Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum

If you use your machine for other things, do they also take a while to do, or are there delays there as well.

Have you run a chkdisk on your drives?  Also, check the system event logs for disk errors.

Thank you for your quick replies.

promidi
If you use your machine for other things, do they also take a while to do, or are there delays there as well.

Have you run a chkdisk on your drives?  Also, check the system event logs for disk errors.

I have not yet run a chkdisk on my drives (yet). The software is getting slower, as most programs do with time (I've had the computer for around let's say 3 years or so). However, none from what I can tell have become as excruciatingly slow as Sonar, with the slight exception of ACID Pro 7.0, a DAW I no longer use in part because it automatically scans for plugins, of which I have a large enough an amount that it takes several minutes to start up (I've set Sonar's scanning feature to be manual, so it shouldn't have that problem). However, ACID runs fine once I start it, unlike Sonar in its current state on my computer.

THambrecht
How long takes the start of windows?
If it takes also a long time then you have probably a broken harddrive - (or your disc is full).
I would first make a check for the speed of the harddisc. If the speed is very low, then your hd is just broken. There are free tools in the internet for measuring your hd.
 

While that's good advice I probably should've mentioned I have a raid system set up on the hard drives I keep Sonar and my projects on, so there is little danger of data loss from drive failure. In addition, Windows boots up at the normal speed, so no problems there.

In terms of disc space, I recently cleared 24 GB on my C: drive and 33 GB on my D: drive, though the C: Drive is filled to about 87%.

Could that be at least part of the problem? It has run faster without that extra space, but I think it may have helped a little when I cleared that space, just not enough.

Your c drive is way too full. I never let a boot drive get above 50 percent. That's the problem. Windows has no room to function… 

Audman71
While that's good advice I probably should've mentioned I have a raid system set up on the hard drives I keep Sonar and my projects on, so there is little danger of data loss from drive failure. In addition, Windows boots up at the normal speed, so no problems there.

 
Looks like the C drive is fine, but the RAID health looks suspicious to me.
 
While you may be protected from data loss, you're still susceptible to drive slowdowns if something is failing. It could even be the RAID controller. 

I've noticed that Windows updates take a while beyond the time the computer says it's updating. Sometimes, even before opening SONAR there will be a ton of hard disk activity. If I try to open SONAR, or for that matter Studio One or any other DAW, the load time is excessive. Once Windows has finished doing its thing, programs load normally.
 
I now take advantage of this - when I boot the computer, that's a great time to clean up, change strings, document projects, etc. By the time I'm finished, so has the Windows bootup.

chuckebaby
What size is that C drive ?
It could also potentially be a plug in or synth loading samples at an amazingly slow rate.
Have you tried opening a new project with no plug ins and do you notice the same thing ?

 
The C drive is 1 TB in size, so I'm not sure that would be an issue if at least 100 GB were free, which is the case.
 
When I start a new project sonar loads it almost right away, but insert one or two synths by, let's say, Arturia in there and it slows down. And when I put Philharmonik or Addictive Drums in a new project it slows down even more, especially with Philharmonik's samples.
 
Incidentally, does the quantity of installed plugins affect the speed as well? I have 933 plugins detected by Sonar, many of which I still regularly use with various projects, and some of which accumulated from past installs of Sonar or other programs, but as I said they are not scanned at the beginning when Sonar opens.
 
@Seth Kellogg: It's worth looking into. I'll see what I can find out.
 
@BobF: My CPU does not hit the top nor does my RAM for that matter.

Wondering if you got this issue solved?  Just recently I'm noticing projects taking a very long time to open.  I'm suspicious that it has something to do with my iLok and Wave licenses.  I just downloaded the free Sound Toys Little Plate reverb (requires and iLok).  In the process of trying to get the license to my iLok I seemed to notice some of my Waves plugins still on it.  Waves has moved away from the iLok.  I may have inadvertently moved some of my new Waves plugins to the iLok.   But, I'm speculating.   My issue started AFTER I installed the Sound Toys plugin. 

Sacalait
Wondering if you got this issue solved?  Just recently I'm noticing projects taking a very long time to open.  I'm suspicious that it has something to do with my iLok and Wave licenses.  I just downloaded the free Sound Toys Little Plate reverb (requires and iLok).  In the process of trying to get the license to my iLok I seemed to notice some of my Waves plugins still on it.  Waves has moved away from the iLok.  I may have inadvertently moved some of my new Waves plugins to the iLok.   But, I'm speculating.   My issue started AFTER I installed the Sound Toys plugin. 

Mine has recently started to get slow at loading some projects. While I'm waiting it shows the Waves icon like it is trying to authorize. I got the waves element synth and a couple of waves plugins in one the recent sales. Eventually, it goes through. I'm starting to have my doubts about Waves.