Thanks for your patience, Hardy.
I am understanding more every day, but I know it's not clicking as fast as it should and I apologize for being obtuse on this.
What confuses me with regard to each instance being connected to a pref file is that on your setup example above, it looks like you assign a2.9pack to have USB and AUDIO off, then save that under a2.pref, but you don't turn off USB or AUDIO on any of the other 9packs. Why would I only have to turn off USB and AUDIO to only one file when I have five?
When I look at the task bar right now with everything running correctly. I see:
Server|Instructor, Server|Captain Flying, Client 2|Instructor, Client 2|Captain Flying, Client 3|Instructor, Client 3|Captain Flying, Client 4|Instructor, Client 4|Captain Flying, Client 5|Instructor, Client 5|Captain Flying.
So I'm clear, do each of the five pref files (a1.pref - a5.pref) correspond with each of the five instances?
In this case, from left to right it would be my visuals (a1.pref), PFD/ND (a2.pref), EICAS (a3.pref), MFD (a4.pref) and CDU (a5.pref)?
When I set the pref file for a4.9pack and a5.9pack, all I did was tell it to start with its respective layout. There were no preferences such as USB or AUDIO or flight controls.