The Anniversary update (build 1607) caused havoc on my machine. Don't know why. Went back to build 1511 which works fine.
 
Bizarrely build 1607 works a treat on my general knockabout laptop.

I started off when windows 10 first offered the free upgrade by not doing frequent updates, as every time i would let it update I would have issues with my command center,waves central ilock manager etc. and the system was working but not quite right (not smooth "feeling"/ whatever that means in the digital pc world), but had it to where I was comfortably with it.
In my case I am probably in the reverse category as some people because one day my computer just had its own mind and forced the anniversary update upon startup (which took quite some time and several auto restarts). Needles to say as the update was spinning and restarting,blinking , winking, sparking and sputtering so to speak, I was extremely nervous , almost sweating, waiting for the results of the outcome. To my surprise after the update, everything was working flawlessly and functions such as command center,waves central ilock manager etc. along with some other minor recurring issues were cured.
Long story short, after that experience i have since let all automatic updates be performed.
 
 
 

Win7 here and never updated since the day it was installed as it is always offline. It works just fine, so I see no reason to mess with it. Software vendors that insist on having the DAW pc online can keep their software as far as I am concerned. I have MS email and if the "improvements" they insist on making to that all the time are anything to go by, I don't want them any near something that currently works.

After I did the initial install of Windows 10 took the DAW machine off line and have had no issues. We download updates to SONAR from the products page using a Linux machine and then transfer the data to the Windows machine. 

One thing I discovered that may help others was a tip from a gaming forum. I was looking for a solution to why my Video card driver keep screwing up. 
The gamers recomended toggling off the Windows Hardwar update. You can find it in 
Advanced systems settings/ Hardware / device installation settings
 
What happens is windows update will overwrite your real driver from the vendor with a crappy generic driver and there you go. Just think of what this is doing to our stuff. Might be why I'm one of the few that doesn't have problems with W10. 
 
I think what we really need at this point is a new list of solid facts and tweeks that need to be done to W10 to make it DAW friendly. The last good list we had was for XP. 
ANd if anything what W10 really needs is the good old, easy to use, selection options for windows update.
My chioce was always " tell me hen updates are available but let me choose when to download and install" 

Yes Let us manually update if needs be...That is my problem..?...And forced updates with so many ilok and dongles and PT usb thingy...and all the key codes for and in or on...eh..When a system is being built and not stable...does one back it up?....why if so?...So first to get that stability and trust...When and if it works without err or glitch or click or pops..crash or hangs....I might say...Sure turn off the updates.
 
But no way is it possible....And if the worst comes, and a reinstall of os, not backed up, because it was never stable to do a Trusting setup to one.
 
It takes me two weeks to get all the latest stuff and install it...and if libraries were installed on other drives....It takes time sometimes to get the new installs to see the libraries put in other places.
 
And then sometimes that needs a update also...The circle goes endlessly over and over, until..opps, time for more money Pay to tech support or to get the latest os, to solve what was not solve in the last one ...at least for me...Not sure of...And as being here Being served some help by some of you good folks...trying That circle is still a constant pain to get it to work...Just letting it do what it wants...And still got blue screens, no recoil to restore , and or..no work being done...Because of driver problems, audio problems....One the system below I made a video...Just for Cake walk to see...and sent them a link....I hope they get my drift...Not so for me, as I found a solution right now....But for the USERS who have em..Bugs!
 
No mono play back, no right side output., bad streaming...no sound...only if I use Window Browser Edge does sound work on internet...chrome is buggy with streams....La la la la...And until yesterday, a constant loop of when shutting down or restarting...it always had a update that never did update...took a few reboots and restarts to get rid of that...so I could enter my bios to get the version of, for tech support for Cake walk to see into my rants.
 
So....They know, I am fighting not for me....But for all.
 
Best In the New Year!
 
 
Cheers!

Yes Let us manually update if needs be...That is my problem..?...And forced updates with so many ilok and dongles and PT usb thingy...and all the key codes for and in or on...eh..When a system is being built and not stable...does one back it up?....why if so?...So first to get that stability and trust...When and if it works without err or glitch or click or pops..crash or hangs....I might say...Sure turn off the updates.
 
But no way is it possible....And if the worst comes, and a reinstall of os, not backed up, because it was never stable to do a Trusting setup to one.
 
It takes me two weeks to get all the latest stuff and install it...and if libraries were installed on other drives....It takes time sometimes to get the new installs to see the libraries put in other places.
 
And then sometimes that needs a update also...The circle goes endlessly over and over, until..opps, time for more money Pay to tech support or to get the latest os, to solve what was not solve in the last one ...at least for me...Not sure of...And as being here Being served some help by some of you good folks...trying That circle is still a constant pain to get it to work...Just letting it do what it wants...And still got blue screens, no recoil to restore , and or..no work being done...Because of driver problems, audio problems, printer issues/scanner, and monitor or video card...etc....On the system below I made a video of Just those kind of things...Just for Cake walk to see...and sent them a link....I hope they get my drift...Not so for me, as I found a solution right now on Mac OS of which I await this ported to....But for the USERS who have em..Bugs with MS so often...they are fed up fixing it, and when fixed the sabotage done there after by!
 
No no, mono play back not stereo, no right side output., bad streaming...no sound...only if I use Window Browser Edge does sound work on internet...chrome is buggy with streams....La la la la...And until yesterday, a constant loop of when shutting down or restarting...it always had a update that never did update...took a few reboots and restarts to get rid of that...so I could enter my bios to get the version of, for tech support for Cake walk to see into my rants....open old project, no audio found of tracks and or plug ins used....who trust this kind of behavior?.
 
So....They know, I am fighting not for me....But for all.
 
Best In the New Year!
 
 
Cheers!

I have to add this to end my testimony...MS tech support did the fixing of the below system..and ran a script file...and said it is fixed.....I pay for that yearly tech support plan...Did they fix it?....Nope!
 
and to boot they fixed the MSI x99sli system say same way? ran script file....Blue screened now...unable to boot into any sort of safe mode or fix tool...Nice! 
Just saying!

Not only do I allow my OS to update automatically, I am also in the Windows Insider program and regularly test preview OS releases, which also get deployed automatically to my DAW computer, which is also my work computer and my browsing computer. I image backup nightly to a dedicated hard drive and weekly to an offline hard drive. I am also a prodigious user of restore points, which I highly recommend you do as well as a first line of defense against disaster.
 
I have the luxury to do all this because:
a) my work data and configurations run on virtual machines which also get backed up
b) my work is saved to a cloud source code control system
c) I am not a professional music producer and do not depend upon the integrity of my projects.
 
I have had issues with Sonar, mostly on Windows preview releases, but nothing that I couldn't work around with one exception. That said, in general, it's been remarkably stable on this most unstable of operating environments. So I'm of the opinion that updates and DAW's can co-exist, and at some point they probably should. 
 

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/windows-10-problems-bugs-help-fix
 
Is it me?
Or did IQ's just drop to not looking into my claimed Testimonies?...And read the forum data base here, or any other DAW...of which I own all of..if not most of the ones tooting they work.
 
As any one ...not so always as you Kevinal sais is, is always...For if it were sound and stable...why back up anything?....Disasters...eh?
 
Ok....Call it what you want to...I say , is it is not stable at first run...and after x1 x2 x3 and up until now..I have not yet got it right stable....And more updates and bug fixes are now being sold...for life time updates...This sort of stability I seek...could last a life time waiting on...and perhaps is something would happen to me as in my life ends early....Did I get the stability or proper use there of what was paid for?.
 
That has been my goal here...and with others...Avid told me, the MS IRQ systems do not favour their product when using M powered App..and lots of troubles...I bought into the next level...THus...M Audio ...was used as said would..with windows, before Avid...I used Eco Gina 24 with Steinbug...vst...win 95-98 until they could not address my issues and told me to Fuc off..on the phone no doubt...while asking people to pay more for buggy code not ported to windows, but patched from Atari Gem.
 
Now, As I have many issues with so call digital audio still today, and I am not alone on this one..if you read deeper into the mayhem....I stand with the above link...saying people are not getting things done...with MS right now on Win 10 or below, because what ever updates they put into the Code...has other intentions done or doing...which, In my traveling through time seeking bliss with the promises made or agreements I click on...Never produce Prestine audio recording until win xp, using free Acid Dj...and since then, I have bought the middle class to do my test back drops.
 
If you say you Know what you are doing..with knowing how to setup...A virtual OS back drop..and it works with X Y Z perfectly....Then no need to back it up.
 
But as most Computer techs are now employed via bugs to fix...the means of bugs being, is made to be for reasons to make more money...So, yes ..Cake walk said it, in their terms of Life time updates and bug fixes.
 
You cannot sit on both side of the fence here....Is it going to work for all?...Nope, there will always be Bugs...as already stated By Cake Walk...And Any other person claiming the opposite is a liar...If I know my MS OSes....That be true with above link...and more exist right on MS websites, and other well to do exposure of.
 
Seek Black Viper?...I do not make virtual boot...I install clean to a Boot drive, because some techs claim..VT and turbo boost cause hickups with CPU and IRQs, with services running in background..that is left to do...As I know, when downloading updates automatically...Memory and drives are used to save until deployed...right?...That is where some of this oddity occurs!...And Let us not forget the back door for the underhanded Info grabs and put into to screw up anyone who comes close to making Truth be known...Eh?...shut em down, remove their posts...sabotage the video...etc.
 
This is ongoing...SPYING....Are you listening to the news?....Russia did?...no USA AND OTHER DO.
 
Cell Phones, and other devices...YES ...So, ...if this is a service to make war and kill or silence truths or liars exposed or exposing.....to kill or murder or silence....IS IT A GOOD THING?
 
Testimony....TRUTH...HONOUR...VALOUR...INTENT...AND MOST IMPORTANTLY....SAFE?....Nah!...And Music is a language of PEACE AND HARMONY?....Well?....Why tie it to that other underhanded thing?...
 
 
You see my Self as some what of a Liar?....Then those saying in that link are also Liars...because you can...Does not mean all can.
 
Now as a test, I put my Atari 1040st fm 1kb on a monocrhrome monitor, and a dot matrix printer to the test of one page text, printed and saved to disk 720 floppy, and when typing on this machine, the words appeared on screen as I typed, with no spooling of,... to print against win 10, and a inkjet Lexmark 1320 , on a 8 core 32gb ssd based os machine of PC....Do you know which one did the job in 3 seconds flat?.
 
Atari!
WIN 10 never did print a page of...Now ask How did I get the info from one machine to another?....I bought a drive bay converter...and covered the info to a drive ..moved the drive to the mac bay I bought for Sata...and sent that text to myself through my network of machines.
 
Now, As I have been in this for some time, I am a crafty bugger....But to make my point, is all this speed, and more cores, and more memory...really making things faster?...Nope!..or work better?....Nope!...and my time spent testing yanking and uninstalling and reinstalling OS and Apps and making Key codes put to make em work each and every time...Because something is a miss with....Add it up?...who pays me?..is it work?...
 
 
Yah...no , I pay them, to screw it up it seems....So...Are we seeing with open eyes?...or closed?...saying one thing...But backing up, because you know it will one day go belly up....
 
Now back to reason!