Need Some direction for new user

Having used freebie recording stuff for a while and ProAudio 9 in the past, I have been relatively behind the curve and not well schooled on latest technology.  I just recently purchased X1 Producer and found that the fine folks at Cakewalk gave me a great gift.  I have downloaded X2 Producer and wish to install and start using it.  Before I did anything else, I downloaded the latest X1 updates(X1c and X1d) and I believe I have it up to speed.  It seems to run well with my sound card (M-Audio) and I don't seem to be experiencing any latency issues.  Seems stable and receiving audio and midi signals correctly.
 
My question is this:  Do I install X2 over the top of X1 or do I need to install it separately?  Also, I received Beatscape, Dimension Pro1.5, and a disk of "additional content" with X1.  Should I go ahead and install those before installing X2?
 
Noob disclaimer:  I'm trying to act like I somewhat know what I am talking about but the truth is that I am treading on thin ice here.
 
BTW, I have a Core IV 2600 Processor, 128 gig Solid State boot drive and a 1 TB HDD running with 16 gigabytes of RAM and my OS is Windows 7 Ultimate.
 
Thanks for any comments or suggestions you may have.  I am reading all the information I can find on this as fast as I can but I do feel a little overwhelmed with the complexity of this program structure.  It is huge!
 
RT1

If you have the disk space you can install X2 beside X1 (meaning you would have both programs installed). There is some duplication of content but X2 comes with some full versions/newer versions of stuff so you might as well just install all the content instead of dorking around. Just follow the install procedures and it'll be fine. Don't install the extra content beforehand unless for some reason you are wanting to use it with X1 without installing X2 but I don't think that is advisable.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks guys for the suggestions.  I will go ahead and install X2 beside X1 and once I get it running correctly, I will uninstall X1.  I will install the latest Dimension Pro that came with the download and will hold off on Beatscape.

When I read the provided documentation, it keeps calling X2 and upgrade or update.  I was thinking is was supposed to be put on top of X1 like the C and D updates...doh.   I'm timid as a freakin' rabbit here, LOL.
I really want to get this right the first time.

Ya'll don't know how much you are appreciated!

In Cakewalkspeak updates are patches that are applied to a particular version of SONAR. Upgrades are really new versions of SONAR that have special "upgrade" pricing for existing SONAR users. You are not the first to express concern when performing an upgrade.

Yes, if you elect to leave X1 on, then just forget about it and the ~100MB it consumes. Removing older versions after installing a newer version can cause shared items to be removed. It is not the end of the world but you might have to go back and reinstall some stuff. That is why I recommended you flush X1 now. It has nothing to offer over X2a.

Yes, Beatscape the synth was dropped but all the samples that came with it are installed with the "loops and one shots." Beatscape installs the 4 GB of loops in a different directory. It is a small matter to delete the Beatscape library and point the directory to the audio loops in X2 Cakewalk Content but it is not immediately obvious to do so.

There are certainly no "dumb questions" when you jump into using X1/X2... There are quite a few folks who are very knowledgeable and will respond pretty quickly with good advice (like the folks who responded to you here). As you use the forum more, you will see their names again and again. The more detail you can give, the better.

One of these days when I can set aside enough time to learn more I might be able to shirk my "noob" status myself... and I officially signed up here in 2005! :D

RT1

There is another current thread that raises this same question (apparent clipping of peak meters in the midi track). It has been pointed out that this is not clipping and in fact it is nothing more than a midi indicator. This does make sense as there is no apparent clipping of lose of audio quality.

Having said that I believe it is very confusing to have peak meters that have nothing to do with levels and I dare say plenty of people freak (as they should if it had anything to do with levels or audio).

Hope this helps and good luck with Sonar.

Had a problem getting Pentagon to load, also DreamStation.  Thanks to this forum, I learned how to  turn off the UAC and set up to run program as administrator.  Pentagon loads flawlessly now and it is awesome.  It has a really cool vocoder mode and I have been experimenting with that.  Finally figured out how to make it work, with a little help from a YT vid.

Could never get DreamStation to load so forget that.  I have tons of softsynths anyway.

Thanks to the forum, it seems I can find just about anything if I do enough searches.