Recover old project presets

This problem has already occupied me. Also settings of presets are lost by installing new versions.
I have already tried to open the cwp-files in a hex-editor.
The only way is to save the presets as a file.
Sound engineers often render the instruments as an audio-track. So nothing is lost, if you want to remix a song after 10 years.
If an instrument must be played again you have the MIDI-track and you can search a similar sound on an other instrument on the basis of the audiotrack. But this advice comes too late.
 

Which VST instruments?  If you have the same plugin versions currently installed as were used on those old projects SONAR should have retained all of their settings, even if the preset name itself is not listed.  
 
But if you don't have the plugins installed now and were looking for the preset names as starting points for different plugins...   yeah, I think there's little you can do. 

Carlo Celuque

stevec
 
But if you don't have the plugins installed now and were looking for the preset names as starting points for different plugins...   yeah, I think there's little you can do. 

That is the problem.

Gotcha...    I would think that the CWP file would store the preset name somewhere in order for it to be recalled, but I don't know anything about the format and have never tried a hex editor as THambrecht did.
 
Is it possible to reinstall those old plugins?    If not due to using a newer OS, perhaps in a VM using that older OS just as a temporary step?    That's about all I've got...