Outstanding advice! I was assuming it had something to do with the format I was editing it, eg: UTF-32, UTF-16 or ASCII formats. I tried a few with no luck. I will do as you say and see if there is a difference in the files after editing the two utilizing Notepad vs. Notepad++. I also assumed that the SCORM manifest was checking file size as well, however I couldn’t find any evidence of that happening, plus that wouldn’t make sense that I could edit with Notepad without any issue.
I appreciate your response, will definitely do this!