Thank you for your detailed response.

My point in suggesting the settings was just as a starting point for ASIO on your system, my having not a clue as to what you had set up prior to your most recent post.

What I was mostly intending to get at was making sure that the sample rates matched between the interface and Sonar.  Many times this causes great grief.  It has happened to me.

At this point my recommendations are (this is a list in no particular order):

1.  Try using the plain old Windows VGA drivers, rather than a graphics card - perhaps even testing this without the card being in your machine.  This is just in case for whatever mystical reason, there potentially is anything conflicting with the graphics and anything else.  You lose some picture quality, but Sonar is a basic-color kind of gal anyways.

2.  If your interface is a USB connection, perhaps you can try out different ports.  Please note that in this case you would most likely need to uninstall and install your interface drivers each time you tried a different USB port.

3.  Check your Power Settings - I recommend setting your PC for high-performance, with sleep turned off for everything, including NOT allowing Windows to selectively disable inactive USB devices.

4.  Possibly, you have some memory issue - just test it to rule this out.

5.  Same goes for your power demands of your system.  Perhaps you power supply is not powerful enough for the hard drives and other devices present on the system.

6.  If you have not yet installed the quick fix for X2, as another poster suggested, please make sure you install it and retest everything.

7.  Just for testing purposes, try physically removing your Sound Blaster card and setting your interface as the default sound device for playback and recording.  This is to rule out any potential conflict between your sound card and your interface and Windows.

8.  Try turning off all Windows sounds.  This will prevent any alert noise from Windows potentially interfering with Sonar operation.

9.  Try disabling things in Device Manager such as Wi-Fi, and also Com ports and devices you do not need, again just to rule out any potential device conflicts.

10.  For Windows XP, there are a great many tweaks recommended for audio streaming, such as with Sonar.  I believe Black Viper (you can Google that), as an excellent resource on all things related to this issue.  I am particularly interested in background services, such as anti-virus software, and that sort of thing.  The Black Viper site also gets into great detail on disabling things like Print Spooler, and all of that sort of thing.  The more you can free up, the better, not just for the CPU and memory, but also to reduce the potential for any conflicts with anything not truly needed for your computer to run Sonar.

11.  Is your XP up to date with all available maintenance?

SOOOOO, please review the above, and wade in, posting back your results.  I do not have anything else at the moment.

The bottom line is that your aging system is flat out not supported for running Sonar X2, and IF it can somehow run it, it may well be that you have to live with the weirdness, OR maybe something in the items above that I posted will help your situation.

My ultimate recommendation is to buy a new machine with either a decent AMD or Intel quad-core CPU as a minimum, along with 8 GB of memory at least, and a decent $200+ audio interface.  X2a and beyond is a professional-level set of software, and it requires a decent hardware base to run properly.  For the folks that DO have decent hardware and interface, properly configured, there are a great many of them that are not having any of these sorts of issues.  That FACT reinforces that your issues are most likely due to particulars of YOUR system, and not of the software itself.  

I say all of this not to be harsh or a wise guy or smug or any of that - I actually spent a bit of time typing all of the above, in addition to my earlier posts.  I TRULY want you to find a way to succeed with this, and it frankly may take an investment of some hundreds of dollars on computer and interface upgrades.

Just to give you an idea of what you get with X2a, that free maintenance release addressed literally something OVER 250 bug fixes over X2.  That in itself is a HUGE deal, and that update is free, but you cannot get to it with your present system - period.

In addition, getting a newer system will be a HUGE benefit, in terms of performance and stability.

I ABSOLUTELY wish the best for you and your situation, and I will continue to monitor this thread, looking for feedback from you on the above.

Bob Bone

Thank you Robert.
 
I will take your suggestion on the graphics card. I have read all around the net about conflicts with these drivers and sound card drivers.
 
My Aardvark Q10 is hardwired to a sound card in a pci slot, parellel port. Is not USB type.
 
Power settings are good, all devices not needed are disabled. Memory should be good I have 4 gigs of RAM, requirements for X2 is 2 gigs. I spoke to Cakewalk when I purchased X2, and they told me "I should not have a problem running it for recording 1 or 2 tracks at a time, and for what i use it for. I am at 1.87 ghz, and it is suggested to have 2.7 GHz, however I am not stressing the DAW. I am not having crashes that appear due to stress, as I stated it will crash with a blank template and just as I go to browse a menu.
 
The Soundblaster card, is not being used in Sonar. I can disable it or remove it and try your suggestion, but it is not being used in Sonar. I am using the Direct Pro sound card for playback to my monitors, and the same drivers for recording through the Aardvark Q10. The Aardvark Q10 were about 800 to 1000 dollars, 13 years ago. The guy that invented them was competing with Cubase back in the beginning of interfaces. I know it is old, but again, I am not having crashes due to stress. They happen for simple browsing reasons. It has never dropped out or had pops in a track, or crashed while I was recording.
 
Windows sounds are off. My windows is SP3, and up to date. Totally defraged and about 50% free space, with an exernal 1 tb hard drive available. All services and start ups are turned off except for necessary ones.
 
I do not take your comments as harsh, I appreciate the feedback. I did speak with Cakewalk before I purchased X2, and was told most of the newer patches would pertain to windows 8, and probably not needed for XP. However I did go install the X2 fix you suggested, and I see it mentioned several issues that seemed to cause some of my crashes. These programs cost big bucks, I understand Windows comes out with a new program ever few years and expects people to stay up to date, the way of technology. I mention this as my issue seems to be that of an unstable program more than a stressed out pc or interface issue. I own my on studio and have been recording digitally over 10 years. Funds are tight at the moment, and I just wanted to see if there is a fix. I undertsand many are haveing great success with X2, and I have also read many reports of similar crashes. I appreciate all comments helping to direct me to a fix. You can check me at RN. I am very pleased with Sonar and X2 is an excellent program, hopefully I can figure out how to stabalize it on this old pc, lol. Thanks again!

I am trying to simplify your setup as much as possible, because some combination of things on your computer are causing X2 (with the quick fix) to fail.

So, that is how I am approaching trying to assist you.  Removing the sound card is an attempt to rule out any involvement of it in the issues you are reporting.  Removing the graphics card and using standard VGA is also appropriate to try.

I don't know what else to tell you - it's time to upgrade your system.

Bob Bone