I'm not an expert on Chip's Controls either, but there is a program called MyChips which can accomplish the same thing as the renaming solution with a bit less hassle. MyChips will clone CHIPS.exe to create another .exe which will read the .dat file of your choice and save your progress to a separate .ini file. I've attached MyChips (along with the instructions) to this post.
CC Zone attachment: /applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=110">MyChips.zip
CC Zone attachment: /applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=110">MyChips.zip