Microsoft Vista Is "Protecting" Me From My Mods

[JScones]

Yep, as others have posted, simply install *outside* of Program Files (ie into "C:\Games", or preferably onto another drive altogether). Doing so avoids Vista's "File Virtualization" feature, a component of Vista's UAC feature and perhaps the biggest frustration for players of moddable games.

Avoiding the UAC also has the advantage that you won't need to elevate permissions for tools that modify SH4 files (although it's prolly still a good habit forming practice).

FWIW I've never, even in Win95 days, installed any game to the Program Files folder; it's just not the most appropriate place. IMHO it's better to keep all games under a separate Games folder on a separate drive, as what game can't be modified nowadays?

And no, I wouldn't recommend disabling UAC. A little bit of reading up on UAC and File Virtualization (even Wikipedia has basic explanations) is all that is needed to understand what it does. That way you also keep its benefits.