First time on the forum and I'm sorry if the question has been asked before. 
I'm running SonarX2 and once I got my audio issues resolved I started recording. I have an audio file that I imported with drums on it. I then record a guitar track following the drums. For some reason when I play them both back they are out of sync. the guitar seems to lag behind the beat, and I'm not that bad of a player. I'm running the guitar into my laptops mic input to record. I'm running the program on windows 8. I'm sure it's a set up issue but I'm at a loss. 

Welcome to the forum!
It's very likely due to the poor drivers of your mobos soundcard. The integrated chips seldom work properly in DAW use. Are you using MME drivers? If so, try WDM or ASIO4ALL (free download) and try lowering the latency. A couple of audio tracks should be doable with the integrated chip, though. The biggest problems occur with MIDI and soft synths. Are you using an amp sim?

It's very recommendable to put your hardware and software specs in the signature, because that info is needed every time you ask a question here.

change your audio mode to wasapi.  set the buffers low(ish) and your io cache higher.  make sure in windows in your audio interface prefs that the microphone and speakers are set to the same sample rate/bit depth.  realtek drivers are notorious in oem builds to support up to 96khz/24bit sound but only 44.1khz/16 or 24 bit sound for inputs.  having them set at different rates will cause headaches... make sure you didn't change the tempo in the project if you're using drum loops because the drums will play at a different rate making the recorded guitar will sound out of time. if you can read the latency that the soundcard is reporting, nudge the guitar part earlier by the number of ms latency that's reported and that will probably cure your immediate problem.

hth and welcome aboard!

Thanks guys, I'll see what works. Upgrading is such a PITA! I used to run Home Studio 9 on an old PC and it worked like a charm. Ah well, guess I'm at the bottom of that learning curve!

Well, it turns out it was only an issue with the speakers and inputs being set at different bit depths. as soon as I got into my hardware controls I got them set the same and now there is no more lag time. Thanks swamptooth!
Kalle, I appreciate your response as well. I went with the simplest answers first and thankfully it was easy. I'm always glad to have plenty of options. 

Welcome Cullenzoo.
For what it's worth, you should consider purchasing a better quality audio interface.
Even something in the $100-$300 range will give you better sound quality and stability than the built in sound chip.
Sound Blaster is a slight upgrade but still basically meant for gaming and YouTube-ing. Not so much for recording.

HERE'S a few just so you have an idea of what's out there.

Mike

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is small, cheap (under $130) is USB powered and has GREAT guitar/vocal preamps built in.  I highly recommend it.

chefmike8888


Welcome Cullenzoo.
For what it's worth, you should consider purchasing a better quality audio interface.
Even something in the $100-$300 range will give you better sound quality and stability than the built in sound chip.
Sound Blaster is a slight upgrade but still basically meant for gaming and YouTube-ing. Not so much for recording.

HERE'S a few just so you have an idea of what's out there.

Mike

+1 !!
 
I was AMAZED at the difference when I added a (at the time, cheap) USB audio interface to my laptop, instead of just using onboard sound.  Big improvement!!
 
Welcome aboard, neighbor!!

Thanks guys, I'm on the quest for a good audio interface. I originally shied away from them when I was using my stone age computer but now that I'm a little more current I don't think I'll be as liable to stop 
up the plumbing. 
I have to tell you though, I've only had my program a short while but I imported some files from my old program and tweeked the master mix a bit and there is a night and day difference. I can only imagine how much better recordings done with a usb audio input will sound!

So, I would start in a balanced way. Don't go blow your whole wad on an interface. Try to spread your budget around. I started with a Line 6 single input device, moved up to a m-audio fast track and now I have an rme device.

I like portable and small.

But you should spread your budget around until you can do everything you want. that's my advice.