Just opened up Sonar and got an error message saying something about a missing audio? driver. Two choices, one to disable one to proceed anyway. I snatch precious minutes to do stuff and am always impatient so i chose proceed anyway. Now nothing works, and I cant see the usb codec for my condensing mike. Annoying as I didnt change any settings...clues anyone?
 
Rich

 I'm afraid the answer is USB mikes don't normally even come with drivers. So your probably using MME mode which is a terrible driver for DAW recording. 
Yes I just confirmed this by going to the web site for your mike. No drivers. 
 
If it has been working for you then fine. But word around here is that USB mikes are great for pod casting but because they don't supply stable drivers are problematic for serious DAW work.  from the web site : 
 
Though ideal for the traveling musician or the project studio, G-Track's versatile functionality can be applied to create ideal solutions for anyone who records audio, particularly podcasters, educators and business professionals.

• Plugs directly into any computer with a USB input, no drivers required

The audio interface and its drivers, preferably ASIO is the heart of DAW recording technology. 
The drivers make or break the stability and often even the synchronizing of the audio and midi tracks. 99% of people posting here for the first time are issues related to them trying to work without a proper audio interface. There is no such thing as no drivers required in the world of  DAW recording.. only for pod casting. 
 

Okay, thanks for that. I really need to have a think about exactly how much effort goes into this, and of course have I got the time. But heres a question for the short term; I've used this(amateur)set up for years without this problem, All of a sudden it stops working, so for the moment what can I try?
 
Longer term I think I need to upgrade as per advice on this(very helpful) forum. To start I suppose I need a decent mike? Ideas? Also I have access to a small mixing desk, its a little yamaha MG82CX console. How do I hook up this to my pc with the sonar software? These are dumb questions but I am much more of a musician than a techie so apologies!

What is there selected for playback/recording timing master and In/Out drivers in  Options (or Preferences, if you use X-version), if anything? It's not magic, just go through the settings in an organised way to find out what solves the problem. Sometimes the driver can just jump off "by itself".
 
The first thing to get is a decent audio interface (USB), and a microphone. You have no use for the mic without a proper interface. Most likely you have no use for a mixing desk, just get an audio interface with as many inputs and outputs as you need.

It's a bit of bummer that people buy these usb mikes just to find out it might not work as promised by the adds. I think the worst fact is that you can't even use the mike, which is probably a good sounding unit, in a standard set up. 
 
As Kalle has said, look in your audio settings and try some different set ups. 

Nothing in drivers, and nothing in playback timing master either when this happened. So, I unplugged the mike and restarted sonar, and now I have input and output drivers! No reason I can see. All is ok on one song, but on another song all the tracks are silent except for the vocal track! Its very trying, all I want to do is record,not fix odd things that seem to happen without a reason, but I also admit I am impatient and that gets me nowhere!!
 
BTW whats an audio interface?

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/computer-audio/audio_interfaces/
Examples of audio/interfaces.
Different places on-line or local music store or wherever can be found.
 
If something is wrong in the computer, impatient is not going to solve it.
Searching for an answer on the Internet, might.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/
Another place perhaps to find out about stuff.
 
But there is always a delay in maybe getting an answer.

 
We all wanted it done yesterday, but again that probably is not going to happen in this world perhaps.
 
And audio/interface is an electronic unit that is not unlike a soundcard in the computer, except it has different connections for connecting musical equipment and instruments the standard way, and can be used as a replacement for the sound card in a computer. All music, video sound, utube, itunes, whatever now goes through the audio/interface to hear it. And the chief reason is that a person can record music with it (and with a DAW - digital audio workstation, a computer persay) providing the person also has a program (Sonar) that records music on the computer.
 
 

Your on board sound card should be the timing master as the mike is not an interface. iT has no drivers. 

Thanks guys, its starting to sink in now!

Any recommendations for an audio interface? I generally use a yamaha piano, les paul, acoustic and mike for vocals? I'm no pro user(obvious!) so dont want to spend a fortune.