Same file has different content depending on the method used to open it

Question

Intro

I am trying to setup a batch file that can backup some AppData folders to a network location using robocopy.

The wincmd.ini (a file used by Total Commander) is giving me issues though: robocopy says it has copied the file to the network location, but depending on how I inspect the contents of this file this is true or false.

The methods of inspecting the contents are outlined below.

Method 1

1. Navigate to %APPDATA%\Roaming\GHISLER
2. Right click on the wincmd.ini file and click Edit

In the Task Manager it shows "C:\WINDOWS\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE" C:\Users\redacted\AppData\Roaming\GHISLER\wincmd.ini

Method 2

1. In Total Commander I click on Configuration -> Change settings file directly

In the Task Manager it shows notepad.exe C:\Users\redacted\AppData\Roaming\GHISLER\wincmd.ini

Here's a screenshot of the task manager with the open files:

The path to the wincmd.ini files opened by notepad is identical (at least to my eyes, perhaps I'm overlooking something), yet the content is not:

This shows a difference on line 3, but there are plenty of other differences throughout the file.

Actual problem

Method 1 shows me the file contents as copied by robocopy. If I copy/paste this content to Winmerge and compare it to what is copied to the network location, then the files are identical.

Method 2 shows me the file contents as used by Total Commander. If I copy/paste this content to Winmerge and compare it to what is copied to the network location, then the files differ (significantly).

My final goal is to copy the Total Commander settings actually in used by the application (i.e. as shown by method 2) to a network location in an automated fashion. This currently fails as the file contents that are copied do not match the file contents in use by Total Commander.

What is going on here and how can I align the content of method 1 and 2?

Answer 1

After searching for a while I posted on the Total Commander forum. There a member pointed me in the right direction (forum thread).

The discrepancy I saw was due to App-V. One file was created inside the App-V bubble, the other was created outside of it. This created a file that had different content, depending on if I approached it from within the App-V bubble (Method 2 in my question) or from outside of it (Method 1).

To prevent any further confusion I uninstalled Total Commander from the App-V environment and installed it as a regular application. Now a single version of the wincmd.ini file is accessible to all applications.