Windows 10: OneDrive file modification dates

When I modify a file in my desktop OneDrive folder, and upload it to my mobile OneDrive folder, the date does not match the modified date from my desktop. It could have a date that's months old.

This creates doubt whether the mobile file has all the current changes, so if I really want to be sure, I have to open it up to check.

Can this be fixed?

:)

 

Wrong file modification dates/times

Thanks Brian for your interest in that issue with file dates. I wonder why this is not heavily discussed in the community.

At least we agree for the backup case. If a sync program is similar to a backup program or not is a philosophic question which I would like to avoid. But I think at the end a synchronization should lead to a "similar" state in both synchronized data sets.
And for me the modification date of a file is an essential information that is part of a files identity. Hence a synchronization should not change it. This is philosophy again. You certainly know these OO discussions about "identity" of objects.

But leave aside all philosophy. At the end ActiveSync produces the current date as file (modify-) date for all (!) files on the mobiles My Documents, even those that have not been changed since months or years. And this is certainly not a desirable behaviour.

One reason for that is ActiveSyncs Copy behaviour. An other seems to be its handling of archive bits. I will write on this in a later article.

I do not agree to that. And Microsoft doesn't either as I will show.

I agree to that. But this is another question and not relevant for file synchronization. I did not carefully examine how ActiveSync handles directory dates. The file case causes work enough for me.

How do Windows Mobile and Windows PC handle file dates during copy operations? I made experiments for creation date and modification date. I left aside last-access dates. They seem not being really supported on Windows Mobile and they are not really interesting
for the user. The creation date is normally not very important as well. What the user needs all day is the modification date. Often this is just named "file date" as a synonym.

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The following is done completely on a standalone mobile device with WM6.1 not attached to the PC. No ActiveSync interaction.

Say you have a file in Directory A.

Created at 07:32, last edited at 08:25.

==> in DirA:

Create Time: 07:32

Modify Time: 08:25

1) At 08:30 copy it for the first time to Directory B. It did not exist in DirB.

==> in DirB:

Create Time: 07:32

Modify Time: 08:25

+++ Both times are unchanged by copy which is reasonable.

+++ But I would agree if both times were 08:30

2) At 08:44 edit the file in DirB

==> in DirB:

Create Time: 07:32

Modify Time: 08:44

+++ The file gets the new modified time

3) At 08:47 copy it back to DirA. Confirm to overwrite the file.

==> in DirA:

Create Time: 07:32

Modify Time: 08:44

+++ The create time is not changed from its former value in DirA. As a result of Step 1) this is equal to the create time in DirB.

+++ The modify time is unchanged (!) which is reasonable.

... and so on

If you do the same on a PC with Windows XP you will see:

Windows on the PC shows exactly the same behaviour concerning the modification date.

But - strange enough - it is different concerning the creation date during first copy.

After Step 1) when you first copy a file the target file will have:

==> in DirB:

Create Time: 08:30

Modify Time: 08:25

+++ The modify time is unchanged by copy which is reasonable.

+++ The create time is changed to time of copy.

??? This is a bit strange, because the file was now modified before (!) being created.

+++ But why not?

Steps 2) and 3) behave equal as on the mobile.

The file in DirA keeps its original create date and inherits the modify date from the copy source in DirB.

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To summarize:

+++ COPY operations do not change modification dates.

At least on Windows operating systems. Which is a reasonable behaviour.

??? Initial COPY operations (target does not exist) do change the creation date on Windows, but not on Windows Mobile. Which is a strange idea of the Microsoft programmers/designers.

+++ Later COPY operations (target does already exist) do not change the creation or modification dates.

At least on Windows operating systems. Which is a reasonable behaviour.

--- ActiveSync however always changes the modification date to the current date during each copy caused by a synchronization.

Which I consider an ActiveSync bug or design defect respectively.



Werner Geiger, IT-Architect

 

Modification date of link files (lnk) is updated when clicked, and if they are in a toolbar

I'm on Windows 10, and I customized a toolbar in my taskbar, with links to programs (Notepad, Paint, Calc, ...). The steps I followed are:

• Create a folder MyToolbar
• In this folder, add the shortcuts to notepad.exe (notepad.lnk) and mspaint.exe (mspaint.lnk)
• Right click on the taskbar, chose Toolbar, then New Toolbar
• Chose the folder MyToolbar
• A new toolbar is created in the taskbar

Every time I click on one of these icons to launch a program, for example Notepad, the modification date of notepad.lnk in the folder MyToolbar is updated.

This is annoying: because of this behavior, the synchronization program I use updates this file each time I click on it.

Can you reproduce this bug? Any solution?

 

Windows 10 - OneDrive

Right click on the app and one of the properties has an option to not automatically start it. Uncheck, restart the computer, and it should stop. If you want to go another step further, find the OneDrive app in the start menu, right click on it and uninstall.

If that is still insufficient, there is a batch uninstaller for OneDrive available online. I can copy the code here if you need it.