I have lost several output drivers and need to reset the aud.ini . On the advanced tab of the audio options tab under configurations setting there is an option to edit the config file. To delete that file do I select all and delete?

That might actually work, but it's not how it's usually done. Normally, you'd want to just rename aud.ini and let SONAR create a new one when it starts up.

You will find the file in documents and settings\{your_login_name}\application data\cakewalk\sonar 8.5 producer.

Renaming it lets you go back to the original if necessary, or to compare the new one to the old one to see what changed.

Have to agree with biflipper...

With SONAR closed, go to the appropriate folder (I don't have Win 7 so I'm sure exactly where it is) and simply rename the AUD.INI file to something like AUD ORIGINAL.INI....Then, when you open SONAR it will reprofile it will create a "new" AUD.INI file...

In the past week, for some reason my Hopkinton installation has gone from really good to really wobbly. I've already opened a ticket regarding one problem -- suddenly I can no longer render "What You Hear" mixes of any mixes which involved aux busses (though I could still hear the signal from the aux busses on playback). Now Platinum is freezing (white screening, never responding again) or just crashing (Windows "application has stopped working" message), sometimes with a Sonar crash reporter, sometimes not, after mundane editing tasks, when saving etc.  (I'm not connected to the internet when using Sonar, by the way, so how do I send on the crash reports I've been saving -- where are they saved)?
 
It's kind of show-stopping -- even though I'm just basically comping audio, I can't seem to work more than 20 minute without a crash or terminal freeze. Sometimes I can reboot my machine and Sonar will open the last-saved file without a problem the first time I try; other times it will freeze on loading, but if I try again it will open.    
 
Anyway, I know it could be any number of things, so I'm not asking for specific remedies yet. Because -- unless someone thinks it's a bad idea -- I would first like to try deleting aud.ini, as I've seen doing so reported as the cure for many Sonar ills in many over the years.
 
But before I try this, I want to proceed with appropriate caution. Is Bitflipper's guidance, i.e.  "just rename aud.ini and let SONAR create a new one when it starts up" all there is to it? Other than, say, create a Windows restore point as an extra precaution, is there anything else I need to do? What is the worse that could happen? Couldn't I just return to where I am now (as bad as it is) by deleting the new aud.ini and changing the old, renamed aud.ini back to aud.ini?
 
I honestly have no feel for Sonar's underlying architecture etc and so just don't want to screw myself up here.  Or maybe best to wait until tech support comes back to me? 
 
I'm on a Windows 7 64 Pro SP1 laptop with a i7 2.7 Ghz CPU, 16 GB RAM, and a Focusrite Saffire 6 USB (drivers up to date). (By the way,some of the problems, like the inability to bounce mixes as described, pre-dated this week's Patch Tuesday.)  Anti-virus Is turned off when I work, disconnected form the internet with no other programmes launched. 

lingyai
Anyway, I know it could be any number of things, so I'm not asking for specific remedies yet. Because -- unless someone thinks it's a bad idea -- I would first like to try deleting aud.ini, as I've seen doing so reported as the cure for many Sonar ills in many over the years.
 
But before I try this, I want to proceed with appropriate caution. Is Bitflipper's guidance, i.e.  "just rename aud.ini and let SONAR create a new one when it starts up" all there is to it?

 
Yes, it's that simple.
 

What is the worse that could happen?

 
The problem remains unsolved.
 

Couldn't I just return to where I am now (as bad as it is) by deleting the new aud.ini and changing the old, renamed aud.ini back to aud.ini?

 
Yes. While I can't guarantee rebuilding AUD.INI will solve your problems, it seems your issues might be interface-related, and AUD.INI is the file where SONAR manages its interfaces. So rebuilding can't hurt, and could help.
 
It's really a shame that PC/Windows-related issues can intrude so easily on the enjoyment of music creation...the good news is that once something's solved, it usually stays solved (at least until there's a major system change).

Thanks very much Craig. I will try it now and see what happens. 
 
Yeah, I think such bumps and buzzkills on the road to PC music making are, sadly just eternal facts of life, try as we do to avoid them, if for no other reason, than there are effectively infinite PC configurations, so inevitably, one man's safe haven can be another man's crashfest.
 
   

lingyai
Yeah, I think such bumps and buzzkills on the road to PC music making are, sadly just eternal facts of life, try as we do to avoid them, if for no other reason, than there are effectively infinite PC configurations, so inevitably, one man's safe haven can another man's crashfest.

Indeed. I used to just recommend that people use a Mac if they wanted a consistent computer experience. But frankly, the Mac ain't what it used to be. Although Core Audio and inherent interface integration are still very cool, there are other tradeoffs...one of the biggest for me involves "mission critical" projects. If a Windows machine goes down, I can usually have everything like new (or better) within 24 hours. With the Mac, that's not a given.
 
To me, the biggest advantage of Windows machines is you can buy configured computers from audio specialists like PC Audio Labs, Jim Roseberry, ADK, Sweetwater, etc. Not only are the machines inherently less problematic, but if anything goes wrong, they can usually get you back to work pretty fast.

I did actually have this PC custom made for pro audio by Scan UK, which I'd seen recommended in the SOS forums, and with which I've generally been quite pleased. Then again, that was three years ago, and I've ... done a few things to it since then ;-)  If my troubleshooting doesn't bear fruit, other options including getting back with them, their tech people are great and accessible.

Tentatively pleased to report that I renamed aud.ini,  put on my lucky sweater, rebooted, launched Sonar, and can now render "What You Hear" mixes involving aux sends as I always could before this week.  So, one show-stopper bites the dust! Maybe two -- I've puttered around around 25 minutes now without stability or other problems. Need to do a longer test later -- sorry, right now I gotta get outside and hyperventilate ;-)
 
Thank you very much Craig for giving me the clarity to try that.  
 
 

Working a few hours now, everything stable back in Mixtopia ... whew :-)