This is the first time I will update Sonar Platinum since I installed the first version. I update manually and do not use the Command Center because a) my Sonar PC is not connected to the internet, and b) I want to install constituent resources in locations that apparently are not accommodated by the Command Center. (I had postponed updating in the hope that Command Center would evolve to implementing installation configurability, but that has apparently not been the case.) To this end, I have some questions:
 
1) Do the two downloads created when I select "Sonar Platinum," consisting of SONAR_Platinum_UP9_Setup_21.9.0.40.exe and PlatinumCorePlugins_1.0.0.6.exe include a complete update? Or, must I also additionally download "Classic Creative FX Suite,"Engineering FX Suite," "Cakewalk Drum Replacer," etc. and execute their .exe files separately?
 
2) If the above two main .exe's include a complete update, when running the manual installation, can I deselect those packages that I do not want to prevent them from installing?
 
3) What is included in "Platinum Core Plugins?"
 
thanks
 
Keith

Use CCC, and set Verbose installation mode in Settings. This will give you the standard installer dialog that you would get with a manual download and execution. I do this because I have SONAR installed on D:. Many of the the installers still don't let you fully control all the installation paths, but there's no difference between CCC Verbose mode and manual execution in this respect.
 
The two files are just the core SONAR program and Prochannel modules. They do not include the other FX suites.
 
I recommend you go ahead and install everything once using CCC so it can help you keep track of what needs updating (yellow lights) going forward.
 

Brundlefly, thanks for the sound advice.
 
If I proceed as you advised, by temporarily connecting my DAW PC to the internet, can I remove the internet connection after Sonar installation and proceed to use the updates offline?
 
(If I adopted the above approach, I would presumably connect the PC to the internet every few months to check for updates.)

yes, there is no need to maintain a constant internet connection.

I have loaded Command Center and have loaded the latest version of Sonar Platinum, including some packages that I already had, so they would be "registered" in Command Center. Presumably, I tried to install these to the same locations to which they were previously installed, but, who knows for sure. As a result, the number of plugins that Sonar indicates that it has scanned is about double (290 vs. 140) what they were before the upgrade. So, I suspect that I have duplicate plugin installations in some cases.
 
I looked in Plugin Manager, but I cannot find any obvious dual (e,g. installed in more than one location) instances of plugins. How can I find dual plugin installations, and how can I uninstall a plugin?
 
thanks again
 
 

Assuming your scan path is correct, you might find the VSTInvetory tool listed in this post useful

(I am running Windows 7.)
 
Per scook's suggestion, I made sure that the scan paths were correct. I found that there was a duplicate in which a subfolder of another scanpath also specified, presumably causing some plugins to be scanned and counted twice. After removal of the subfolder from the scanpaths, the quantity of plugins found on startup was reduced from 290 to 256.
 
Using the Plugin Manager, I added together the each of the three plugin status categories, resulting in the following totals:
 
enabled plugins: 176
excluded plugins: 48
permanently excluded plugins: 78
 
Therefore:
 
176 (enabled plugins) + 48 (excluded plugins) + 78 (permanently excluded plugins) = 302 (total does not make sense to me)
 
Similarly:
 
176 (enabled plugins) + 78 (permanently excluded plugins) = 254 (closer to what the Sonar scan finds)
 
Questions:
 
1) Which of the plugins (enabled, excluded, permanently excluded) are included in the Sonar VST scan total?
 
2) What is the difference between "excluded" and "permanently excluded" plugins? (I believe, from the documentation, that "permanently excluded" plugins have been completely removed from the system, including registry entries. Therefore, how can they possibly be included in the scan total?)
 
3) How can I completely remove a plugin from the system? Is it simply a matter of deleting the .dll in file explorer?
 
4) How can I exclude a plugin from the startup scan?
 
5) Is there any benefit to excluding VST's other than removing clutter from the Plugin Manager and plugin insertion operations?
 
I know that I can ignore the numbers and just happily make music. However, I am wondering whether this issue is trying to tell me something, possibly having to do with why it takes so long for me to invoke Sonar and to open some projects.
 
 
 
 
 

Keep in mind the  VST scanner also scans ProChannel modules which are not listed in the plug-in manager. The plug-in manager lists plug-ins which are not scanned by the VST scanner.
 
While removing VST dlls from the scan path effectively removes them form SONAR, if the plug-in uses an installer program, it is best to use the uninstall process provided for the plug-in to remove it. This is because the uninstall process will usually do a more complete removal of all the plug-in's components such as dlls, docs, presets, etc....

Thanks. But what is the difference between "excluded" and "permanently excluded" plugins? Is there any actual performance benefit to be gained from excluding a plugin?
 
thanks again
 

Excluded plug-ins can be added back to the active list. Excluded and Permanently Excluded plug-ins do not affect SONAR performance.