[2005] Always use same settings

I have a bunch of default user settings that can be changed from my program. The problem I have is that depending on how I start my program, I get a completly different set of settings.

For example, I run my program from the IDE and set a setting to "A".
If I quit and run the same program but as the compiled version in debug/bin, my setting is different than "A". This is very confusing because each test produces a different result, because the different versions of my program all keep a seperate set of settings.

Is there a way to have a single common set of settings base for a single program?

Where do you store your "settings"?

I assume you are storing your settings in some sort of XML or ini file. If you add the file to your project you can set a property on the file to Copy To Output Directory.

I use My.Settings, the settings being defined directly in the Properties page of my project.

I would suggest storing them external to your program. I use a settings table in my backend database, but Negative0's suggestion of an XML file or an ini file would work just as well.

Anyone have a good example on how to store program settings in a XML file using VB 2005?