In a number of situations I've seen the advice on the board here to reinstall Sonar to try to correct one problem or another.  I've actually done it myself when I knew I wanted to start with a pristine, fresh install, without any possibility of anything having gone wrong in any way, mostly to do with potential interactions from multiple Sonar versions.  But I don't really understand what we're accomplishing when we reinstall.  The executable is read only; it doesn't (or shouldn't) change.  Is it the .ini file or the registry keys or what is it exactly we're trying to re-initialize by removing and reinstalling Sonar?  So many other applications I've never had to reinstall.
 
I have just a few weird issues, mostly to do with the Mackie Control (emulated) interface to X2a.  Under what sorts of conditions should I consider reinstalling as a potential solution?  Thanks!

I think that this is suggested more often out of being a simple answer than being a correct one.

At the same time, things like permissions can be affected by the mode the installer is run, and to the best of my knowledge, better results occur when someone runs the installer as administrator. If problems arise, such as registering dll's (or other situations), then again to the best of my knowledge it would be advisable to remove and install again as administrator.

Bob Bone

Each situation is different. It just depends on the issue. 

Why would you think re-installing Sonar would fix your Interface problem? 
Any interface problem i've fixed or helped someone fix was fixed by setting it up correctly in Sonar and sometimes re-installing the Interface drivers and/or firmware or updating its drivers.

Over the past 8 years i've never had to re-install sonar for any technical issues. The only time i did was if i replaced a hard drive on the PC.
CJ

There are two primary reasons for re-installing any software: to install pieces that didn't get installed the first time around, and to re-load pieces that may have been overwritten by another package.

SONAR installs several files that are commonly included in other software packages, such as the C++ runtime library. A poorly-written installer might overwrite these files with older, potentially incompatible versions.

Occasionally, an installation will fail in a minor way such as failing to overwrite or register a DLL, and you might not notice the failure at the time. Re-installing might allow that file to be copied, perhaps because some process is no longer running that had the file open during the first install.

If you tried to install SONAR without Administrator permissions, some registry keys may not have been created. Re-installing with Admin perms will allow those keys to be created.

Very good answers but I think its because it wont hurt and could help.

CJaysMusic


Why would you think re-installing Sonar would fix your Interface problem? 
 
CJ

@ CJ,
 
I don't really know if reinstalling would or would not fix my problem.  With this particular interface issue, the interface itself appears to be doing exactly what it should be doing, as near as I can tell with MIDI-OX and some very old, unofficial documentation, but Sonar is not behaving in a way I would expect it to given what's happening in the interface.  This causes me to suspect (among other things) something behaviorally amiss with Sonar X2a.  I believe it's more a software behavior problem based on an interface exchange than it is an interface problem.  Thanks.

bitflipper


There are two primary reasons for re-installing any software: to install pieces that didn't get installed the first time around, and to re-load pieces that may have been overwritten by another package.

SONAR installs several files that are commonly included in other software packages, such as the C++ runtime library. A poorly-written installer might overwrite these files with older, potentially incompatible versions.

Occasionally, an installation will fail in a minor way such as failing to overwrite or register a DLL, and you might not notice the failure at the time. Re-installing might allow that file to be copied, perhaps because some process is no longer running that had the file open during the first install.

If you tried to install SONAR without Administrator permissions, some registry keys may not have been created. Re-installing with Admin perms will allow those keys to be created.    

 
@ bitflipper,
 
Thank you for such a thoughtful and thorough answer.  I do all installations using an account with administrator privileges, but once the installation is done, who knows what happens to the registry keys and shared libraries after additional installations.  This is a compelling consideration in and of itself.  Thanks.
 
 

John

Very good answers but I think its because it wont hurt and could help.   
 

@ John,
 
Well, there it is.  It's simple enough I guess I should just do it and see if it helps.  Thanks.
 
 

It is not enough to run the install on an account with administrator privileges, you should specifically tell it to 'Run as Administrator'.

I do not know why that produces a difference, but it does.

Bob Bone

robert_e_bone


It is not enough to run the install on an account with administrator privileges, you should specifically tell it to 'Run as Administrator'.

I do not know why that produces a difference, but it does.

Bob Bone

@ Bob,
 
That's strange, but thanks for the heads-up.  I'll make sure I 'Run as Administrator' instead of running under my normal account with administrator privileges.  This is the kind of stuff that makes my head hurt...    Thanks, Bob.
 
 

bitSync

running ccleaner on a machine once in a while, will find a load of un-needed crud also
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

the registry tab esp.. and it's none destructive.. well has been in the years I've used it

bitSync

robert_e_bone


It is not enough to run the install on an account with administrator privileges, you should specifically tell it to 'Run as Administrator'.

I do not know why that produces a difference, but it does.

Bob Bone

@ Bob,
 
That's strange, but thanks for the heads-up.  I'll make sure I 'Run as Administrator' instead of running under my normal account with administrator privileges.  This is the kind of stuff that makes my head hurt...    Thanks, Bob.
 
 

Could it be as simple as administrator accounts don’t automatically have full administrator rights but can be configured to have them. Microsoft’s fix to everyone on planet earth logging in using an account with administrative rights.