Can the "Create Date" in Properties be depended upon?

[Julie P.]

Does anyone know if you can depend on the "Create Date" in Properties for a
file? I have someone that says they send me a document many months ago, but
when I look at the Create Date in Properties, it shows it was created on
10/30/08. Just want to know before I open a can of worms.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

How was the document sent? Was it attached to an email? If so, the date of
the email should give you a clue. And if you saved the document to your HD
yesterday, then it might well show that as the CreateDate, especially if you
opened it first and then used Save As.

 

[p0]

Does anyone know if you can depend on the "Create Date" in Properties fora
file?  I have someone that says they send me a document many months ago, but
when I look at the Create Date in Properties, it shows it was created on
10/30/08.  Just want to know before I open a can of worms.

You can't depend on it.

There are dozens of tools out there who let you set the creation date
of a file to whatever date you want. Microsoft's .Net library even
comes with a function to do so: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.file.setcreationtime.aspx

Yves