One problem I ran into, and you may be running into also, is that your joystick drivers and SSt programming version have to match.  
Mine was fine, but through Windows updates I got updated joystick drivers.  My stick program stopped working.  I went to the Saitek site and followed their FAQ's and discovered the problem.  All I had to do was download and install the new SST software,  and put my old stick file into the Saitek folder-problem solved.
My guess is that either you or your friend has the newer joystick drivers.
Just a guess though...
MtnMan