(Solution Pending) Sonar and Laptop...still pops/clicks

if you have any budget, bump the ram up to  at least 8 gig to take advantage of your x64 os
you can also try running wdm instead of asio driver mode, or vice-versa, you didn't say which you're using
hth

4GB is a shockingly low amount of memory for a 64bit OS. Open up Task Manager, check the Performance Tab, and make sure you aren't up at the limit of your Physical Memory. If you are, that'll be a non-starter for high-performance work.
 
You may also just want to increase the ASIO buffer size for your audio drivers. Dropouts are usually because Sonar isn't able to fill the buffer as quickly as the sound card requires, but a larger buffer gives Sonar a bigger time window in which to meet this need.

By 'splitpoints' it means gaps between clips, where the waveform won't be continuous. When they are played back there can be a small click sound as the audio engine transitions between 2 different waves in the space of a single sample. This will only apply to you if you're hearing the noises when playing back previous recordings.
 
In your case, I suspect your computer is not powerful enough to handle a 256 sample buffer, an external interface, and a fairly demanding VST at the same time. What does your CPU usage look like when this is happening?

If the buffer size issue does not help, try to disable all the settings which affect power.
This is sometimes difficult on laptops. Choose the high performance power profile and then go in an edit it so that both min and max CPU performance are 100 %.
Boot into the bios and disable any speedstep or turbo boost features. You do not want any CPU throttling to take place.
Also remember than some laptops just cannot do real-time audio.
 

Disable battery helped me on one.

Oh,  disable the wireless LAN card.
You can do it from Network connections. Just right click on the wireless icon and disable.
I don't think I have seen this mentioned.
 

I have addressed everything you have mentioned.
 
The only additions are:
 
Disable PCI power management.
 
I have not addressed the battery management..still waiting on education for that.
 
I will have to test further, as initial testing tonight revealed one pop only, and that was when I first initially started task manager.
 
My CPU is running no higher than 47%.

O.K. so as far as I can tell it is random.
 
Although it sounds like the exact type of pop...sometimes it is louder than others.
 
I recorded four bars of a guitar track and then recorded over it with another and a very loud pop occurred and I was sure that it dropped out, but it did not. When I played it back, the track was uninterrupted.
 
I am lost.
 
Maybe a new PC, as this laptop is maxed on ram and it falls short on CPU power.
 
 

Set buffer to 512. Buy a USB audio interface.

gswitz
Disable battery helped me on one.

Have you tried the opposite of this, running on just the battery, in case it's picking up something from the main. I have a small travel laptop, from acer, and since coming to Asia, and I mean the very night I arrived (may be connected to some sparks I saw the first time I plugged in at my hotel) I started getting this issue running itunes or youtube. My friend has a laptop from the same range, and is fine, so I tried his PSU, but still I had the problem. I'm also suspecting some ram damage, but it's noticibly better after unplugging

I have and do run LatencyMon and leave it running and there are no spikes...it does not even react in the slightest to these pops when they occur.
 
I am interested in how to properly manage the battery (mentioned earlier) so please post those instructions. I think I read something about disabling the battery and that really confuses me, but I am willing to keep working on this.
 
I will check out the website mentioned earlier, as they may also list instructions on steps I can take to disable the services you mentioned earlier from services.msc.
 
Thanks everyone.

Waiting for your solution because I'm experiencing the same exact thing. 
 
When I first start a project everything is fine. No pops or clicks or anything. As my project advances I hear more pops and clicks.  I'm using a MOTU firewire interface.  This has just started for some reason.  I've used Sonar since version 1 on disks. (Cakewalk). 
 
I have eliminated many of my pops and clicks by lowering my buffer size. I got this tip from another thread. 
 
Whenever I introduce any of my Antares plugins the pops and clicks start and "REMAIN" even if I delete the plugin. Sonar must be keeping residual pieces of plugins even when you remove them.

Usually, what is needed regarding the battery stuff is to make sure that in the advanced power settings, under Processor Power Management, the minimum and maximum processor rates are both 100%. If you have a choice of Active vs Passive cooling, choose Active (but be careful to make sure your system doesn't overheat). But judging by your first post, you have done all of this already.
 
You say "My CPU is running no higher than 47%" but what measurement did you use to take that? That sounds a lot like like one of your two CPU cores is being maxed out (ie. 50%); which implies you're hitting a hard limit that only a new CPU will address.
 
(PS. Cakewalk - fix your dumb forum so that it doesn't censor dictionary words based on substrings within them. I should be able to type "s u s p i c i o u s l y" without censorship.)

Hey, I am open to any idea.
 
I forget how to get to services.msc.
 
Please direct me and I will try all three if possible, and I will check DMA mode for the HDD.
 
And how do I navigate to the firewire settings to try legacy mode?
 
Thanks a bunch.

Battery management is in Device manager, look for battery at the top of the list, It is just a background app that shows in the tray how much battery is left. I have no clue why this seems to cause such a huge DPCL spike when not on battery, but is has for me on 3 different laptops. 
You don't need it unless your running on battery. 
And someone mentioned above about running on battery, don't. With my laptops all hell breaks loose if you try to run a USB Audio interface or even a Projector. Keep it plugged in. Because a laptop uses a power supply system it is not subject to minor power variations. 
If you hear clicks and pops due to RF interference that's another possibility but I doubt if that's whats going on. 
 
But at this point if Latency Mon is telling you there are no DPCLAT issues you should stop looking for them and move to looking elsewhere. That is why I recommended running it. Did you run it with Sonar open and playing a project? Sounds like you did. 
 
So now look for issues with your drivers and buffer sizes, faulty plug ins, hard drives etc. 
Some folks have gone nuts for weeks looking for these sort of things only to find it was a bad cable. I just thought my power amp had finally started to die due to crackles in one speaker.
It was just a cable. Then you ask, how the heck can a cable just go bad when it is never moved, unplugged or touched??