I worked with this gentleman for a bit this evening and found that the security features of Windows Vista is at play here.
I'll explain as briefly as I can: Programs have historically assumed full accessability to one's computer, a function normally reserved for one with Administrator abilities. Programmers always assumed Admin rights because 1) Microsoft didn't police it and 2) programming was much simpler if that part didn't have to be addressed.
Enter Windows Vista with UAC (User Account Control), which--in an attempt to increase overall security--limits applications to "standard" privileges unless told otherwise. Vista fools the legacy programs by
pretending to let them write to their familiar file locations. In actuality, the saved files are secretly redirected to a "virtual store". This is done to protect certain folders that shouldn't be compromised, such as "C:\Program Files" or "C:\Windows". By default, the Partner PC Admin software is installed in "C:\Program Files\PARTNER ACS R7.0 PC Administration", which falls under the "oh no you don't, mister" category of software without proper credentials (under Microsoft's new laws).
The thing is that when you go to look for those files, you can't find them! And that's what Clay was experiencing. It was not until he clicked on the folder's "Show Compatibility Files" button that he could see his previously missing XMG files. But even with this view option engaged, you can't exactly open these files as you might expect.
This article covers the topic without too much jargon.
I shared with Mr. Hammer some of the ways that UAC may be defeated. I expect that he will report back a winning combination of setting that we can reference time and again for those of us with future PACS clients running Vista.
