Is this the software you are writing about?
 
http://www.7-backup.com/

Windows has restore points built-in, so if updates are all you're worried about and an update does stop your software working you can simply rollback. You shouldn't need separate software for that.
 
I appreciate some might feel what I did was overkill, but I did what I did to cover almost all eventualities - apart from my motherboard dying... and I agree - it was over due - Cakewalk's demise was a wake-up call to ensure my backups were up to date.
 
Making complete disk backups gives me the ability to restore everything onto a new disk if my existing disks get corrupted or die. It doesn't matter if Cakewalk's servers are down, because everything is already installed and authorised. Clonezilla also gives you the opportunity to restore the disk's unique identifier onto a new disk, which also means other software won't know you've changed hard disks.
 
Downloading all the installers is fine, but installing Cakewalk is easy (assuming the servers are up and you can authorise). Installing all your plugins takes forever and is a real pain.
 
I don't like ignoring windows updates, so the separate Windows 7 install means I can simply swap to that as my main Sonar OS if need be in the future. Most of the effort above was getting Windows 7 installed and getting it to match my Windows 10 install. I could have made it easier, but I wanted to share my SONGS & DATA disks - hence the convoluted steps.
 
I'm not suggesting everyone copies all of the steps I took, as some steps will be of less use to some people than others.
 
Like I said, I hope some of you find some useful tips there.
 
Mark.

Ruben
Is this the software you are writing about?
 
http://www.7-backup.com/

 
No - It is:
https://www.langmeier-software.com
 

I too have used Filezilla to create image backups, and it is a very good program, with the caveat that you need to boot from DVD to create the image.
 
However, recently I have been using Macrium Reflect, and this can take image backups while Windows is still running, an excellent piece of software and highly recommended.
 
To be thorough, I have created both Filezilla and Macrium Reflect image backups.
 
Cheers,
Steve

I got around to testing my backup strategy this weekend.
 
I've got one PC set up in my studio, and one in my house for convenience (it's warmer in the house this time of year!) Both have the same make/model of motherboard, but slightly different CPU's. They've both got Windows 10 & Windows 7 64 bit on them, but my studio PC also has a Windows 7 32 bit boot on it for running older software.
 
The studio PC was set up a while ago and still had standard hard disks so I decided to upgrade to SSD's. Rather than set everything up from scratch, I thought I try restoring my backups from my "house" PC.
 
Here's what I found:

• Both Windows 10 & Windows 7 64 booted up without issue. 
• The hard-drive ID's of the disks matched the ones on my house PC
• Windows 7 required me to put in a different license code, so I entered the original license code for that PC. This worked without issue. Windows 10 hasn't complained as yet, but the license code is ready if/when it needs it.
• Most of my plugins worked out the box without need for re-authentication. AD2, IK Multimedia (ARC2 / Lurssen) & TH3 (Full version) were notable exceptions; these just needed removing the old computer and adding it again.

The only issue that arose was when I put my original W7 32 bit disk back in, and it got confused with conflicting boot menus, but this was easily fixed by running "repair bcd" on the W7 32 disk.
 
The whole process took around 3 hours (2 hours to restore to new disks, and another hour checking everything). No re-installations, no updates, no searching for serial numbers. Just restored the disks, plugged them in, and re-authorised a few of the plugins.
 
The important thing is that Sonar, at no point complained that it was restored onto a machine with a different motherboard & CPU.
 
Mark.

That's an excellent OP. 

i think windows 7 or maybe 8.1 was last best possible backup OS for Sonar an his Plugins.
 
Windows 10 has a disintegration date every 6 months. If you install Windows 10 in 5 years, it will not run on the date 2020 without a reinstallation which will then threaten the installed licenses of the software due to another calculated hardware ID.

I have tons of Acronis image files on my current DAW going back to June 2015 and Win 8.1. I can easily go back in time to when things worked fine by reverting to one of these files. Every OS will eventually develop some sort of corruption where things aren't working as well as they did.
 
I rarely troubleshoot, instead I revert back to a previous image and everything is back to normal. I always have Win updates disabled and enable them when I want to update. In the past I've always updated windows and then installed a new version of Splat, then disabled Win updates.
 
If I ever need to move to a new computer I have all of the Command Center installers. Years ago I was stuck with Sonar 8.5, because of incompatibilities and it worked just fine. Back then we were getting new Splat versions every year or so, not every month. So there's no reason to panic.
 
I even have a Win 98 computer with a real old Cakewalk version for songs I did pre 1998 using a tape machine and SMPTE. I have 2 Win 10 machines, Win 7, XP, Win 98 - they all work. I'm staying with Sonar.

why not just install it on 2 computers and turn off windows updates?........

astaub...If you install Windows 10 in 5 years, it will not run on the date 2020 without a reinstallation which will then threaten the installed licenses of the software due to another calculated hardware ID.

None of us will be here in 5 years anyway, with Armageddon just around the corner.
Not to be a killjoy or anything...