Hi Tim,
Regarding your questions:
@ 1: You can make your new pointing file with the old configuration active, Autoslew is aware of that.
@ 2: Simply solve your new autopointing file as usual and save it with the option 'use now, save and use on next start'
Sequence never crashed on me when taking autopointing exposures, neither with my local setup nor with the remote setup, which is similar to yours. Maybe the current Beta versions perform better for you.
Best regards,
Gerhard