IMPORTANT: If you found this thread be advised that as of SONAR X3 this information here is somewhat out of date. SONAR implemented a more robust scheme for VST plugin identification that is no longer dependent on short file names. (See the end of this thread for more details) So any files saved in current versions of SONAR will no longer have this issue. However projects from old versions of SONAR may still rely on 8.3 file names and come up with missing plugins if the file system doesn't support 8.3 file names. 

EDIT: Please follow this more exhaustive KB article for a resolution if you have this problem rather than the details in this thread:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/reader.aspx/2007013293

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There are a few users running into cases where some of the prochannel modules do not appear in the menus after install. 

Some symptoms are:
- Console Channel emulator is not listed as being available although it is indeed installed 
- Loading demo projects or templates come up with missing console emulator modules

- Prochannel strip can appear blank

If you are running into any of these symptoms the chances are very high that you have disabled 8.3 filename generation on your hard drive. You may have either done this manually or you ran some "optimization" tool that did this for you. 
SONAR's VST inventory still relies on 8.3 file name generation to be active. If not you will get name collisions for plugins and all sorts of weird symptoms. To solve this problem you will need to revert this change and rescan all your plugins. Once you do this it should resolve these issues. Here is a link to a MS article that describes this tweak if you want to check if your system has this issue.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/121007
To check open a command prompt as an administrator. (Start | run | cmd then right click and choose run as administrator)
at the command prompt type:

fsutil.exe 8dot3name query C:

On a good system this should display:

The volume state for Disable8dot3 is 0 (8dot3 name creation is enabled).
The registry state of NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation is 2, the default (Volume level setting).
Based on the above two settings, 8dot3 name creation is enabled on C:.




You should repeat this with all drive letters that you have your VST plugins stored on.

Ultimately we will try and move away from this dependency but it involves backwards compatibility issues with projects so we can't completely sever this tie.

Noel,
The second line above says that 'NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation' should be 2, but the MS article says the default setting is 0.  Which should it be set to? 

When you run the fsutil command the out specifies 2 as the default, if that's any help.

win8 changes how SFNs are used (disabled by default on all but boot vol and migrated disks) so  maybe sonar could check for this? save much gnashing of teeth...

Thanks Noel.

Great catch.

best regards,
mike

I haven't personally messed with changing this option so don't have first hand experience with the internal settings.
The help for fsutil is below. It seems like the simplest would be to set it ON for ALL disk volumes like this:

fsutil.exe 8dot3name set 0

Disclaimer: I haven't tested this myself so if you would rather not do it wait until tech support does some tests with it or someone else who has tried it comments.
Here is another link describing this command: http://www.windowsreference.com/windows-7/control-8dot3-naming-in-windows-2008-and-windows-7/

The moral of the story is don't tweak your system unless you really know what you are doing or you can cause more harm than good!

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C:\Windows\system32>fsutil.exe 8dot3name set
usage : set [0 through 3] | [<Volume Path> 1 | 0]

When a volume is not specified the operation updates the registry value:

    0 - Enable 8dot3 name creation on all volumes on the system
    1 - Disable 8dot3 name creation on all volumes on the system
    2 - Set 8dot3 name creation on a per volume basis
    3 - Disable 8dot3 name creation on all volumes except the
              system volume

    When a volume is specified the operation updates the individual
        volume's on disk flag.  This operation is only meaningful
        if the registry value is set to 2.

    0 - Enable 8dot3 name creation on this volume
    1 - Disable 8dot3 name creation on this volume

This operation takes effect immediately (no reboot required).

Sample commands:
  "fsutil 8dot3name set 1"      - disable 8dot3 name creation on all volumes
  "fsutil 8dot3name set C: 1"   - disable 8dot3 name creation on c:

The moral of the story is don't tweak your system unless you really know what you are doing or you can cause more harm than good!

 
Roger that!
 
The point is if you are making tweaks at least be aware of the consequences of the ones you have made otherwise it can be really difficult working out which tweak is causing which issue.
 
Some recommend turning off 8.3 filenaming as a performance tweak but for the little if anything gained it's not worth a light.  Fortunately I have some things that probably pre-date Sonar's requirement for backward capability so I need it anyway.

i believe the performance threshold is around 30k files in a directory, above that is when 8.3 can effect performance, so unless you keep everything in a single folder...

Noel

I've changed my 8.3 file names setting to zero, i.e. when I run fsutil.exe 8dot3name query C: all looks as it should above.  I restarted my PC, opened X2 and rescanned plugins.
 
But nothing has changed.  I still only get 'Console Emulator Bus' in the list of modules to insert in the pro channel, and I still get the same errors when opening a new project template.  What else do I need to do?
 
John

this thread should be a sticky, as the 8.3/SFN functionality is an unstated system requirement