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When copying folders from a FAT16-formatted microSD card onto an NTFS volume, why would some (but not all) of the folders have a modified timestamp of the current date/time on the destination?

Some of the destination folders have timestamps matching that of the source folders, but some are getting copied with timestamps being altered to reflect the current date/time.

Windows File Explorer from Windows 7 SP1 was used to copy the folders. Chkdsk was run on the source and destination, with no errors found.

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  • @PIMP_JUICE_IT Using Windows File Explorer. That's what I thought at first, but some of the folders retain their timestamps and some do not. Also, copying from NTFS to NTFS results in the modified timestamps being retained, not being set to the time the copy operation is performed. Aug 6, 2016 at 4:27

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A General Microsoft Explanation

Description of NTFS date and time stamps for files and folders

SUMMARY

This article describes how file and folder date and time stamps (created or modified) are displayed based on the file system that is in use (FAT or the NTFS file system), and the partition (whether the action occurred on the same partition or across partitions).

MORE INFORMATION

File properties with regards to the date and time stamps

  • If you copy a file from C:\fat16 to C:\fat16\sub, it keeps the same modified date and time but it changes the created date and time to the current date and time.
  • If you move a file from C:\fat16 to C:\fat16sub, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.
  • If you copy a file from C:\fat16 to D:\NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.
  • If you move a file from C:\fat16 to D:\NTFS, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.
  • If you copy a file from D:\NTFS to D:\NTFS\SUB, it keeps the same modified date and time but changes the created date and time to the current date and time.
  • If you move a file from D:\NTFS to D:\NTFS\SUB, it keeps the same modified date and time and keeps the same created date and time.
  • In all examples, the modified date and time of a file does not change unless a property of the file has changed. The created date and time of the file changes depending on whether the file was copied or moved.

Folder properties with regards to the date and time stamps

  • If you create two new folders on an NTFS partition called D:\NTFS1 and D:\NTFS2, both the created and modified date and time are the same.
  • If you move the D:\NTFS2 folder into the D:\NTFS1 folder, creating D:\NTFS1\NTFS2, then:

    1. D:\NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified stamp changes.
    2. D:\NTFS1\NTFS2 - Both the created folder changes and the modified folder stay the same.

    This behavior occurs because, even though you moved the folder, a new folder is seen as being created within the D:\NTFS1 folder by the Master File Table (MFT).

  • If you copy the D:\NTFS2 folder into the D:\NTFS1 folder, creating the D:\NTFS1\NTFS2 folder, and the D:\NTFS2 folder still exists (after having copied it):

    1. D:\NTFS1 - The created folder is the same and the modified folder time and date stamp changes.

    2. D:\NTFS2 - No changes occur because it is the original folder.

    3. D:\NTFS1\NTFS2 - Both the created folder and the modified folder changes to the same stamp, which is that of the time of the move.

This behavior occurs because even though you copied the folder, the new folder is seen as being created by the MFT and is given a new created and modified time stamp.

Note: The design and behavior of the FAT file system is different with regards to the modified time stamp. On a FAT file system, the modified date of a folder does not change if the contents of the folder change. For example, if you have D:\FAT1 and D:\FAT2, and you copy or move D:\FAT2 into D:\FAT1, the created date and modified date of D:\FAT1 remains the same.

source


Conclusion

Looking for Commonalities

It was determined that. . .

Every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The opposite of what I wanted. I've lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for this type of task. – RockPaperLizard

Therefore, when copying folders from a source to a destination location with Windows File Explorer it just seems that this is just how it handles preserving or not preserving the folder time stamp attributes per this type of operation by default.


Prevention

Retain Date Time Stamp Attributes of Folders

As suggested in this MS TechNet Article you can use Robocopy /DCOPY:T to preserve the original source folder time stamp attribute values (/DCOPY:T : Copy Directory Timestamps.) when it's copied to the destination location.

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  • That's very useful information. Thank you. That MSKB does not specifically apply to Win7, but hopefully it still reflects the intended behavior. What's interesting is the behavior described is not what is happening. Some of the folders copied (or moved... it seems to matter not) maintain their FAT16 modified timestamps, but some get assigned modified timestamps equal to the current date/time. It's quite odd. Also, unfortunately, that article does not describe the case of copying a folder C:\FAT16 to D:\NTFS. Aug 6, 2016 at 4:43
  • You helped me figure it out. Thank you so much. The key word you used was commonalities. Initially, I thought there were no commonalities. I was mistaken. In fact, every folder that had its timestamp copied contained no files. Every folder that did not have its timestamp copied did contain files. The opposite of what I wanted, but I would prefer that to random! I've lost the folder timestamps, but in the future I will use Robocopy for this type of task. To help others, would you prefer to add this info to your answer, or would you prefer I type it up in another answer? Aug 6, 2016 at 5:22
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    @RockPaperLizard I just added some detail to my answer to help others with some of these aspects we worked on after I added the original answer with the referenced material. Let me know if you think this will suffice or if you think I need to include more, format differently, etc. Aug 6, 2016 at 5:48
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    The new Conclusion and Prevention sections look great. Thanks again! :-) Aug 6, 2016 at 5:49
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    Good looking out @phuclv .... I've updated the link with the webarchive version as posted from the answer on that other link where that dead link is striked thru or whatever. This is a classic example of why it is important to also quote the important and relevant content in addition to source referencing it. Feb 7, 2019 at 12:54

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