FWIW, I just ran the following test.
 
Phase 1 create a project using global audio folder
1) Start SONAR
2) Open Preferences > File > Audio Data and uncheck "Use Per-Project Audio Folders"
3) File > New and create new project using normal template
4) Drag two audio loops into project creating two audio tracks.
5) Save the project. Project name is Junk
6) Shot down SONAR
 
At this point I shut down verified the project and audio were in the "E:\Cakewalk Projects" my default for project and audio data.
 
Phase 2 create per-project audio folder version of project Junk
1) Start SONAR
2) Open project Junk
3) Open Preferences > File > Audio Data and check "Use Per-Project Audio Folders"
3) Save As. In the "Save As" dialog change the "Project Path" to "E:\Cakewalk Projects\junk", click the File name entry to update the Project Path entry. A dialog pops up to verify directory creation. Click yes. The "Save in" at the top of the "Save As" dialog changes to the newly created junk directory. The "Copy all audio with project" is checked. Click "Save". The "Sonar Project Information" dialog is displayed.
4) Shut down SONAR
 
At this point I verified the "E:\Cakewalk Project\junk" and "E:\Cakewalk Project\junk\Audio" were created with the audio files in "E:\Cakewalk Project\junk\Audio"

jimtzu
in #7??  do you mean where did they get saved to? i did try to save them to an external to keep things from getting to confusing and it ended up being in G\ Cakewalk Projects and again, G\Cakewalk Projects\Audio.  why no separate, individual song folder is not created is what's confusing to me.

Because there is no song folder being specified in "G:\Cakewalk Projects". This can be performed as I described in #11 or by creating a new folder in the "Save In" at the top of the "Save As" dialog.

Steve, going above and beyond, i appreciate that.  when you "saved as" it looks like you manually changed the path to ".....\junk"?  that would make sense but i don't remember having to do that before to get the desired result.  it does make sense and will do my own test. 

Yes, the song folder needs to be specified otherwise it just saves in the current "Project Path". The song folder is created automatically in the "New Project" dialog but "Save As" needs to have it specified because the project can use the current folder. The new folder may be entered in the "Save in" at the top of the "Save As" dialog or directly in the "Project Path". I am in the habit of using the paths at the bottom of the dialog.

Another thing to keep in mind, not that it is the case with this setup, using external drives as the default "Project Folder" and "Global Audio Folder" is not a good idea. On startup, SONAR must resolve these locations and will reset the configuration to "C:\Cakewalk Projects" if the folders in Preferences are unreachable. This happens without warning. So if an external drive is powered down or been reassigned a different drive letter, all of a sudden SONAR starts working off the C drive. SONAR has always worked this way.

well the method in post #12 certainly works. i guess i was being too literal in going by the directions instead of seeing the possibilities available.  kudos for the effort and wisdom. perhaps this will help others out too.
 

That is an interesting point you make Steve about Sonar returning to C drive if it cannot find the external drive, And made me wonder if the same thing could happen with a internal data drive. I know for a fact my storage drives have to spin up. 
You can be working away and go to retrieve a file from a dat adrive and you'll hear it spin up. 
Must be a power saving feature. 
 
But I've mostly always used a second "G"  drive for all Sonar files. 
First thing I do after installing Sonar is go to the preferences and set the paths for Audio and projects to my folders on the "G" drive. For years now my C drive Cakewalk global audio folder has been empty. 
 
And I too as with ANY software pay attention to the file path when saving, And I will often browse to a new locations so I know exactly where things are. 
I use a different main folder for each album I'm working on as example. In that folder are the songs. 

The fallback to default will happen anytime the Project and Global Audio paths specified in SONAR preferences are not found on program start up. I have no experience with green drives or settings. I always disable all power saving features and use drives that always run at speed.
 
The one thing I do as a "belts and suspenders" approach for my SONAR preferences is create a "Cakewalk Projects" directory join to my second drive. IOW, I execute at the command line:
mklink /j "C:\Cakewalk Projects" "E:\Cakewalk Projects"
I expect to get a hard failure from SONAR when it cannot resolve my preference settings to "E:\Cakewalk Projects" because of the link on C:.
 

I too will never willingly choose multi-rate of spin drives (green drives), because they can and do cause too many issues.
 
I use either internal SATA III 7,200 rpm drives, internal SATA III SSD's, or external USB 3 7,200 drives (backups) in my system.  No green drives anywhere.
 
I ALWAYS make sure my CPU runs at 100% al the time, and that no hardware goes idle or to sleeo under any circumstances automatically.
 
BUT, even though when I am actively using my computer everything is running at capacity, I DO have a handful of quick Icon launch buttons to let me do the following to the computer: Lock, Sleep, Restart, Shutdown.
 
These give me quick control to those functions, as doing them in Windows 8 is a PITA (unless you build little shortcuts like I did).  Once you set one or more of the shortcuts up, you may want to browse the web for icons you want to use for the launch shortcuts.  I did for some, and I just downloaded them and placed them in a folder in my documents folder and point to that in the path for Change Icon in the shortcut.
 
As an example, to set up a shortcut on your desktop to do a restart, create a new shortcut called Restart, and fill in the following info:
 
Shortcut for Restart:
 
Target:    C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /r /t 00
Start In:  C:\Windows\system32
(path for changing icon)     %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll
 
-------------------------------------
 
Shortcut for 'Sleep':
 
Target:   C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState 0,1,0
Start in:  C:\Windows\System32
(path to change icon): D:\Users\Robert\Documents\Windows Icons\sleep_mode.ico
 
-------------------------------------
 
Shortcut for Shutdown:
 
Target:   C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /s /t 00
Start In: C:\Windows\system32
Change Icon path: %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll
 
 
Anyways - hope any of the above helps, 
 
Bob Bone
 

It's almost the same as X3 and before.  In X3, when you created a new project, it would automatically create a project folder on whatever you set as your default drive.  Example:  My default Sonar projects drive is G.  So when I opened X3 and asked it to create a New Project, it would come up with a project window asking for me to name the project.  That would do 3 things.

1. Create a project folder on my G drive
2. Auto create an audio folder under the newly created project folder
3. Create a Cakewalk project file .cwp under the main folder but outside the audio folder

Now when you ask Platinum to create a new project, it immediately creates a default project with a single audio track and a single midi track...BOOM
 
In order to maintain the file system we all are used to, now you go to File>Save As>Select Your Destination Drive (it should default to the drive you have set under "Preferences") then CREATE A NEW FOLDER!  Name this new folder as you want, typically the same as the project.  Then double click on the new folder and name and save the project.  You will now have the same file tree as before with a dedicated audio folder in the same place we are all used to.
 
Q: Why did they make it back asswards?  I think it was to get you to a project track view as quick as possible and save the file naming and location process for later.  Trying to speed up the workflow and creative path.
 
Here is a screen cap video without me yapping to demo the process.  Don't mind the ASIO error, it's because SnagIt was grabbing onto the audio card at a lower sample rate.  http://screencast.com/t/2lX05No0Oa
 
Hope this helps
 
BTW, Platinum also creates a Mix Scene Folder.  Cakewalk, you had me at Platinum!