Made a recording and everything... haha... feeling all happy.
 
Things are working fine for me.
 
Not a new PC... same old HP DV something or other laptop.
 
Takes a long time to re-install with all patches for x1 and all the diff plugins that are now sold separately.
 
Only issue I've got so far is that I could not install the AlphaTrack driver... but that's a device not Sonar, and I'll bet I get that worked out too.
 
Thought I'd share my good news. Excuse me if this is the wrong place to post a happy word.

So, It took me 10 days to notice, but all the guitar rig 4 amps and stuff are missing.
 
All I see in Guitar Rig is Tape Deck Metronome, preset volume and another tape deck.
 
I'm not sure where the stuff is.
 
I rescanned for VSTs but that didn't help.
 
When I open it, it zips through what looks like loading some stuff, but when it's done, there's not amps or anything.
 
thoughts?

I'm assuming you reinstalled Sonar after the upgrade. Log into your Native Instruments account (you should have had to create one when you first installed Sonar to access GR4. If not do so using your GR4 Serial number). Download the update(s). You probably just forgot to affiliate your registration with the new install. It may not work with Win8 anyway but it is worth a shot. When doing stuff like this with GR always use Run As Administrator. If you have further problems just call Native Instruments support.

Also, all NI products should be run as stand alone before using as a VST. If it runs in stand alone it will at least show if its an O/S issue.

The skeptic in me says GR4 has been superceded by GR5, given NIs ways of trying to force you to upgrade I would not be suprised if GR4 does not work on Win 8.

I thought W8 could just be installed as an upgrade to W7?   If it means I have to reformat my PC and reinstall everything then I'll have to pass.

I believe you can install as an upgrade. However in the past that has not always turned out to give the best results. If you have an image backup of you drive before the upgrade at least you have a way back if things go badly. In the end I think a fresh install is the best long term solution.

Well - I would NOT use Windows 8 at this moment without an backup system. It is possible Sonar (or any other program) runs without problems, but it is not guaranteed at all!! Most times only long term use will tell if there are problems or not. And do not forget - Sonar is NOT guaranteed to run under Windows 8, so ANY problem that will occur is the problem of the user and not Cakewalk's problem. Simply said - you cannot get support installing your software on a not-supported system. So - testing is good, but never use a Windows 8 install as a mission-critical system...

Thanks, everyone. Regarding Windows 8 Upgrade vs Clean Install, I was going from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 8 Enterprise just for yuks. I have a MSDN license so I can install any of the 8 OSes. I chose the x64 enterprise and that one needed to have a clean install over ultimate. So, I think it depends on your current OS and target OS as to whether it will upgrade keeping your currently installed stuff. I will say, it is VERY different. And so far, it has worked better for me for recording using Sonar.

Beepster, btw, you totally knew how to fix it. My problem with Guitar Rig was that I needed to install all the patches. I'm grooving now!

Awesome. I love a happy ending. Keep us updated on how things go with Win8. I (as I am sure others are) am very interested to hear about other users experiences. Cheers!