Hello, and thanks for reading this. I'm hoping someone here knows something about my problem that's making me crazier than I already am. Here it is:
I'm using windows xp with Sonar HS 6 along with Reason 3.0. One day, not long ago, I got this message box up on my screen as I was bring up my music programs:
"This application has failed to start because MSVCR90.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix the problem"
 
Some time later, I believe after updating Audacity, I then got a bunch more of these. Another one is this,
"An application has made an attempt to load the C runtime library incorrectly. Please contact the applications support team for more information"
 
In addition to these to messages, I also received these, abbreviated here,"
 
...missing WXbase 28u_vc_custom.dll
 
...missing WXmsw28u_core_vc_custom.dll
 
...missing WXmsu 28u_core_vc_custom.dll
 
and there are about 5 more like this.
 
So far, none of these missing .DLLs seem to be effecting anything with my programs or music, but they may be and I don't know it. It is irritating however because it it takes about 3 minutes to bring up Reason after I load up a Sonar song. It used to take only about 15 seconds or so.
 
My main problem is trying to find a knowledgeable and trustworthy site to learn how to fix this. I have learned that it is unwise to simply download the missing .DLLs. 
 
I'm hoping someone who reads this knows from experience what to do to solve this problem. If you do have experience or suggestions, please reply so I can fix this problem.
 
I am very hesitant to try any sort of repair or reformat for reasons  we all understand here. As I said, hopefully someone knows a way to fix these missing .dlls without resorting to these measures.
 
By the way, yes, I have run many many virus/malware scans and find nothing apparently ( not that this PC is online anymore-used to be for the updates though).
 
Please help if you can,
thanks,
 
Bob

Wise move not downloading those "fixes" I know exactly what you mean. Every time you google some computer issue, there is all these "we'll fix it" downloads instead of solid info. Ya, probably mess you up even worse. 
 
There are some reliable computer forums, Tom's Hardware is one I have found useful. 
 
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/
 
 how old is`your harddrive. 
 
I don't have any solid answers and I personally hate fussing with OS and Registry stuff.  I'm inclined to start fresh and just redo my system from the ground up. Xp is pretty easy to re install and if you are like me and only use the computer for a DAW it's the bullet proof solution. I would use a new hard drive. 
Might take a couple of hours but you can easily spend that just trying to find a bandage. 
Things always run better new. 
Just make sure you can still get all your system drivers. These things get tricky over time. 
 
Here we have a computer forum you could try.
This branch forum is very dead, nobody comes here. So try the computer forum or even the X series forum where there are lots of people. 

Thanks for your speedy reply, I do appreciate it. I have not done the xp repair in a long time ( on a different computer), do you believe that by doing a repair that nothing "bad" will happen to my music files? I just can't bring myself to trust this. I do have my music backed up on an external, but still...
Do you mean to install a new internal hard drive? If so, do you think there would be any problem with doing that and keeping everything music-wise as it is?
 
Thanks for the forum advice, please reply to this if you have the time.
 
bob

I believe the "WX" errors refer to this https://www.wxwidgets.org/. Look in the Windows logs for error messages; it may point to the true cause of the failure. The description above, unusually long load times and missing files (files no longer able to be read), could indicate a drive failure.
 
Assuming it is the drive and the programs are installed along with the OS, then it would be a new system drive. It may also be the case that some things on the failing drive may not be recoverable.
 
Depending on the age of the machine, it may be time for a new PC.

+1 as always to Steves advice. 
I metioned a new drive only because I find it worth while for the small cost to start fresh and it also means you can keep the old drive as a backup untouched. Re do the computer and install the old drive as a second drive to recover your old material. 
 
There is no danger of things changing as long as you have all you plug ins etc. The CWP files and the audio folders that go with them contain everything.
 
DON"T USE BUNDLE FILES> 

Okay, thanks you guys, I really appreciate your input. It does seem as though I spend far more time these days as an IT than a musician-and while learning can be fun, I'm getting fairly sick of jacking around with dlls and all this other stuff. I'll take your word for it about the drive and the new pc. and thanks for the advice on the second drive, I would have just done it from my external but your way makes more sense. Also, thanks for the advice on the bundles. I hate to do this, but while I'm here ( if you read this), I also just got this:
 
"Microsoft Visual C++ runtime library
Runtime error!
Program:C:\Program Files\Cakewalk|Shared Utilities\VstScan.exe
 
R6034
An application has made an attempt to load the C runtime library incorrectly.
Please contact the application's support team for more information.
 
The programs (Sonar and Reason) are still working fine as far as I can tell except that seemed to have lost the ability in Reason to enable my Redrum sequencer, which is unfortunate.
 
If you are still here, has this ever happened to you or do you have some idea why this has happened? I've researched this and it has happened, for seemingly reasons unknown, to others but not in the music biz. Seems to be with other programs that I would not use-like maybe programmer stuff. Please chime in on this if you have experienced it before or have some idea about what happened or how to fix it.
 
Thanks for your fast replies, hope you have time for one more
 
bob

I have experienced drive failure but no one would experience the exact same problems. If the drive is failing, more and more issues will show up ultimately resulting in a complete system failure. Complete failure may take years or seconds depending on the location of the errors on the disk.

Okay, thanks again. I'm not convinced necessarily of the bad drive idea, but everyone seems to think so. This may be the case. I do thank everyone who chimed in here. I guess I'll just keep on bangin on until she shuts down.
 
Thanks again,
bob

just make sure you have a complete back up and carry on. Have you run the defrag and disk utilities to scan for errors?

Was there any error information in the Windows logs? Disk failure seems a good candidate with the available information. It could be a virus. It could be something else or a combination of things. Although the content of a complete  backup at this point would be questionable, it may be instructive as to the extent of the problem. So too a defrag and error check. I would not expect it to do much good and may accelerate the failure. Again, it is all speculation based on few clues and no data from the logs.