There is nothing on my 500 gig drive but the OS, SONAR X1a and the three previous versions of sonar. I have just noticed that the drive has 18% free space left. The audio is on a seperate drive. THe picture cache has tons of files in it. Many from old dead sessions. Can the picture cache be emptied? Any clues to what else might be eating the HD space? Any reson to leave version 7 , 8 & 8.5 on the PC? FX etc.

Yes, you can empty the picture cache (unless X1 is somehow different in that regard.  I'm still on 8.5).
 
As far as keeping older versions of Sonar, that's up to you.  Personally I'd keep 8.5 and dump the older ones... especially if you're having a disk space issue. 
  

How many times have you used system restore? Around 200meg each time you use it

I would absolutely dump and clean out every version of SONAR previous to 8.5.

The picture cache can certainly be deleted. The picture cache will be rebuilt for a particular project when it is opened the next time.

How many times have you used system restore? Around 200meg each time you use it

Most users will not know the answer to that question. By default restore points are created automatically on a schedule and when certain operations (most commonly installation of programs or drivers) are performed. You can limit the amount of space available for restore points. http://mintywhite.com/windows-7/7maintenance/change-limit-system-restore-windows-7/ Once that space is filled new restore points replace old ones.

According to the Sonar Tech clean the Picture Cache regularly as it will use gigs of memory on your HD.

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

I would absolutely dump and clean out every version of SONAR previous to 8.5.

The picture cache can certainly be deleted. The picture cache will be rebuilt for a particular project when it is opened the next time.

This is good to know information

would absolutely dump and clean out every

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

I would absolutely dump and clean out every version of SONAR previous to 8.5.

Could you please elaborate Brandon? 


In particular, "dump"? Do you mean uninstall using the Cakewalk uninstall program or using Windows uninstall? Or?


"clean out"? I don't know what that means? Ajax? Pressure washer? Clorox? 


how about the registry?


Reason I ask is, I still have Pro Audio 9.03 installed (and Sonar 4). Mostly because I've still got tons of things in *.wrk format, and the migration of *.wrk to *.cwp has always been less than desirable. So, If I need something from a wrk file, I have to export all the waves from Pro Audio and import to Sonar.


Thanks

1. Leave the registry alone
2. Navigate (in Windows Explorer) to the picture cache folder
3. DELETE every file in the folder 
4. Use the Sonar "Uninstall Program" utility to remove previous versions
5. Again, in Windows Explorer, delete all remaining folders & references to previous Sonar installations
6. Read this: http://www.digifreq.com/digifreq/discuss/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1106 for instructions on how to safely remove unwanted registry entries

Sorry I've highjacked the thread. As, I understand how to delete picture Cache files. To the OP, just delete them.

As far as uninstalling previous Cake versions,
The problem for me when uninstalling anything in Windows is how stupid the uninstall program seems to be.
what usually happens during a typical 'uninstall' where there are related applications is that, as the uninstall progresses, little windows pop up saying something like 'this is a shared file, do you want to delelte it'. 

Usually, I say 'No' . But, by saying no I may be fragmenting something which in turn screws something else up. (like the registry will always be looking for whatever it is I delete/uninstall)
But, saying yes to the pop ups may cause worse problems (if any).

Plus, by deleting all traces of previous versions, I don't know which plugs or synths would be lost along the way. 

So, bottom line is, I'm too chicken to uninstall anything.

Help..