I had a couple posts back asked you to consider getting your post count up, because I would like to privately send me the mini dump file so I can look it over.  You need to be at a minimum of 25 posts for that to be able to happen.  I again suggest you get some more posts credited to you - review some songs in the songs forum - jump in on some threads in the Coffee House if there are any that interest you.
 
Additionally, I don't know a thing about these 'Scan it Fix it' kinds of programs that are out there - like the one or two that you seem to have run on your system.  I don't know if those are helpful or harmful to your system settings, nor do I know what sorts of things they have changed.  I am quite leery of them myself, and would never choose to run such a program on my computer.  I would instead research individual issues and get up to speed on any potential changes as a result of my research.
 
I DO believe a solution can be worked out - but you could end up with a whole bunch of NEW issues if you keep letting unknown applications apply a bunch of changes.
 
I will check back in a couple of hours to see how your post count is coming along at getting up to 25 posts.  Once you can send and receive private messages, I will give you an email address and instructions on sending me a dump file that I can look through, to see if I can figure anything out that will help you get these issues resolved.
 
OK?
 
Bob Bone
 

I agree totally with Bob about running those apps. Before you use anything like that ask around. Lots of people here are very good with computers , like Bob, and if none of these people have heard of something there's generally a good reason why. You'll end up having to redo your whole system at some point.
 
I ask computer questions on a forum where I buy my parts NCIX. Very knowledgeable folks their. They know diddly squat about DAw computers, but most everything else to do with Windows is always fixed within a few posts.
http://www.ncix.com/  

Hi Bob, I shall work on getting that post count up.
 
I too will not usually run these so-called fix-its - I have never had one of these on my machine until now, and I must tell you it is purely from frustration that I gave in and downloaded this stuff!  I cannot claim to be a geek on matters computers very much, so I had to do something I thought would help! Online reviews of the iolo s/ware appeared to suggest it was the best out there (PCMag etc...), but I did do some small amount of research in to the efficacy of these programs.
 
Anyway - yes, the post count.  Thanks.

Johnny V.  Thanks.  The first bits of PC stuff that I downloaded was based on someone here on this forum recommending it!  That was this thing called DriverToolKit & BlueScreen View.  I ran these utilities and my PC performs good - all my other software runs without any issues whatsoever!
 
To go back a bit, when I first could not use SONAR Platinum after "upgrading" from Producer, which incidentally ran on my system without any hiccups, I completed redid the PC - starting with a new install of Win 10 Home. I then did a clean install of SONAR Command Center and Platinum, rebooted etc.. and was expecting that all would be well, but the issue I have with SONAR continued to be the same.  BSOD with the comment DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION.
 
Like I said above - I would also not usually use a PC maintenance s/ware - I have never had one till now, relying on Windows to just do its thing, and I have never had big issues with s/ware before like this!  I use Adobe Lightroom, Corel Paintshop Pro, Canon Digital Photo Professional, MS Office 365 often and have never had an issue with any of them!  Touch wood!  IT is only SONAR that does not seem to like my system! :(

Ananth - Is the FireWire port you connect your M-Audio AI to provided by the MB, or are you using an add-on card for FireWire?  Either way, what drivers are being shown for this in Device Manager?
 
Have you tried completely uninstalling the M-Audio drivers and leaving it unplugged during reboot and SONAR startup?  Please do.

Hi BobF
M-Audio driver - in Device Manager this shows as version 5.10.0.5084 dated 6/3/2013.  Mind you this AI has since been discontinued, so that is the latest driver available.  As I mentioned earlier, I did complete a complete re-install of Win 10 and then installed all these latest drivers I could get my hands on.  I shall attempt what you suggest and report back.
 
Mind you, this AI had no problems with Sonar Professional that I had before I upgraded to Platinum!

I understand about prior experience.  I'm asking you to try things that may lead to additional clues.  I'm especially interested in the firewire port details.
 
Also, I haven't seen this specifically mentioned, but when you attempted to go back to Professional, did you go back to the exact release/version that was working well for you, or had Professional also been updated to a newer release?
 
Another attempt at getting clues ... you could install Professional again and without running it, roll it back to where you were when life with Professional good.
 
Again, I'm not blaming anything at this point.  I'm trying to help develop additional clues about where the problem might be.
 
I know it's hard to hear, but there have been updates to software in the past where performance improvements in the software ended up exposing driver bugs that hadn't shown themselves previously.  I realize you have a bunch of other software that doesn't have problems, but none are going to be as demanding or as close to your audio hardware chain as a DAW.
 
We have to keep coming at it from different angles until we find a way to expose the source of the problem.
 

BobF, you make a point.  I did disable the Firewire port that connects to the M-Audio AI.  The default audio card on my system is the Creative SoundBlaster SFXi Titanium, and I had upgraded these drivers to the latest versions as well.
 
Anyway, followed your suggestion but still come up with the BSOD. I used the BlueScreenView utility and it tells me this crash (as before) was caused by the ntoskrnl.exe file.
 
I can attempt the Professional move back to an earlier version.....

BobF, well I went back and reinstalled Professional thru CC.  Rolled back to the 2016.06 version, the earliest I could find one could roll back to.  I don't recall what version was running when this worked back before my upgrade to Platinum.
 
Error (BSOD) still persists - it is the ntoskrnl.exe driver.  This has been the culprit the last many times I have attempted to fire up SONAR.

I guess we know now not to blame your M-Audio interface or specific versions of SONAR.
 
What kind of video does your system have?  Does your video also provide HD audio drivers?  Acceleration?  3D?
Disable any HD audio devices, video acceleration, 3D support, etc.
 
If you have an add-in video card, pull it and switch to built-in video.
 
I'm not a Baker so I'm guessing, trying to think about what components of your system might get accessed/used by SONAR differently than other software.  The way Windows10 updates whatever it wants to whenever it wants to, I would be suspicious of both audio and video drivers that might've been silently updated along the way.
 
What other devices are connected to your system?  If there is ANYTHING else connected via USB, disconnect it.  WiFi?  Disable it.  Bluetooth?  Disable it.  Get it down to the most basic configuration you possibly can.
 
Onboard audio these days auto-configures based on which speaker connections have something plugged in.  Unplug everything.  Disable any/all HD, DSP, surround options that might be enabled for the onboard audio.
 
There is a device/hardware somewhere in your system that is being triggered during SONAR startup.  Drivers and chipsets are the only things close enough to the kernel to do this.
 
You didn't say whether or not your firewire port is via an add-in.  If it is, pull it.