The default behavior of File Explorer in Windows 7 (other vers?) depends on what KIND of folder is containing the files. This is auto-detected by Windows depending on the type of files that are inside. For instance, if there are a lot of pictures, Windows tends to automatically optimize the folder's appearance for photos, such as a column for "Tags", and the Date column goes by date CREATED in case you crop or adjust the photo and still want to sort by the date you took it (not when you modified it).
To see what type of folder has been assigned by Windows, go up a level and right-click on the folder. Choose Properties and click the Customize tab. At the top, it has a drop-down list under "What kind of folder do you want", then it shows you how the folder is currently optimized. Options include General items, Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos. You can override the current selection manually to whichever you want.
You can easily modify some aspects of the default behavior for the current folder type. Pick the columns you want add or delete, arrange their order and set the column widths. When you're happy, you set this as the default by clicking on Tools (top of File Explorer window), then "Folder options...", then the View tab. Click on "Apply to Folders" to apply these settings to all other folders of this same type. This will alter all existing folders and be the default for new folders of this type. You can then tweak the appearance of individual folders later. "Reset" will restore the settings for that folder type back to Windows defaults.
More on this topic can be found here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/310297