Some months ago, a great console-emulating plug, Code Red Free, came out. In some respects, super-awesome -- the best "warmifier" I've heard.  However, I noticed it seemed to make Hopkinton projects on my setup a bit crashy; also, it never seems to save my settings upon reopening a saved project, nor would it usually save named save presets.  
 
It sounds so good that I have put up with these problems, working around by taking screenshots of the settings, and remembering to use those when opening a project, and by appealing to the anti-crash gods.  More often than not, it works out.
 
Now the devs have introduced a full-fat version of the plug, found here
 
http://www.shatteredglassaudio.com/product.php?id=107
 
They've said they don't test it on Sonar. Well, ok ... it still might be worth having. My question is, has anyone tried this new version, and if so, how'd it go for you? 

The free version is the same underlying code as the paid version, just with fewer controls. If one causes stability issues I'd expect the other to do so as well. Assuming you're sure about the plugin being "crashy", whatever that means.
 
I've not used either version, but it is a common practice for demo versions to disable saving of presets and restoring parameters saved with the project. You might send them an email via their Contact page and ask about it.

Thanks. In this case the free version was not preset save-disabled. In fact I saved presets twice in the beginning, but then mysteriously lost the ability. Have contacted the dev but they did not reply to this point. They have however mentioned that they don't test on Sonar, so maybe they are throwing up their hands in this respect.
 
"By crashy" I mean that when I've inserted into a few very simple Sonar projects, I've gotten unexpected crashes (white screen, "SPLAT has stopped working" etc) ; and then when I remove it, making no other changes, these crashes don't occur.  
 
Anyone else seen this kind of thing?

I see they have both VST2 and VST3 versions.  As a workaround, you might try the alternate version than what you are using, see if it's any more stable.

Thanks Jon. I did, but no joy.  Have tried to turn over every stone with this one because it really is special.  

"Crashy" is a good word, then.
 
I'd be looking for a replacement. Whenever I've had plugins that would intermittently crash SONAR, they've been instantly retired. There are very few plugins so unique that they can't be replaced.
 
Maybe what you should be asking the forum for is suggestions re console emulation / exciter / distortion alternatives. 
 
I generally don't use such things myself, but when I do I turn to iZotope's Exciter module. Not a console emulation per se, but if the main thing you're after is the subtle harmonic distortion, this plugin does that exceedingly well.

Usually I think the same way as you, Bitflipper. However, in rare cases I'll put up with the shortcomings if the end result is really that good, and this is one of those cases. It's like
 
--Scenario A: Man brings average girlfriend home to meet young son. Young son really disapproves. Outcome: "Sorry, hon..."
 
--Scenario B: Man brings lava-hot girlfriend home to meet young son. Young son really disapproves. Outcome: "Sorry, son..."
 
I can imagine I'll use Code Red the same way I use Harrison Mixbus 2 -- i.e. as a master finisher in its own simple, single-file session. (As as a dependable, fully-fledged DAW, Mixbus fails left right and center on my setup, but damn does its console emulation / saturation sound nice.) 

Oh thanks for the tip re the Izotope Exciter module -- come to think of it, I might have that if it's in Nektar, will check that out.
 
That said, Code red isn't really an exciter per se (though you could use it that way) .... it also warms in a really nice way. I don't know, I just file it under "Soundgooderizer"