John:
This is a bit more involved than it seems on the surface. First Crystal 8.5 will work with the standard Adagio reports but you have to be very careful to not use any features introduced into Crystal after version 7.0. This is because most modules use the Crystal 7.0 runtime engine (GL and 1 or 2 modules use 8.5).

Secondly, Softrak sells Crystal Reports for Adagio. That is the version number that Steve is referencing. It sounds as if you simply have Crystal, not Crystal Reports for Adagio. You can still edit cosmetic things but you can't open the data tables without the Adagio component.

Your plan should work as long as the changes fit within the constraints of version 7 and don't require opening data tables during design. There are sometimes several RPT files assigned to 1 Adagio report option to accommodate different user options. Maybe you are changing the wrong one.

Finally, good practice is that you shouldn't change the reports in the StandardRP folder. The next time that you install a new version, it would overwrite the enhanced report. Instead create a folder named ModRP (ie. \Softrak\APWIN\ModRP) and put the report into that folder. Then when Adagio runs, it looks into that folder first.