Files Date Stamp Mystery !

[Dave Porter]

Hi All,

I'm helping someone out who has Vista with a strange problem.

He has an accounting program that opens a single file - it is located in the same subdirectory as
the program within "Program Files\"

He opens the file that has his most recent data and all looks OK and he has been working on it for
months.

He needs to take the file to his accountant. It gets copied somewhere else ( using standard
windows explorer to say, thumb drive or another folder on the C drive of his computer, but the file
is suddenly date stamped back in February. He opens that copy up with his accounting program and
yes it is as his accounts were back in February.

The weird thing is that I observed when copying the file to a blank folder that as the file
appeared it had the correct date for a split second, then the date of the file changed back to the
February date.

I know Vista introduced file versions, but I don't use Vista myself, so I am at a loss to explain
or fix this.

There is a single user who is an administrator and it is Vista with SP1

TIA, Dave

 

[Alan Montgomery]

Sounds like the virtual store is getting in the way.

Vista doesn't allow user data to be stored in the program files folders.
When programs try to do this it instead stores the data under
"C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\"

I suspect the "correct date" you saw was not the correct date but the date
when the copy occured as the file will have been given the current data
when the copy started, and only given the sorce file's date at the end of
the copy.

 

[Dave Porter]

Thanks Alan,

Appreciate the information.

Dave

On Thu, 21 May 2009 15:35:41 +0100, Dave Porter

Sounds like the virtual store is getting in the way.

Vista doesn't allow user data to be stored in the program files folders.
When programs try to do this it instead stores the data under
"C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\"

I suspect the "correct date" you saw was not the correct date but the
date when the copy occured as the file will have been given the current
data when the copy started, and only given the sorce file's date at the
end of the copy.

 

[Dave Porter]

Just reporting back that Alan was spot on & I was able to move the file from the VirtualStore
destination and place it in a more friendly location...
regards, Dave