diff --git a/src/Config/Config.cpp b/src/Config/Config.cpp
index e24c02ecc..89a5a8144 100644
--- a/src/Config/Config.cpp
+++ b/src/Config/Config.cpp
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ extern "C" bool OpenSettingsFile(bool* keepCached)
 {
   if (StrIsNotEmpty(Globals.IniFile)) 
   {
-    CreateIniFile();
+    CreateIniFile(Globals.IniFile, NULL);
 
     if (!IsIniFileCached()) {
       LoadIniFileCache(Globals.IniFile);
@@ -858,33 +858,36 @@ extern "C" bool FindIniFile()
 //=============================================================================
 
 
-extern "C" bool TestIniFile() {
+extern "C" bool TestIniFile()
+{
+  LPWSTR const pszIniFilePath = Globals.IniFile;
+  size_t const pathBufCount = COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile);
 
-  if (StringCchCompareXI(Globals.IniFile, L"*?") == 0) {
+  if (StringCchCompareXI(pszIniFilePath, L"*?") == 0) {
     StringCchCopy(Globals.IniFileDefault, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFileDefault), L"");
-    StringCchCopy(Globals.IniFile, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile), L"");
+    StringCchCopy(pszIniFilePath, pathBufCount, L"");
     return false;
   }
 
-  if (PathIsDirectory(Globals.IniFile) || *CharPrev(Globals.IniFile, StrEnd(Globals.IniFile, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile))) == L'\\') {
+  if (PathIsDirectory(pszIniFilePath) || *CharPrev(pszIniFilePath, StrEnd(pszIniFilePath, pathBufCount)) == L'\\') {
     WCHAR wchModule[MAX_PATH] = { L'\0' };
     GetModuleFileName(NULL, wchModule, COUNTOF(wchModule));
-    PathCchAppend(Globals.IniFile, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile), PathFindFileName(wchModule));
-    PathCchRenameExtension(Globals.IniFile, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile), L".ini");
-    if (!PathIsExistingFile(Globals.IniFile)) {
-      StringCchCopy(PathFindFileName(Globals.IniFile), COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile), _W(SAPPNAME) L".ini");
-      if (!PathIsExistingFile(Globals.IniFile)) {
-        StringCchCopy(PathFindFileName(Globals.IniFile), COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile), PathFindFileName(wchModule));
-        PathCchRenameExtension(Globals.IniFile, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile), L".ini");
+    PathCchAppend(pszIniFilePath, pathBufCount, PathFindFileName(wchModule));
+    PathCchRenameExtension(pszIniFilePath, pathBufCount, L".ini");
+    if (!PathIsExistingFile(pszIniFilePath)) {
+      StringCchCopy(PathFindFileName(pszIniFilePath), pathBufCount, _W(SAPPNAME) L".ini");
+      if (!PathIsExistingFile(pszIniFilePath)) {
+        StringCchCopy(PathFindFileName(pszIniFilePath), pathBufCount, PathFindFileName(wchModule));
+        PathCchRenameExtension(pszIniFilePath, pathBufCount, L".ini");
       }
     }
   }
 
-  NormalizePathEx(Globals.IniFile, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile), true, false);
+  NormalizePathEx(pszIniFilePath, pathBufCount, true, false);
 
-  if (!PathFileExists(Globals.IniFile) || PathIsDirectory(Globals.IniFile)) {
-    StringCchCopy(Globals.IniFileDefault, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFileDefault), Globals.IniFile);
-    StringCchCopy(Globals.IniFile, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile), L"");
+  if (!PathFileExists(pszIniFilePath) || PathIsDirectory(pszIniFilePath)) {
+    StringCchCopy(Globals.IniFileDefault, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFileDefault), pszIniFilePath);
+    StringCchCopy(pszIniFilePath, pathBufCount, L"");
     return false;
   }
 
@@ -893,24 +896,24 @@ extern "C" bool TestIniFile() {
 //=============================================================================
 
 
-extern "C" bool CreateIniFile()
+extern "C" bool CreateIniFile(LPCWSTR pszIniFilePath, DWORD* pdwFileSize_out)
 {
   bool result = false;
-  if (StrIsNotEmpty(Globals.IniFile))
+  if (StrIsNotEmpty(pszIniFilePath))
   {
-    WCHAR* pwchTail = StrRChrW(Globals.IniFile, NULL, L'\\');
+    WCHAR* pwchTail = StrRChrW(pszIniFilePath, NULL, L'\\');
 
     if (pwchTail) {
-      *pwchTail = 0;
-      SHCreateDirectoryEx(NULL, Globals.IniFile, NULL);
+      *pwchTail = L'\0';
+      SHCreateDirectoryEx(NULL, pszIniFilePath, NULL);
       *pwchTail = L'\\';
     }
     
     DWORD dwFileSize = 0UL;
 
-    if (!PathIsExistingFile(Globals.IniFile))
+    if (!PathIsExistingFile(pszIniFilePath))
     {
-      HANDLE hFile = CreateFile(Globals.IniFile,
+      HANDLE hFile = CreateFile(pszIniFilePath,
         GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, nullptr,
         CREATE_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, nullptr);
 
@@ -920,12 +923,15 @@ extern "C" bool CreateIniFile()
       else {
         wchar_t msg[MAX_PATH + 128] = { 0 };
         StringCchPrintf(msg, ARRAYSIZE(msg),
-          L"CreateIniFile(%s): FAILD TO CREATE INITIAL INI FILE!", Globals.IniFile);
+          L"CreateIniFile(%s): FAILD TO CREATE INITIAL INI FILE!", pszIniFilePath);
         MsgBoxLastError(msg, 0);
       }
     }
-    else {
-      HANDLE hFile = CreateFile(Globals.IniFile,
+    else 
+    {
+      SetFileAttributes(pszIniFilePath, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL);
+
+      HANDLE hFile = CreateFile(pszIniFilePath,
         GENERIC_READ, FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, nullptr,
         OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, nullptr);
 
@@ -937,21 +943,20 @@ extern "C" bool CreateIniFile()
       else {
         wchar_t msg[MAX_PATH + 128] = { 0 };
         StringCchPrintf(msg, ARRAYSIZE(msg),
-          L"CreateIniFile(%s): FAILED TO GET FILESIZE!", Globals.IniFile);
+          L"CreateIniFile(%s): FAILED TO GET FILESIZE!", pszIniFilePath);
         MsgBoxLastError(msg, 0);
         dwFileSize = INVALID_FILE_SIZE;
       }
     }
+    if (pdwFileSize_out) { *pdwFileSize_out = dwFileSize; }
 
     if (dwFileSize == 0UL) {
-      result = IniFileSetString(Globals.IniFile, _W(SAPPNAME), NULL, NULL);
-      Globals.bIniFileFromScratch = true;
+      // Set at least Application Name Section
+      result = IniFileSetString(pszIniFilePath, _W(SAPPNAME), NULL, NULL);
     }
     else {
       result = true;
     }
-
-    return result;
   }
   return result;
 }
diff --git a/src/Config/Config.h b/src/Config/Config.h
index ccb813e93..bd0ebc5ed 100644
--- a/src/Config/Config.h
+++ b/src/Config/Config.h
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ extern "C" {
 
 bool FindIniFile();
 bool TestIniFile();
-bool CreateIniFile();
+bool CreateIniFile(LPCWSTR pszIniFilePath, DWORD* pdwFileSize_out);
 void LoadSettings();
 bool SaveWindowPositionSettings(bool bClearSettings);
 bool SaveAllSettings(bool bForceSaveSettings);
diff --git a/src/Dialogs.c b/src/Dialogs.c
index 3e3c0b9c5..c05206e2d 100644
--- a/src/Dialogs.c
+++ b/src/Dialogs.c
@@ -3521,7 +3521,7 @@ void DialogGrepWin(HWND hwnd, LPCWSTR searchPattern)
   GetModuleFileName(NULL, tchNotepad3Path, COUNTOF(tchNotepad3Path));
   PathCanonicalizeEx(tchNotepad3Path, COUNTOF(tchNotepad3Path));
 
-  // grepWin executable
+  // find grepWin executable (side-by-side .ini file)
   if (StrIsNotEmpty(Settings2.GrepWinPath)) {
     ExtractFirstArgument(Settings2.GrepWinPath, tchExeFile, tchOptions, COUNTOF(tchExeFile));
     ExpandEnvironmentStringsEx(tchExeFile, COUNTOF(tchExeFile));
@@ -3554,37 +3554,28 @@ void DialogGrepWin(HWND hwnd, LPCWSTR searchPattern)
     // grepWin INI-File
     const WCHAR* const gwIniFileName = L"grepWinNP3.ini";
     StringCchCopy(tchIniFilePath, COUNTOF(tchIniFilePath), StrIsNotEmpty(Globals.IniFile) ? Globals.IniFile : Globals.IniFileDefault);
+
     PathRemoveFileSpec(tchIniFilePath);
     PathAppend(tchIniFilePath, gwIniFileName);
     if (PathIsRelative(tchIniFilePath)) {
       StringCchCopy(tchIniFilePath, COUNTOF(tchIniFilePath), tchGrepWinDir);
       PathAppend(tchIniFilePath, gwIniFileName);
     }
-    if (!PathIsExistingFile(tchIniFilePath)) {
-      HANDLE hFile = CreateFile(tchIniFilePath,
-        GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, NULL,
-        CREATE_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
-      if (hFile != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
-        WriteFile(hFile, "\xEF\xBB\xBF", 3, NULL, NULL);
-        CloseHandle(hFile); // done
-      }
-    }
 
-
-    // get grepWin language
-    int lngIdx = -1;
-    for (int i = 0; i < grepWinLang_CountOf(); ++i) {
-      if (grepWinLangResName[i].lngid == Globals.iPrefLANGID) {
-        lngIdx = i;
-        break;
-      }
-    }
-
-    if (LoadIniFileCache(tchIniFilePath)) 
+    if (CreateIniFile(tchIniFilePath, NULL) && LoadIniFileCache(tchIniFilePath))
     {
       // preserve [global] user settings from last call
       const WCHAR* const globalSection = L"global";
 
+      // get grepWin language
+      int lngIdx = -1;
+      for (int i = 0; i < grepWinLang_CountOf(); ++i) {
+        if (grepWinLangResName[i].lngid == Globals.iPrefLANGID) {
+          lngIdx = i;
+          break;
+        }
+      }
+
       WCHAR value[HUGE_BUFFER];
       for (int i = 0; i < COUNTOF(grepWinIniSettings); ++i) {
         IniSectionGetString(globalSection, grepWinIniSettings[i].key, grepWinIniSettings[i].val, value, COUNTOF(value));
@@ -3630,13 +3621,18 @@ void DialogGrepWin(HWND hwnd, LPCWSTR searchPattern)
   }
 
   // grepWin arguments
-  const WCHAR* const tchParamFmt = L"/portable /content %s /inipath:\"%s\"";
-  WCHAR tchParams[MAX_PATH + 80] = { L'\0' };
-  // relative grepWinNP3.ini path (for shorter cmdline)
-  if (PathRelativePathTo(tchTemp, tchGrepWinDir, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY, tchIniFilePath, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL)) {
-    StringCchCopy(tchIniFilePath, COUNTOF(tchIniFilePath), tchTemp);
+  WCHAR tchParams[2*MAX_PATH] = { L'\0' };
+  
+  if (PathIsExistingFile(tchIniFilePath)) {
+    // relative grepWinNP3.ini path (for shorter cmdline)
+    if (PathRelativePathTo(tchTemp, tchGrepWinDir, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY, tchIniFilePath, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL)) {
+      StringCchCopy(tchIniFilePath, COUNTOF(tchIniFilePath), tchTemp);
+    }
+    StringCchPrintf(tchParams, COUNTOF(tchParams), L"/portable /content %s /inipath:\"%s\"", tchOptions, tchIniFilePath);
+  }
+  else {
+    StringCchPrintf(tchParams, COUNTOF(tchParams), L"/portable /content %s", tchOptions);
   }
-  StringCchPrintf(tchParams, COUNTOF(tchParams), tchParamFmt, tchOptions, tchIniFilePath);
   //if (StrIsNotEmpty(searchPattern)) {
   //  SetClipboardTextW(hwnd, searchPattern, StringCchLen(searchPattern, 0));
   //}
diff --git a/src/Notepad3.c b/src/Notepad3.c
index 8af547421..840ee35b0 100644
--- a/src/Notepad3.c
+++ b/src/Notepad3.c
@@ -832,7 +832,9 @@ int WINAPI wWinMain(_In_ HINSTANCE hInstance, _In_opt_ HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
   ParseCommandLine();
   FindIniFile();
   TestIniFile();
-  CreateIniFile();
+  DWORD dwFileSize = 0UL;
+  CreateIniFile(Globals.IniFile, &dwFileSize);
+  Globals.bIniFileFromScratch = (dwFileSize == 0UL);
   LoadSettings();
 
   // set AppUserModelID
@@ -5564,7 +5566,7 @@ LRESULT MsgCommand(HWND hwnd, UINT umsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
 
           if (StrIsNotEmpty(Globals.IniFileDefault)) {
             StringCchCopy(Globals.IniFile, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile), Globals.IniFileDefault);
-            if (CreateIniFile(Globals.IniFile)) {
+            if (CreateIniFile(Globals.IniFile, NULL)) {
               StringCchCopy(Globals.IniFileDefault, COUNTOF(Globals.IniFileDefault), L"");
             }
             else {
diff --git a/src/Styles.c b/src/Styles.c
index 7d4ddedda..059374278 100644
--- a/src/Styles.c
+++ b/src/Styles.c
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ void Style_DynamicThemesMenuCmd(int cmd)
     }
     else if (Globals.idxSelectedTheme == 1) {
       if (!Flags.bSettingsFileSoftLocked) {
-        CreateIniFile();
+        CreateIniFile(Globals.IniFile, NULL);
         if (StrIsNotEmpty(Globals.IniFile)) {
           Style_ExportToFile(Globals.IniFile, Globals.bIniFileFromScratch);
         }