I have managed to clarify the permissions issue i mentioned above. I simply ran the downloaded cakewalk.exe, that the bandlab assistant downloaded, as administrator. this has rectified the permissions errors and put everything back as it was. I no longer need to run CbB "as administrator" every time I use it and my X3 is back to working as it did before.
 
Result.

Yeah, and it has been so long since most users have installed a new product/upgrade they have forgotten what happens. I have seen a lot here forget to check preferences or copy over config files. Some have forgotten they set their old version to run as administrator. All of this was less common when the upgrade cycle was 1 year to 18 months. It has been years since most have performed an upgrade.

Just checked again and it hasn't sorted the issue for X3 or CbB. Grrr.
 
Oh well ..... i'll try some more digging around

I just wanted to say I apologize to all who saw my rants and especially BandLab. No excuses, but I was really ticked at Gibson and doubted Bandlab's commitment to Cakewalk Sonar until now. I apologize everyone, I'm sorry for the rants. 
 
I would also like to say that the support for BandLab is outstanding and would like to convey my own personal experience as of late with a few questions I asked them. 
 
I had several questions I asked Banlab's support, and they answered them all in a timely fashion and were very helpful. Didn't take days, it took a couple hours. One of the people who replied said they were a former Cakewalk employee and stressed that if I needed more answers to reply further. 
 
This really reassures me that BandLab "IS NOT GIBSON" and they are not here to take advantage of anyone like Gibson did. 
 
Whatever the Case, this is AWESOME NEWS! As for those of you griping about "I PAID THIS OR THAT", well, you got what you paid for, think of this as : "Your getting something your not HAVING TO PAY FOR". 
 
A few things on the install of this software, and maybe someone will chime in and correct me if I am wrong, but I wanted to convey a few personal things that might be helpful to others. 
 
First thing I done was download the Cakewalk By Bandlab Installer and installed it by selecting the Top option : Which I think was worded something like "Install Cakewalk By Bandlab with everything", since I am an owner of Sonar Platinum that was a mistake. 
 
In my case I always keep a Image backup of my system just incase I ever needed it. And why was that a mistake? Because I already had Sonar Platinum with the 3rd party plugins I didn't need to reinstall them. 
 
So I reset with Image backup and started again to install Cakewalk by Bandlab Assistant. Only this time I select : "Install Cakewalk by Bandlab Only". 
 
Everything installed fine. 
 
The thing is, I found that "In my case and keep in mind I am keeping Sonar Platinum Installed" I had to add the search areas for my plugins and everything once again.  
 
Some things I did do that helped, I copied some files, and you'll see if you use Sonar platinum and install this version of Cakewalk bandlab. 

I copied SOME files NOT ALL from the C:\Cakewalk Content                directory. 
There are two folders, you have : C:\Cakewalk Content\SONAR Platinum        - Which is the Sonar Plat directory.
and you have the new area which is : C:\Cakewalk Content\Cakewalk Core    -  Which is the New directory. 
 
I also had to go into AppData : C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk
to copy my AD2 Drum maps from the C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk\SONAR Platinum
to C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core\Drum Maps
folder. 
 
It was very simple and I hope I explained it right. I did the same things with my Custom VST/VSTI's "PLUG-IN MENU LAYOUTS" list that I had saved. You just go into %APPDATA% and select your USERNAME and Roaming and then CAKEWALK and you'll see Sonar Platinum  and Cakewalk Core where you can copy files "If you need them to Cakewalk Core".  But like I said, I just copied the AD2 Drum maps and my VST/VSTI "PLUG-IN MENU LAYOUTS". 
 
Anyway, I hope I didn't confuse anyone and I hope this helps. It was really an easy transition, and I have no problem keeping the older Sonar Platinum on my machine considering it means I can use my previous 3rd party plugins. I simply deleted the Icon from my desktop for Sonar Platinum and now use Cakewalk by Bandlab. 
 
I would like to reiterate that the support I got from BandLab with the questions I ask was OUTSTANDING!
 
Thank you BandLab, and Noel, for without Noel & BandLab NONE OF THIS WOULD BE POSSIBLE!!!
 
Bobby
 

Does anyone know if the new BandLab Cakewalk supports 32 bit VST's? A bridging program such as JBridge won't work with my Korg Krome's VST Editor, which is why I had been using the 32 bit version of Sonar.
 
Thanks.

CbB uses the same 32bit plug-in BitBridge as SONAR. If the plug-in does not work with jBridge it may or may not work in BitBridge. There is only one way to know for sure.

Thanks for the quick response. I tried both BitBridge and JBridge years ago and neither worked for this particular issue, which is why I stuck with the 32-bit version of Sonar. I suppose it won't hurt to try them both again...

Steve_Karl
 

Neil,
Thanks for the heads up on X3.

This is one of the most telling posts I've ever seen for a reason to be using a partition imaging program like Macrium Reflect.
In a situation like yours rolling back would be bullet proof with Macrium Reflect because it copies a complete image of the OS partition, or any other partition you choose, to one file, that can be restored, putting your OS back to the 'exact' state when you created the image.

I use the paid version of Macrium on 4 computers I own. I get a volume license for them. It's hands down the best imaging software I've used. I'm in the biz and have tried quite a few different imaging programs. The nice thing about the paid version of Macrium is that It supports restoring your image on different hardware. Makes it nice when you want to upgrade Hardware you can simply move it all the the new system. I've been able to restore several of my systems by replacing a failed drive and restoring the image to it... quick and easy... on another note... Thank You Meng and all the folks at Bandlab. I had a couple of glitches in installing CbB, but got them worked out this afternoon and all is well. I think the name is cool too...  All you have done is greatly appreciated... Many many thanks!!!
Jackson

I feel New "Cakewalk by Bandlab" improved performance than latest Sonar Platinum.
 
Smooth graphics performance, fixed sync problem, I don't know exactly but I can feel it.
Placebo Effect?? :):):)
 

CbB is def more stable... no crashes yet!