code.
similar to this: https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007013114/I-cant-enter-my-registration-code-it-says-Not-logged-in-as-Admin
 
hope this helps.
 

In the past Cakewalk had offers to "buy now and get the next version free." They would happen a month or so before the new release. The deadline for such offers was around the release of the next version. There was never a situation where such an offer lacked a deadline. I do not recall if there was such an offer for 8.0 or the details but would not be surprised if one existed. Version 8.5 was released in Sep 2009.
 
I would look in the knowledge base for updates to versions X3 and older (including SONAR 8). My guess is the 8.0 updates are still there. AFAIK all the support pages which held the updates were all moved into the knowledge base a few months ago.

It looks like Sonar 8.5 was the first version that claimed to be compatible with Win 7. It is not at all unusual for application vendors to limit support to a certain version of the OS, but there are remarkably few complaints on this forum history about people being unable to run 8.3 on Win 7, which suggests that some people were able to do so. One thing that does keep showing up in the forum history is that you need to run the installation "as administrator."
 
I do not want to insult your intelligence, but many people do not know that there is a difference between running a program "as administrator" and running a program from an account that is a member of the "administrators group." In XP it was common to run everything from an administrator group account, which gave you pretty much administrator privileges. Since Vista User Account Control (UAC), has been introduced, and an account that is a member of the administrators group does not have the full privileges needed for all operations. In particular access  to locations and files (permissions and ownership) is not automatically granted to administrator accounts. If you have not already done so, I suggest you uninstall your Sonar 8 installation and reinstall it by right clicking the setup.exe file and choosing "run as administrator" from the dropdown menu. 
 
http://www.digitalcitizen.life/how-run-programs-administrator-windows-7
 

If I understand you correctly, you previously had this version of Sonar (8.3) running in Win 7 successfully?
 
If that's the case, then something has gotten corrupted, and you'll need to do (at least) a clean uninstall and reinstall of 8.3.
 
And by "clean", I mean you uninstall the program, delete any leftover Sonar folders; then, in the registry editor, delete any remnants of Sonar.  Reboot, then install Sonar with latest patch.  (Do all of these with "Run as Administrator").
 
If the idea of possibly upgrading to Platinum (and the lifetime updates!) tickles your fancy... download the SPlat demo and start by  importing your old projects.

To the OP,
 
Did you previously have Sonar 8.3 installed on Win 7 and running successfully?  Do you have a serial number, and if so, is it the one you used previously?
 
If the answer to both of those is "yes", then see my earlier recommendation. 

I guess one question is if 8.3.1 was working under Win7, what changed so it no longer works?

Is this a previously stable and working installation that started acting up or a fresh installation on a new PC or....?

Still unable to install my SONAR. Can anyone help, please?
 
-bob

No, it does not help. In addition, I ran it in compatibility mode. 
 
SONAR tech manually placed my registration in a new account and now it will not register.
 
Can't fix it because Cakewalk is not responding to emails to customer support or PMs over past 2 months.
 
I called Gibson HQ, but they said the company does not have a phone number to transfer to....hummmmmm
 
Are they going out of business?
 
 

JonD
If I understand you correctly, you previously had this version of Sonar (8.3) running in Win 7 successfully?
 
If that's the case, then something has gotten corrupted, and you'll need to do (at least) a clean uninstall and reinstall of 8.3.
 
And by "clean", I mean you uninstall the program, delete any leftover Sonar folders; then, in the registry editor, delete any remnants of Sonar.  Reboot, then install Sonar with latest patch.  (Do all of these with "Run as Administrator").
 
If the idea of possibly upgrading to Platinum (and the lifetime updates!) tickles your fancy... download the SPlat demo and start by  importing your old projects.

I did a CLEAN install...It made no difference. I'm still getting the same invalid reg error.
 
Secondly, I'm not interested in upgrading at this point. The SONAR 8.3 program I bought works great with all my plug-ins at the moment. Cakewalk needs to honor my purchase and make my reg code work.

bobsacco
Cakewalk needs to honor my purchase and make my reg code work.

bobsacco
The problem is CAKEWALK'S refusal to fix my purchased reg code, not the software itself.

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on the internet, but it does not appear that Cakewalk has any obligation to you. Take a look at the license agreement at the end of the Sonar 8 reference guide starting at 5. LICENSEE'S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR SELECTION AND USE OF THE PRODUCT.

Just download the torrent like all the others! :)  It's obsolete and the company that sold it to you has changed hands so no point complaining. 
I have a copy of 8.5 I bought second hand from a friend, I was unaware that this was against the rules at the time. So I could not register it with Cakewalk.  But I have 2 numbers for it. A serial number you enter during install. And then an activation number you use the first time you run it which has to be "run as administrator in W7 64 bit.  I have installed this disk probably 10 times over the years and all I ever needed was those 2 numbers that came with it.