1+2) There is an option in the Configuration, on the Miscellaneous pane, to turn off the zipping of the component files into the ".C 2" archive. Check this setting.
3) Again check the Configuration, on the Database pane, for the location of the \System directory (the "Alternate CAESAR II Distributed Data Path") and the setting for the "Load Case Template" file. Make sure both of these are set to their default values (unless of course you've changed them purposefully).
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Regards,
Richard Ay - Consultant