If trying to use the Flight Path Simulator utility in Encom PA and you get the following message when running SimFlightPath on a Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7 machine:

"There was an error opening the aircraft database. You cannot generate flight paths without an aircraft database. Please contact Encom for help."

then you need to change the permissions for the Encom PA "Plugins" folder so that all users have Wirte permission to this folder and files within it. The reason for this is that when you open a Microsoft Access .MDB file, DAO creates a temporary LDB locking file in the same folder. So if you don't have this permission you can't open the .MDB file.

To overcome this problem in Encom PA v9.0 or earlier:

1. In Windows Explorer, right-click on the folder C:\Program Files\Encom\Encom PA\Plugins, choose the Properties pop-up menu option.
2. In the "Security" tab, press the "Edit" button.
3. Next, select "Users", enter the administrator password if prompted, tick the "Write" checkbox in the "Allow" column, and press OK.