hi there i am currently operating autocad 2008 i have just managed to purchase some cone 7 software for traffic management  and when i tried to load it, it is designed for autocad 2004 - 2005 any ideas if i could get this running on autocad 2008 or i would have to download 2004? thanks 

Where did you obtain a copy of Cone 7 from?  eBay?  Craigslist?  Other?Download AutoCAD 2004?  Sure, from a warez site maybe.  Dude, in a couple of months AutoDesk rolls out AutoCAd 2015.  The only versions you'll be able to buy legally are 2014 and 2015.

Send Cone 7 back and get a refund.  Then spend that on Cone 10 which *will* run on your 2008 version of AutoCAD.  This information is in their FAQ file.Dave.