I don't think the XChange.dat included is actually cracked, not even with a NoCD type hack or anything: It's just a completed save file with the gallery fully unlocked, with a bunch of saves dating back to 1998.
XChange will try to write and read save data from the Windows directory even when its install log shows it successfully created a blank XChange.dat in the directory you installed it to. This is why the readme.txt accompanying the file says to drop it in the Windows directory.
For those of you using Vista, 7, 8, or 10: here's where your save file's usually located and where you can use the completed XChange.dat in (assuming your C drive is where Windows is installed):
Code:
C:\Users\YOUR_WINDOWS_PROFILE_USER_NAME_HERE\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows
You probably already know this, but just in-case: AppData is normally a hidden folder, and this whole thing happens because post-Vista Microsoft decided to try using virtualization for programs running without administrator privileges as a means of heightening security and minimizing damage done by unwary users.
If you're running the game as an administrator or in an older version of Windows, your save file's in:
Before you ask me why: I don't know. You'd have to talk to whomever at either CROWD or Peach Princess was responsible for programming the save data writing and reading part of the game's coding.