Tried everything to get my X2 Producer to open in Windows 8.1, but it's not having it.
Contacted Cakewalk support four times by email times in the last 2 weeks, but no answer as of yet.
Seems they're only interested in promoting the new X3 versions, and balls to the rest of us.

Hi Keith,
 
Did you search the forum? There are several threads with possible solutions listed. I ended up having to download and install a Visual C++ redistributable file from Microsoft as posted here http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/2923138   I too never heard back from cakewalk. ??
 
Once installed, X2 and X3 worked fine.
 
 
All the best!
 
 
 

Hey Keith,
 
I believe the X3c release is the first to officially support Win 8.1
Do you have a means of getting back to Win8?
If so, I'd "roll-back" and get back to work.  There's nothing revolutionary in the 8.1 update.
The Start Button (IMO) is pretty lame.
 

Hi Jim
Thanks for your help, I downloaded the file as you suggested and X2 now works fine .
I was beginning to get withdrawal systems from not being able to work on my music :-(
Regards
Keith 

Hi Music Room
Thanks for your help, I downloaded the file as you suggested and X2 now works fine .
I was beginning to get withdrawal systems from not being able to work on my music :-(
Regards
Keith

Hi Keith,
 
That was David Miller with the advice.  
Great tip!

It's important to realize that we (the users) have some responsibility in the update/upgrade process, in terms of making sure what we have will run on our computers, in other words meeting minimum requirements is OUR responsibility.
 
There have been cautionary posts in the forum already, concerning some things not running properly or even at all in Windows 8.1, and for something as important to the whole environment as the operating system, we should all make sure we do our homework prior to doing things like expecting it all to simply work on the newest OS release (8.1).
 
Some drivers will simply not work in Windows 8.1, and some do not even work in Windows 8, and some do not even work in Windows 7.
 
I am quite happy you got it to work with that simple of a fix, and hopefully you will remember to check out your drivers and applications ahead of time, next time you contemplate upgrading your operating system.  
 
Please understand I am not trying to bust on you - simply trying to reinforce checking things out ahead of time, so that these kinds of problems do not even occur, and so that Cakewalk does not get blamed for things they did not cause.
 
Bob Bone
 

That's an interesting point though, when does X2 support officially expire?

Hi
It seems I have Bob Miller to thank for the information that resulted in getting my Producer X2 to start up in Windows 8.1
So thanks for that great tip Bob, well done!!
 

robert_e_bone
It's important to realize that we (the users) have some responsibility in the update/upgrade process, in terms of making sure what we have will run on our computers, in other words meeting minimum requirements is OUR responsibility.
 
There have been cautionary posts in the forum already, concerning some things not running properly or even at all in Windows 8.1, and for something as important to the whole environment as the operating system, we should all make sure we do our homework prior to doing things like expecting it all to simply work on the newest OS release (8.1).
 
Some drivers will simply not work in Windows 8.1, and some do not even work in Windows 8, and some do not even work in Windows 7.
 
I am quite happy you got it to work with that simple of a fix, and hopefully you will remember to check out your drivers and applications ahead of time, next time you contemplate upgrading your operating system.  
 
Please understand I am not trying to bust on you - simply trying to reinforce checking things out ahead of time, so that these kinds of problems do not even occur, and so that Cakewalk does not get blamed for things they did not cause.
 
Bob Bone
 

 
Hey Bob,
 
All good common sense daw advice. However, Win 8.1 Preview allowed X2 / X3 to install and run properly. It should certainly sound reasonable that 8.1 official release would do the same. It didn't though and I initially thought that X3c might have the solution for 8.1. I waited for the "C" patch and was met with the same results. No go. I never thought this was a Cakewalk problem and didn't blame them. As it turned out, it appears to be a win 8.1 problem. I did think that cake might have an answer. They didn't contact me back but it ended up not mattering.