Dates of files (photos) copied

[kyrcy]

I often copy files (photos) to my PC under Windows 7 64-bit from various sources such as a USB memory stick, a DSLR camera or a mobile phone. When copying sometimes files keep their original creation dates, but sometimes date is changed to the current date. I read that the default behavior of Windows 7 is to change the date to the current date, but apparently this is not always the case. Can anyone explain why?

[newpball]

For creation date you should rely on the metadata not on what the OS decides.

[kyrcy]

For creation date you should rely on the metadata not on what the OS decides.

I do, but still I prefer to have the original dates on the files too.

[newpball]

For creation date you should rely on the metadata not on what the OS decides.

I do, but still I prefer to have the original dates on the files too.

Does not make sense to me, you use the metadata date but you also use the OS date?

What I am saying is don't use the OS data for that, ignore it!

That solves your problem!

[TreeTops]

Doing a Google search on the OP's problem I found that there are others that have that problem while most report that the date stays the same. So it must be some weird problem caused by something.

Some report that the date changes when copying from drive to another or to another partition of the same drive. But others can not replicate this problem.

There is a long discussion on this topic here: http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/88653-date-modified-changes-original-fil...n-copying.html

[newpball]

It is really a non-problem, people who rely on the creation date of the OS make a mistake, they should use the metadata.

[TreeTops]

There are a lot of people that don't even know what metadata is.

[newpball]

There are a lot of people that don't even know what metadata is.

Well, those who consult VideoHelp will be showed quality references and get great instant help here so they can learn about it!

Other, less helpful, sites that will likely just say: "aw metadata, forget about that, too hard to learn, just use the OS info".

[hello_hello]

Can Explorer sort files by date using the metadata? I guess you'd need to create a column that uses the "date photo taken" info, or whatever it's called.

kyrcy said he uses the metadata and doesn't "rely" on the file modified date being correct, but it'd be preferable if Windows didn't mess with the dates unnecessarily.

kyrcy,
Is the file modified date definitely being altered when you copy and it's not Explorer displaying the wrong date? If you're using an antivirus program it might be worth temporarily disabling it.... just in case it's causing the modified date to change. You could probably replace the "modified" column in Explorer with one that displays the photo date instead, assuming the folder in question contains only photos, or you could add it as an additional column. Or if you customize a folder as a picture folder, assuming you haven't already, Windows should change/add the default columns for displaying picture info.

A couple of suggestions to see if they makes a difference......
Instead of copying and pasting, try dragging and dropping. If you drag files to a different folder while holding down the right mouse button, when you release it you should be offered a choice in respect to whether you want to move or copy the files etc, but I think doing it that way bypasses the Windows clipboard. And try copying/moving the files with a third party program such as TeraCopy (free for personal use), instead of using Windows to do it. You never know.....

Win7 64 bit does seem to have USB copying issues. Maybe your problem is related to that.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/367509-Files-corrupted-when-copying-to-external-usb...light=teracopy