Why does Microsoft allow the "creation date" of a document to change when it is copied and saved anywhere? There is only one creation date of a document, well except in the eyes of Microsoft.

Question

I'm so frustrated! I lost the original creation date of thousands of documents I created because I copied those files to an external hard drive for backup in case my C: drive ever failed. Well, my C: drive failed but I thought I was covered with the copies of the documents saved on my external hard drive. I was furious when I discovered all the "creation dates" of the documents changed to the date I copied and saved them to the external drive, losing the "original creation date" of every document.

Can you explain the logic or lack thereof for changing the "creation date" of a document that clearly has an existing "creation date" but changes it for God knows what reaon? Where is the logic? I understand a copied document is still a new document EXCEPT it already has a "date created" timestamp! It should prevent the creation date from changing without manual manipulation.

What is the thought process and logic behind allowing the creation date to change so easily without the creator's knowledge? I'm in the spins and without any way to recover the original creation dates of thousands of documents. How many times was planet earth created? It's modified daily but has only one creation date. What the Hell?

Frustrated beyond recognition!

Answer 1

Hi KjC#,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I understand your frustration regarding the loss of original creation dates for your documents. The behavior you've encountered with Microsoft's handling of file creation dates during copying is due to the way operating systems, including Windows, manage file metadata.

In computing, file metadata includes details like the creation date, modification date, and file size. The creation date of a file is typically set when the file is first created on a filesystem. However, when you copy a file to a new location (such as an external hard drive), the operating system often treats this as the creation of a new file in that location. Hence, it sets the creation date to the date and time when the copy was made.

This approach stems from a few reasons:

Filesystem Differences: Different filesystems (like NTFS on Windows, EXT4 on Linux, etc.) handle metadata differently. When files are transferred between different filesystems, some metadata might not be preserved accurately.

Simplicity and Consistency: Treating a copied file as a new file with its own metadata ensures consistency in how the operating system handles files. It avoids complications that might arise from trying to maintain original metadata across different storage media and filesystems.

Technical Limitations: Some filesystems or storage devices may not support all metadata attributes, or might implement them differently, leading to potential loss or alteration of metadata during copying.

To preserve original creation dates, you can use specialized backup software that maintains all original metadata, including creation dates, during the backup process. These programs often use a different method than a simple file copy, ensuring that all metadata is preserved.

For recovering the original creation dates of your existing documents, unless you have a backup that preserves these dates, or the dates are logged or documented elsewhere, it might not be possible to restore them accurately. Going forward, consider using backup solutions that explicitly state they preserve original file metadata.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, please feel free to leave us a message if you have any questions.

Regards,

Manson |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

I would recommend visiting Microsoft Learn, which is a place for developers or more specialized explanations of principles where you can post questions.

The link is:

Windows 10 - Microsoft Q&A

I hope you get the answers you are looking for.

At the same time, we will keep this thread open so that other users in the community can post their ideas.

We appreciate your feedback, please click Yes or No to help us improve the support experience and help others with similar concerns

Answer 3

Mason, Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I can understand filesystems having different methods of handling metadata. It seems to me creators of the different filesystems would want to work together to provide a universal method of preserving the creation dates of documents for the benefit of their users.

I can think of no reason why anyone would want the creation date of a document to change, but if there was they would certainly be a minority of those who prefer preservation of creation dates. It seems there is an easy fix if the creators of these systems worked together to create a universal method to fix what I consider a serious problem.

In the future, I will be sure to back up my data in a way that preserves metadata, particularly the creation date of my documents. Unfortunately I had to learn the hard way and will ultimately become very costly for me.

Thank you again for providing answer.