Application Data Directory... An IO question

I am working on multiple games that (ideally) will read from the same external ini files. The purpose of this is to allow the user to set how they want all of there "Zach's Games" (not the actual company) to behave.

File IO in TGB as I understand it does not allow for this since each game reads and writes externals only from their own little section of the application data directory. I understand the reason for it, but in my case it is a pretty major pain. My current solution (see: hack) is start the game(s) via batch applications that first copy the master.ini to each of the individual Application Data Directories.

So: Is there a better way?

Please keep in mind that I have a multitude of very good reasons for wanting to do this. Not the least of which is that the games I am creating are intended for children under twelve. I just want the process to be as child/parent proof as possible.

-THANX
Zach