I downloaded the X3 trial version, installed it, restarted my PC and started it.  
 
It went through some sort initialization process where it checked my hardware timing, and said everything was OK, and then it copied my user settings (what's up with this - I hadn't made any user settings yet?) and that was it.
 
Now when I click on the SONAR X3 icon the splash screen appears for a fraction of a second and goes away.  In Task Manager the process SONARPDR.exe*32 appears for the same fraction of a second and that's it.   Nothing.   Also, nothing is written to the operating system's event log  (I'm a software engineer -  what's up with Cakewalk's exception-handling?!)   I tried a second reboot of the PC with no change.
 
My PC is a Lenovo E31 Thinkstation running Windows 7 Professional. 
 
I have no special hardware attached to my PC right now -  just a mouse and a keyboard.    This is my first experience with a cakewalk product.    Not very impressed so far . . .
 

Can you please list your computer system specs?  Look at the bottom of my signature for an idea of what to list.
 
Also, you are running 32-bit Sonar?  Is your computer running in 32-bit more or 64-bit mode?
 
And, when you did the download and install: 1) did you download using something that had a download manager, such as Chrome? 2) did you right-click on the installation program and click on Run As Administrator?  3) when you installed, did you temporarily suspend your antivirus software?
 
Thanks, 
 
Bob Bone
 

The *32 implies 32 bit sonar on 64 bit windoze

Yeah I saw the 32-bit Sonar, just didn't recall if that only appeared in a 64-bit Windows environment or if it displayed that way for both 32/64-bit OS configurations.  I no longer have any 32-bit Sonar installations.
 
To the original poster: Your situation is NOT typical, and most likely due to something like corrupted download files, or that sort of thing (or antivirus software interfering with the install), as there is no general reporting of this kind of problem.
 
Here is a link to hash values for the Sonar download files, which you can compare against the download files you did your install from (there are zillions of freeware hash value generators out there to create hash values for the install files you downloaded):
 
http://www.cakewalk.com/support/kb/pages/x3_download_installation_instructions.aspx
 
Go to the bottom of the page at the above link, and click on the link for the version you downloaded - I HOPE the published hash values also work for the trial versions.  Then, find a freeware hash value generator program and run it against the install files you downloaded for the trial, and compare.
 
If the hash values for the trial version are not the same as what they post, then I truly apologize.
 
Thanks, 
 
Bob Bone
 

check task manager - all process names with "*32" suffix are 32 bit on 64 bit windoze
 
to the op, check windows event log

robert_e_bone
Can you please list your computer system specs?  Look at the bottom of my signature for an idea of what to list.
 
Also, you are running 32-bit Sonar?  Is your computer running in 32-bit more or 64-bit mode?
 
And, when you did the download and install: 1) did you download using something that had a download manager, such as Chrome? 2) did you right-click on the installation program and click on Run As Administrator?  3) when you installed, did you temporarily suspend your antivirus software?
 
Thanks, 
 
Bob Bone
 

I downloaded the trial version yesterday.
Yes, I ran the install as Administrator.  (I also run the app as Administrator).
I did disable the antivirus software.
I'm running the 64 bit version of Win 7; I selected the 32 bit version of X3.
 
I repeated all the install steps this morning, with the same results.
 
I'm still struck by the the fact there's nothing in the operating system's event logs associated with these crashes.    Does X3 maintain its own event log?   I'm a software engineer - I worked for years in the medical products industry and now I work for a company that makes industrial manufacturing equipment - and I've never been involved with a product that didn't leave a trail of evidence leading up to a crash, so we could do a post-mortem.   What kind of internal exception-handling does X3 do? 
 
 

lawp
The *32 implies 32 bit sonar on 64 bit windoze

 
Yes, that's correct.  64 bit Windows runs 32 bit apps just fine. 
 
(I'm running the 32 bit version because I've seen reports of problems with plug-ins (i.e., 32 bit plug-ins) with the 64 bit version.)
 

lawp
check task manager - all process names with "*32" suffix are 32 bit on 64 bit windoze
 
to the op, check windows event log

 
In my OP I said:
 
In Task Manager the process SONARPDR.exe*32 appears for the same fraction of a second and that's it.   Nothing.   Also, nothing is written to the operating system's event log  (I'm a software engineer -  what's up with Cakewalk's exception-handling?!)
 
 

Yeah I was replying to bob really, his questions seemed redundant

What sound card are you using? Asio drivers?

Yes - and I apologized earlier for that.  
 
The other questions were valid.
 
If you have an audio interface that uses a USB connection to the computer, is it possible you have it plugged into a USB 3.0 port?  This can cause instant crashes and other flaky behavior.  My Presonus audio interfaces wants to be plugged into only USB 2 ports.
 
And, many 32-bit plugins run just fine in 64-bit Sonar - they use a piece of bridging software to do so - Sonar comes with such a program, called BitBridge.
 
For 32-bit plugins that do not play nicely with Sonar and BitBridge, there is another bridging app called JBridge, and that resolves issues for a bunch more of the 32-bit plugins.
 
At the end of the day, some 32-bit plugins just will not work at all in 64-bit Sonar.
 
I would suggest that you consider going ahead and installing the 64-bit version of Sonar, alongside the 32-bit install.  Lots of folks install both on the same computer - they don't interfere with each other.
 
Bob Bone