My 32bit plugins do not load in 32bit or 64bit Sonar

Are you the administrator ? This is how to check:
 
Open User Accounts by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel,

• click User Accounts and Family Safety,   
• You will be able to see you name and the account type.
• Check if you are shown as administrator
• You can change the account type by clicking on change your account type.

 
Also, What OS are you using ?

Yes I'm the owner and administrator of the PC and it is a Windows 10 PC.

It doesn't matter that you are the owner and administrator.
 
Locate the installer or the .exe , right click it and choose "run as administrator"
This will run the program with an elevated set of rights that a normal administrator does not have.

I understand you are running it as Administrator (and that's what you don't want) but did you physically get a look using the instructions I left in my first post?
Sometimes we don't realize it but we are logged in with a User account.
 

Some files and paths on c:\ have no rights for Executing and Writing. Not even for the admin.
But for the installer or apps like SONAR.
A lot of 32-bit-plugins are from ancient times of XP. And are not made for newer systems with complicated file rights.
It would be a nice experiment to place this vst-plugins to an other disc - just for test - where the rights are for anyone.
I don't use 32-bit-plugins.
 
 

Hi. If this is the 32 bit Dxi version, it will not run in X64 (IIRC). The 32 bit Vsti however will run in X64.
All the best.

Part of the problem in resolving this issue is talking about plug-ins in the abstract.
 
DPro does not require SONAR run as administrator to run. Prior to the Command Center DPro did require running as administrator to register on Vista and newer. This was due to security changes made by Microsoft to the registry.
 
XP era plug-ins often run afoul of these security changes. Sometimes there are ways to alter the registry to get around the security issue. For example, there is a simple change to the registry to allow Pentagon to run without administrator access.
 
It is not a 32 or 64bit problem. It is a change in OS security policies. Changes that were made after the plug-ins were developed. Changes that were never accommodated by the plug-in manufactures.

It is up to the plug-in manufacturers to follow the security policies implemented by the OS. For example, old IKM plug-ins require administrator access. It is up to IKM to provide a solution. Cakewalk has no control over IKM software requirements.

You might be surprised. Regardless, it is difficult to provide more help without knowing what plug-ins are involved. Cakewalk does keep up with Windows changes for currently developed products but not all plug-ins released by Cakewalk are still actively being developed/maintained. I mentioned Pentagon above, a plug-in that has not changed in years. To run Pentagon in Vista or newer, SONAR must be run as administrator or the user must alter the registry.
 
When it comes to 3rd party plug-ins, it is up to the plug-in manufacturer not Cakewalk to maintain their software.
 
 

Dimension Pro is a VSTi that only loads when Sonar is launched in administrator mode! Sample Tank 2 and Sonik Synth both by IK Multimedia also don't load unless Sonar is running in administrative mode. I think Sonar is directly responsible for this because they run fine in administrative mode, it's obvious to me that it's not Windows but Sonar's issue. I know this for a fact because these VST instrument plugins work fine in my other DAWs without running them in administrative mode!! No one wants to admit that Sonar still has some bugs that have been around awhile!

Sometimes the installation and/or registry gets goofed up. See this post. If there was no problem before installing 2016.4 try going back to 2016.3 or uninstall .4 and reinstall it as administrator and select all plugins.