keep original creation and modified times and dates?

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dannyc
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keep original creation and modified times and dates?

Post by *dannyc »

greetings,

i just installed total commander 8.01 on my win7-32bit ultimate machine and i'm having some copying issues. i'm trying to copy folders and files from one hard drive to a folder on another hard drive. the problem is, the newly copied files and folders don't retain the original creation date/time. the copied files have today's date.

i went to | configuration | options | copy/delete | and selected "copy date/time of directories" but it's not doing what i want.

what am i doing wrong? can i get some advice?

thanks.
dannyc
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Post by *dannyc »

thanks for your response Vochomurka.

that seems incredibly complicated though. isn't there a simple setting? a click of something? for the past 12 hours i've tried many programs with no luck. why is it so hard to copy folders and files with their original dates and times intact? it seems like such a basic feature that every file copying software should have & have enabled as default.

:(
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karlchen
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Post by *karlchen »

Hello, dannyc.

When copying files and folders Total Commander will by default preserve the last modification time of files, not necessarily the creation time.

Having activated the setting that you mentioned Total Commander should preserve the last modification dates of folders as well.

In particular, if copied files do not have the same last modification dates as the original files, then there must be some third party software causing this effect. - This happened in the past, was reported in several threads and sometimes the culprot could be identified. (As I have never experienced this problem myself, I have not bookmarked any of these threads, so I canot give any link, sorry.)

Preserving folder modification dates is more tricky and whether it works or not depends on several factors. There were lengthy discussions on this in the past as well.

Summary:
There is no special option which instructs T.C. to preserve the last modification date of a file when copying it. T.C. does so by default.
T.C. does not preserve the creation date.
There is a special option which instructs T.C. to preserve the last modification dates of folders when copying them.
As a rule whenever preserving the last modification dates does not work some third software product will be involved which counteracts.

Kind regards,
Karl
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dmtoddma
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Preserve file creation date when copying

Post by *dmtoddma »

I've been on a similar quest with limited success. Unfortunately, I have found no way to do what you what to do with TC. I would love to see it added as an option for File/Copy or Directory/Synchronization. In the meantime, I've found two programs that will do what you are asking. The most convenient is xplorer2 Pro. It simply has an option that you can check in the copy dialog to preserve the file creation dates. Another option is SyncBackSE. You can set an option in the preferences for a job to preserve the file creation date when copying (Copy/Delete, Advanced, Copy file creation dates and times). SyncBackSE is less convenient for routine copy operations--it is primarily as synchronization/backup program.

David
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Re: Preserve file creation date when copying

Post by *Horst.Epp »

dmtoddma wrote:I've been on a similar quest with limited success. Unfortunately, I have found no way to do what you what to do with TC. I would love to see it added as an option for File/Copy or Directory/Synchronization. In the meantime, I've found two programs that will do what you are asking. The most convenient is xplorer2 Pro. It simply has an option that you can check in the copy dialog to preserve the file creation dates. Another option is SyncBackSE. You can set an option in the preferences for a job to preserve the file creation date when copying (Copy/Delete, Advanced, Copy file creation dates and times). SyncBackSE is less convenient for routine copy operations--it is primarily as synchronization/backup program.

David
I use TeraCopy integrated with TC. All dates are preserved.
Also FastCopy would be an option, it also preserves all dates.
Both tools are free for private use.
dmtoddma
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Preserve file creation date when copying

Post by *dmtoddma »

I have requested this feature in the "Suggestions" forum:
http://ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?p=254453#254453

If you also want this, please add a message to that thread.

David
dmtoddma
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Post by *dmtoddma »

I use TeraCopy integrated with TC. All dates are preserved.
I tried Teracopy and it did not preserve the file creation date. I don't see any setting for that. Am I missing something?
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Horst.Epp
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Post by *Horst.Epp »

dmtoddma wrote:
I use TeraCopy integrated with TC. All dates are preserved.
I tried Teracopy and it did not preserve the file creation date. I don't see any setting for that. Am I missing something?
No special settings needed.
I'm using version 2.3 Beta
All dates are preserved for me.
Running under Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with NTFS volumes.

My user defined copy command for TC is:

[em_TeraCopy]
button=c:\tools\TeraCopy\TeraCopy.exe,0
cmd=c:\tools\TeraCopy\TeraCopy.exe
menu=Copy with TeraCopy
param=Copy *"%UL" "%T"
dmtoddma
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Post by *dmtoddma »

Ah, I was using the latest release copy. This feature was only introduced in the 2.3 beta. It's working fine and the integration with TC is very convenient. Thanks very much.

David
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Re: keep original creation and modified times and dates?

Post by *umann.gabor »

In Total Commander select the Configuration / Change Settings Files Directly menu point.
The wincmd.ini file opens. Add the following line:
CopyDirTimeStamp=1
(The position in the file is probably not relevant, but I added it to the first ([Configuration]) block.)
Finally you need to restart Total Commander so that the wincmd.ini file is read.
That's all!
(I am using version 10.00, but this feature may exist for quite a while.)
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sqa_wizard
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Re: keep original creation and modified times and dates?

Post by *sqa_wizard »

umann.gabor: Very kind of you to answer to a 9 year old thread, but to be correct the option to preserve modification , access and creation date on copy is:

Code: Select all

CopyAllTimes=1
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Indko
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Re: keep original creation and modified times and dates?

Post by *Indko »

Hello,
I am new and please sorry for my bad English. My Version of T. C. is 10.52 64 bit.
I have the same problem with keeping folder dates while copying.
But there is in my Version in the wincmd.ini file only the Option CopyDirTimeStamp=1.
But this setting did not solve the problem.
Please have anybody a solution for how to keep folder date in windows when I copy it?
Thank you very much.
Best Regards
Indko
hi5
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Re: keep original creation and modified times and dates?

Post by *hi5 »

to Indko, you also need to add

CopyAllTimes=1

to wincmd.ini, [Configuration] settings.
F4MiniMenu (Forum) - Open selected file(s) from TC in defined editor(s) - A (minimalistic) clone of F4Menu
Source at GitHub (AutoHotkey). TCSyncComments (copy file comments)
Indko
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Re: keep original creation and modified times and dates?

Post by *Indko »

Thank you for answer.
I added in wincmd.ini, directly under [Configuration] a new Line with CopyAllTimes=1 and safed it.
So I have a new Line with CopyAllTimes=1 and a old Line with CopyDirTimeStamp=1 in the wincmd.ini.
But this did not solve the problem.
While copying an older folder with subfolders I still have in the copy the current date and time.
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