Problems with Change Assistant? Tools 8.50

 Just wondering if anybody else has had issues with the Tools 8.50 version of Change Assistant?  I've installed a Tools 8.50.08 PeopleSoft system - and Change Assistant has two problems that I've got two pending cases on (with no progress):

1.  We can not download change packages because our "Metalink" login fails, even though we are entering proper credentials.  This has a workaround - download the packages manually and place them in the CA download directory.  This one is not as big of a deal as:

2.  We cannot apply change packages because it gets stuck on the re-validation cycle.  Specifically: "Re-validation of the environment(s) will now occur.  This will take a few moments."  It sits on this scan indefinitely.  I have tried letting it run for several hours, but ultimately I have to kill it via Task Manager.  There is one case in the knowledge base with this problem, but it was resolved and not relevant to our situation.  Since this is a freshly installed Vanilla system, I can't be the only one having this problem.  There isn't really a workaround for us, short of