Why would some folders be copied with the wrong timestamp?












2















When copying folders from a FAT16-formatted microSD card onto an NTFS volume, why would some (but not all) of the folders have a modified timestamp of the current date/time on the destination?



Some of the destination folders have timestamps matching that of the source folders, but some are getting copied with timestamps being altered to reflect the current date/time.



Windows File Explorer from Windows 7 SP1 was used to copy the folders. Chkdsk was run on the source and destination, with no errors found.










share|improve this question

























  • @PIMP_JUICE_IT Using Windows File Explorer. That's what I thought at first, but some of the folders retain their timestamps and some do not. Also, copying from NTFS to NTFS results in the modified timestamps being retained, not being set to the time the copy operation is performed.

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 4:27
















2















When copying folders from a FAT16-formatted microSD card onto an NTFS volume, why would some (but not all) of the folders have a modified timestamp of the current date/time on the destination?



Some of the destination folders have timestamps matching that of the source folders, but some are getting copied with timestamps being altered to reflect the current date/time.



Windows File Explorer from Windows 7 SP1 was used to copy the folders. Chkdsk was run on the source and destination, with no errors found.










share|improve this question

























  • @PIMP_JUICE_IT Using Windows File Explorer. That's what I thought at first, but some of the folders retain their timestamps and some do not. Also, copying from NTFS to NTFS results in the modified timestamps being retained, not being set to the time the copy operation is performed.

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 4:27














2












2








2


1






When copying folders from a FAT16-formatted microSD card onto an NTFS volume, why would some (but not all) of the folders have a modified timestamp of the current date/time on the destination?



Some of the destination folders have timestamps matching that of the source folders, but some are getting copied with timestamps being altered to reflect the current date/time.



Windows File Explorer from Windows 7 SP1 was used to copy the folders. Chkdsk was run on the source and destination, with no errors found.










share|improve this question
















When copying folders from a FAT16-formatted microSD card onto an NTFS volume, why would some (but not all) of the folders have a modified timestamp of the current date/time on the destination?



Some of the destination folders have timestamps matching that of the source folders, but some are getting copied with timestamps being altered to reflect the current date/time.



Windows File Explorer from Windows 7 SP1 was used to copy the folders. Chkdsk was run on the source and destination, with no errors found.







windows-7 windows-explorer filesystems file-transfer fat16






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Aug 6 '16 at 4:28







RockPaperLizard

















asked Aug 6 '16 at 3:32









RockPaperLizardRockPaperLizard

3,184133671




3,184133671













  • @PIMP_JUICE_IT Using Windows File Explorer. That's what I thought at first, but some of the folders retain their timestamps and some do not. Also, copying from NTFS to NTFS results in the modified timestamps being retained, not being set to the time the copy operation is performed.

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 4:27



















  • @PIMP_JUICE_IT Using Windows File Explorer. That's what I thought at first, but some of the folders retain their timestamps and some do not. Also, copying from NTFS to NTFS results in the modified timestamps being retained, not being set to the time the copy operation is performed.

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 4:27

















@PIMP_JUICE_IT Using Windows File Explorer. That's what I thought at first, but some of the folders retain their timestamps and some do not. Also, copying from NTFS to NTFS results in the modified timestamps being retained, not being set to the time the copy operation is performed.

– RockPaperLizard
Aug 6 '16 at 4:27





@PIMP_JUICE_IT Using Windows File Explorer. That's what I thought at first, but some of the folders retain their timestamps and some do not. Also, copying from NTFS to NTFS results in the modified timestamps being retained, not being set to the time the copy operation is performed.

– RockPaperLizard
Aug 6 '16 at 4:27










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2














A General Microsoft Explanation




Description of NTFS date and time stamps for files and folders



SUMMARY



This article describes how file and folder date and time stamps
(created or modified) are displayed based on the file system that is
in use (FAT or the NTFS file system), and the partition (whether the
action occurred on the same partition or across partitions
).



MORE INFORMATION



File properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time but it changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • In all examples, the modified date and time of a file does not change unless a property of the file has changed. The created date
    and time of the file changes depending on whether the file was
    copied or moved.


Folder properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you create two new folders on an NTFS partition called D:NTFS1 and D:NTFS2, both the created and modified date and time are the same.


  • If you move the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating D:NTFS1NTFS2, then:




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified stamp changes.

    2. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder changes and the modified folder stay the same.


    This behavior occurs because, even though you moved the folder, a new
    folder is seen as being created within the D:NTFS1 folder by the
    Master File Table (MFT).




  • If you copy the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating the D:NTFS1NTFS2 folder, and the D:NTFS2 folder still exists (after having copied it):




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified folder time and date stamp changes.


    2. D:NTFS2 - No changes occur because it is the original folder.


    3. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder and the modified folder changes to the same stamp, which is that of the time of the move.





This behavior occurs because even though you copied the folder, the
new folder is seen as being created by the MFT and is given a new
created and modified time stamp.



Note: The design and behavior of the FAT file system is different with regards to the modified time stamp. On a FAT file system, the
modified date of a folder does not change if the contents of the
folder change. For example, if you have D:FAT1 and D:FAT2, and you
copy or move D:FAT2 into D:FAT1, the created date and modified date
of D:FAT1 remains the same.



source






Conclusion



Looking for Commonalities



It was determined that. . .




Every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every
folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The
opposite of what I wanted. I've
lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for
this type of task. –
RockPaperLizard




Therefore, when copying folders from a source to a destination location with Windows File Explorer it just seems that this is just how it handles preserving or not preserving the folder time stamp attributes per this type of operation by default.





Prevention



Retain Date Time Stamp Attributes of Folders



As suggested in this MS TechNet Article you can use Robocopy /DCOPY:T to preserve the original source folder time stamp attribute values (/DCOPY:T : Copy Directory Timestamps.) when it's copied to the destination location.






share|improve this answer


























  • That's very useful information. Thank you. That MSKB does not specifically apply to Win7, but hopefully it still reflects the intended behavior. What's interesting is the behavior described is not what is happening. Some of the folders copied (or moved... it seems to matter not) maintain their FAT16 modified timestamps, but some get assigned modified timestamps equal to the current date/time. It's quite odd. Also, unfortunately, that article does not describe the case of copying a folder C:FAT16 to D:NTFS.

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 4:43











  • You helped me figure it out. Thank you so much. The key word you used was commonalities. Initially, I thought there were no commonalities. I was mistaken. In fact, every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The opposite of what I wanted, but I would prefer that to random! I've lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for this type of task. To help others, would you prefer to add this info to your answer, or would you prefer I type it up in another answer?

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:22






  • 1





    @RockPaperLizard I just added some detail to my answer to help others with some of these aspects we worked on after I added the original answer with the referenced material. Let me know if you think this will suffice or if you think I need to include more, format differently, etc.

    – Pimp Juice IT
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:48








  • 1





    The new Conclusion and Prevention sections look great. Thanks again! :-)

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:49











  • link is dead. See Rules for "Date Modified" of folders in Windows Explorer

    – phuclv
    Feb 7 at 9:23











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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

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active

oldest

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active

oldest

votes









2














A General Microsoft Explanation




Description of NTFS date and time stamps for files and folders



SUMMARY



This article describes how file and folder date and time stamps
(created or modified) are displayed based on the file system that is
in use (FAT or the NTFS file system), and the partition (whether the
action occurred on the same partition or across partitions
).



MORE INFORMATION



File properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time but it changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • In all examples, the modified date and time of a file does not change unless a property of the file has changed. The created date
    and time of the file changes depending on whether the file was
    copied or moved.


Folder properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you create two new folders on an NTFS partition called D:NTFS1 and D:NTFS2, both the created and modified date and time are the same.


  • If you move the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating D:NTFS1NTFS2, then:




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified stamp changes.

    2. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder changes and the modified folder stay the same.


    This behavior occurs because, even though you moved the folder, a new
    folder is seen as being created within the D:NTFS1 folder by the
    Master File Table (MFT).




  • If you copy the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating the D:NTFS1NTFS2 folder, and the D:NTFS2 folder still exists (after having copied it):




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified folder time and date stamp changes.


    2. D:NTFS2 - No changes occur because it is the original folder.


    3. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder and the modified folder changes to the same stamp, which is that of the time of the move.





This behavior occurs because even though you copied the folder, the
new folder is seen as being created by the MFT and is given a new
created and modified time stamp.



Note: The design and behavior of the FAT file system is different with regards to the modified time stamp. On a FAT file system, the
modified date of a folder does not change if the contents of the
folder change. For example, if you have D:FAT1 and D:FAT2, and you
copy or move D:FAT2 into D:FAT1, the created date and modified date
of D:FAT1 remains the same.



source






Conclusion



Looking for Commonalities



It was determined that. . .




Every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every
folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The
opposite of what I wanted. I've
lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for
this type of task. –
RockPaperLizard




Therefore, when copying folders from a source to a destination location with Windows File Explorer it just seems that this is just how it handles preserving or not preserving the folder time stamp attributes per this type of operation by default.





Prevention



Retain Date Time Stamp Attributes of Folders



As suggested in this MS TechNet Article you can use Robocopy /DCOPY:T to preserve the original source folder time stamp attribute values (/DCOPY:T : Copy Directory Timestamps.) when it's copied to the destination location.






share|improve this answer


























  • That's very useful information. Thank you. That MSKB does not specifically apply to Win7, but hopefully it still reflects the intended behavior. What's interesting is the behavior described is not what is happening. Some of the folders copied (or moved... it seems to matter not) maintain their FAT16 modified timestamps, but some get assigned modified timestamps equal to the current date/time. It's quite odd. Also, unfortunately, that article does not describe the case of copying a folder C:FAT16 to D:NTFS.

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 4:43











  • You helped me figure it out. Thank you so much. The key word you used was commonalities. Initially, I thought there were no commonalities. I was mistaken. In fact, every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The opposite of what I wanted, but I would prefer that to random! I've lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for this type of task. To help others, would you prefer to add this info to your answer, or would you prefer I type it up in another answer?

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:22






  • 1





    @RockPaperLizard I just added some detail to my answer to help others with some of these aspects we worked on after I added the original answer with the referenced material. Let me know if you think this will suffice or if you think I need to include more, format differently, etc.

    – Pimp Juice IT
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:48








  • 1





    The new Conclusion and Prevention sections look great. Thanks again! :-)

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:49











  • link is dead. See Rules for "Date Modified" of folders in Windows Explorer

    – phuclv
    Feb 7 at 9:23
















2














A General Microsoft Explanation




Description of NTFS date and time stamps for files and folders



SUMMARY



This article describes how file and folder date and time stamps
(created or modified) are displayed based on the file system that is
in use (FAT or the NTFS file system), and the partition (whether the
action occurred on the same partition or across partitions
).



MORE INFORMATION



File properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time but it changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • In all examples, the modified date and time of a file does not change unless a property of the file has changed. The created date
    and time of the file changes depending on whether the file was
    copied or moved.


Folder properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you create two new folders on an NTFS partition called D:NTFS1 and D:NTFS2, both the created and modified date and time are the same.


  • If you move the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating D:NTFS1NTFS2, then:




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified stamp changes.

    2. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder changes and the modified folder stay the same.


    This behavior occurs because, even though you moved the folder, a new
    folder is seen as being created within the D:NTFS1 folder by the
    Master File Table (MFT).




  • If you copy the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating the D:NTFS1NTFS2 folder, and the D:NTFS2 folder still exists (after having copied it):




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified folder time and date stamp changes.


    2. D:NTFS2 - No changes occur because it is the original folder.


    3. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder and the modified folder changes to the same stamp, which is that of the time of the move.





This behavior occurs because even though you copied the folder, the
new folder is seen as being created by the MFT and is given a new
created and modified time stamp.



Note: The design and behavior of the FAT file system is different with regards to the modified time stamp. On a FAT file system, the
modified date of a folder does not change if the contents of the
folder change. For example, if you have D:FAT1 and D:FAT2, and you
copy or move D:FAT2 into D:FAT1, the created date and modified date
of D:FAT1 remains the same.



source






Conclusion



Looking for Commonalities



It was determined that. . .




Every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every
folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The
opposite of what I wanted. I've
lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for
this type of task. –
RockPaperLizard




Therefore, when copying folders from a source to a destination location with Windows File Explorer it just seems that this is just how it handles preserving or not preserving the folder time stamp attributes per this type of operation by default.





Prevention



Retain Date Time Stamp Attributes of Folders



As suggested in this MS TechNet Article you can use Robocopy /DCOPY:T to preserve the original source folder time stamp attribute values (/DCOPY:T : Copy Directory Timestamps.) when it's copied to the destination location.






share|improve this answer


























  • That's very useful information. Thank you. That MSKB does not specifically apply to Win7, but hopefully it still reflects the intended behavior. What's interesting is the behavior described is not what is happening. Some of the folders copied (or moved... it seems to matter not) maintain their FAT16 modified timestamps, but some get assigned modified timestamps equal to the current date/time. It's quite odd. Also, unfortunately, that article does not describe the case of copying a folder C:FAT16 to D:NTFS.

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 4:43











  • You helped me figure it out. Thank you so much. The key word you used was commonalities. Initially, I thought there were no commonalities. I was mistaken. In fact, every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The opposite of what I wanted, but I would prefer that to random! I've lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for this type of task. To help others, would you prefer to add this info to your answer, or would you prefer I type it up in another answer?

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:22






  • 1





    @RockPaperLizard I just added some detail to my answer to help others with some of these aspects we worked on after I added the original answer with the referenced material. Let me know if you think this will suffice or if you think I need to include more, format differently, etc.

    – Pimp Juice IT
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:48








  • 1





    The new Conclusion and Prevention sections look great. Thanks again! :-)

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:49











  • link is dead. See Rules for "Date Modified" of folders in Windows Explorer

    – phuclv
    Feb 7 at 9:23














2












2








2







A General Microsoft Explanation




Description of NTFS date and time stamps for files and folders



SUMMARY



This article describes how file and folder date and time stamps
(created or modified) are displayed based on the file system that is
in use (FAT or the NTFS file system), and the partition (whether the
action occurred on the same partition or across partitions
).



MORE INFORMATION



File properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time but it changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • In all examples, the modified date and time of a file does not change unless a property of the file has changed. The created date
    and time of the file changes depending on whether the file was
    copied or moved.


Folder properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you create two new folders on an NTFS partition called D:NTFS1 and D:NTFS2, both the created and modified date and time are the same.


  • If you move the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating D:NTFS1NTFS2, then:




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified stamp changes.

    2. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder changes and the modified folder stay the same.


    This behavior occurs because, even though you moved the folder, a new
    folder is seen as being created within the D:NTFS1 folder by the
    Master File Table (MFT).




  • If you copy the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating the D:NTFS1NTFS2 folder, and the D:NTFS2 folder still exists (after having copied it):




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified folder time and date stamp changes.


    2. D:NTFS2 - No changes occur because it is the original folder.


    3. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder and the modified folder changes to the same stamp, which is that of the time of the move.





This behavior occurs because even though you copied the folder, the
new folder is seen as being created by the MFT and is given a new
created and modified time stamp.



Note: The design and behavior of the FAT file system is different with regards to the modified time stamp. On a FAT file system, the
modified date of a folder does not change if the contents of the
folder change. For example, if you have D:FAT1 and D:FAT2, and you
copy or move D:FAT2 into D:FAT1, the created date and modified date
of D:FAT1 remains the same.



source






Conclusion



Looking for Commonalities



It was determined that. . .




Every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every
folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The
opposite of what I wanted. I've
lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for
this type of task. –
RockPaperLizard




Therefore, when copying folders from a source to a destination location with Windows File Explorer it just seems that this is just how it handles preserving or not preserving the folder time stamp attributes per this type of operation by default.





Prevention



Retain Date Time Stamp Attributes of Folders



As suggested in this MS TechNet Article you can use Robocopy /DCOPY:T to preserve the original source folder time stamp attribute values (/DCOPY:T : Copy Directory Timestamps.) when it's copied to the destination location.






share|improve this answer















A General Microsoft Explanation




Description of NTFS date and time stamps for files and folders



SUMMARY



This article describes how file and folder date and time stamps
(created or modified) are displayed based on the file system that is
in use (FAT or the NTFS file system), and the partition (whether the
action occurred on the same partition or across partitions
).



MORE INFORMATION



File properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time but it changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to C:fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from C:fat16 to D:NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • If you copy a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.

  • If you move a file from D:NTFS to D:NTFSSUB, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.

  • In all examples, the modified date and time of a file does not change unless a property of the file has changed. The created date
    and time of the file changes depending on whether the file was
    copied or moved.


Folder properties with regards to the date and time stamps




  • If you create two new folders on an NTFS partition called D:NTFS1 and D:NTFS2, both the created and modified date and time are the same.


  • If you move the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating D:NTFS1NTFS2, then:




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified stamp changes.

    2. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder changes and the modified folder stay the same.


    This behavior occurs because, even though you moved the folder, a new
    folder is seen as being created within the D:NTFS1 folder by the
    Master File Table (MFT).




  • If you copy the D:NTFS2 folder into the D:NTFS1 folder, creating the D:NTFS1NTFS2 folder, and the D:NTFS2 folder still exists (after having copied it):




    1. D:NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified folder time and date stamp changes.


    2. D:NTFS2 - No changes occur because it is the original folder.


    3. D:NTFS1NTFS2 - Both the created folder and the modified folder changes to the same stamp, which is that of the time of the move.





This behavior occurs because even though you copied the folder, the
new folder is seen as being created by the MFT and is given a new
created and modified time stamp.



Note: The design and behavior of the FAT file system is different with regards to the modified time stamp. On a FAT file system, the
modified date of a folder does not change if the contents of the
folder change. For example, if you have D:FAT1 and D:FAT2, and you
copy or move D:FAT2 into D:FAT1, the created date and modified date
of D:FAT1 remains the same.



source






Conclusion



Looking for Commonalities



It was determined that. . .




Every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every
folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The
opposite of what I wanted. I've
lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for
this type of task. –
RockPaperLizard




Therefore, when copying folders from a source to a destination location with Windows File Explorer it just seems that this is just how it handles preserving or not preserving the folder time stamp attributes per this type of operation by default.





Prevention



Retain Date Time Stamp Attributes of Folders



As suggested in this MS TechNet Article you can use Robocopy /DCOPY:T to preserve the original source folder time stamp attribute values (/DCOPY:T : Copy Directory Timestamps.) when it's copied to the destination location.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited Feb 7 at 12:47

























answered Aug 6 '16 at 4:24









Pimp Juice ITPimp Juice IT

25k114177




25k114177













  • That's very useful information. Thank you. That MSKB does not specifically apply to Win7, but hopefully it still reflects the intended behavior. What's interesting is the behavior described is not what is happening. Some of the folders copied (or moved... it seems to matter not) maintain their FAT16 modified timestamps, but some get assigned modified timestamps equal to the current date/time. It's quite odd. Also, unfortunately, that article does not describe the case of copying a folder C:FAT16 to D:NTFS.

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 4:43











  • You helped me figure it out. Thank you so much. The key word you used was commonalities. Initially, I thought there were no commonalities. I was mistaken. In fact, every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The opposite of what I wanted, but I would prefer that to random! I've lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for this type of task. To help others, would you prefer to add this info to your answer, or would you prefer I type it up in another answer?

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:22






  • 1





    @RockPaperLizard I just added some detail to my answer to help others with some of these aspects we worked on after I added the original answer with the referenced material. Let me know if you think this will suffice or if you think I need to include more, format differently, etc.

    – Pimp Juice IT
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:48








  • 1





    The new Conclusion and Prevention sections look great. Thanks again! :-)

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:49











  • link is dead. See Rules for "Date Modified" of folders in Windows Explorer

    – phuclv
    Feb 7 at 9:23



















  • That's very useful information. Thank you. That MSKB does not specifically apply to Win7, but hopefully it still reflects the intended behavior. What's interesting is the behavior described is not what is happening. Some of the folders copied (or moved... it seems to matter not) maintain their FAT16 modified timestamps, but some get assigned modified timestamps equal to the current date/time. It's quite odd. Also, unfortunately, that article does not describe the case of copying a folder C:FAT16 to D:NTFS.

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 4:43











  • You helped me figure it out. Thank you so much. The key word you used was commonalities. Initially, I thought there were no commonalities. I was mistaken. In fact, every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The opposite of what I wanted, but I would prefer that to random! I've lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for this type of task. To help others, would you prefer to add this info to your answer, or would you prefer I type it up in another answer?

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:22






  • 1





    @RockPaperLizard I just added some detail to my answer to help others with some of these aspects we worked on after I added the original answer with the referenced material. Let me know if you think this will suffice or if you think I need to include more, format differently, etc.

    – Pimp Juice IT
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:48








  • 1





    The new Conclusion and Prevention sections look great. Thanks again! :-)

    – RockPaperLizard
    Aug 6 '16 at 5:49











  • link is dead. See Rules for "Date Modified" of folders in Windows Explorer

    – phuclv
    Feb 7 at 9:23

















That's very useful information. Thank you. That MSKB does not specifically apply to Win7, but hopefully it still reflects the intended behavior. What's interesting is the behavior described is not what is happening. Some of the folders copied (or moved... it seems to matter not) maintain their FAT16 modified timestamps, but some get assigned modified timestamps equal to the current date/time. It's quite odd. Also, unfortunately, that article does not describe the case of copying a folder C:FAT16 to D:NTFS.

– RockPaperLizard
Aug 6 '16 at 4:43





That's very useful information. Thank you. That MSKB does not specifically apply to Win7, but hopefully it still reflects the intended behavior. What's interesting is the behavior described is not what is happening. Some of the folders copied (or moved... it seems to matter not) maintain their FAT16 modified timestamps, but some get assigned modified timestamps equal to the current date/time. It's quite odd. Also, unfortunately, that article does not describe the case of copying a folder C:FAT16 to D:NTFS.

– RockPaperLizard
Aug 6 '16 at 4:43













You helped me figure it out. Thank you so much. The key word you used was commonalities. Initially, I thought there were no commonalities. I was mistaken. In fact, every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The opposite of what I wanted, but I would prefer that to random! I've lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for this type of task. To help others, would you prefer to add this info to your answer, or would you prefer I type it up in another answer?

– RockPaperLizard
Aug 6 '16 at 5:22





You helped me figure it out. Thank you so much. The key word you used was commonalities. Initially, I thought there were no commonalities. I was mistaken. In fact, every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The opposite of what I wanted, but I would prefer that to random! I've lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for this type of task. To help others, would you prefer to add this info to your answer, or would you prefer I type it up in another answer?

– RockPaperLizard
Aug 6 '16 at 5:22




1




1





@RockPaperLizard I just added some detail to my answer to help others with some of these aspects we worked on after I added the original answer with the referenced material. Let me know if you think this will suffice or if you think I need to include more, format differently, etc.

– Pimp Juice IT
Aug 6 '16 at 5:48







@RockPaperLizard I just added some detail to my answer to help others with some of these aspects we worked on after I added the original answer with the referenced material. Let me know if you think this will suffice or if you think I need to include more, format differently, etc.

– Pimp Juice IT
Aug 6 '16 at 5:48






1




1





The new Conclusion and Prevention sections look great. Thanks again! :-)

– RockPaperLizard
Aug 6 '16 at 5:49





The new Conclusion and Prevention sections look great. Thanks again! :-)

– RockPaperLizard
Aug 6 '16 at 5:49













link is dead. See Rules for "Date Modified" of folders in Windows Explorer

– phuclv
Feb 7 at 9:23





link is dead. See Rules for "Date Modified" of folders in Windows Explorer

– phuclv
Feb 7 at 9:23


















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