Dir dates briefly correct, then change to wrong date

[uidd]

Has anyone encountered an issue where most of the directory dates shown are wrong? After a refresh ("fast refresh") they flash briefly showing correctly, then change to wrong dates that aren't the "created" date nor anything inside the directory. File dates are correct.

I think it only happens when comparing FAT32. Generally, FAT32/FAT32 is always wrong (after briefly showing it correctly). With FAT32/NTFS both sides are okay after "loading comparison", but the FAT32 side goes wrong after a refresh. NTFS/NTFS is always okay.

This is on v3.3.13 build 18981 and Windows XP.

[Aaron]

Hello,

This is following OS convention for copying folders and files. When we (or Explorer) copies over a folder, it will initially have the date of that folder, but as soon as any items are copied into it, the OS updates the folder's timestamp. This generally makes folder timestamps unreliable, which is why that, while we will display the data, we do not compare it. Folder coloring is controlled by the items within. You should see the same timestamps if you perform the same copy with either BC3 or Windows Explorer.

In some cases, you can use BC3's Touch command to manually copy/set timestamps. You can set to Always Show Folders, then set the filter from *.* to -*.* to show only your folder structure. Then select all and perform a right-click: Touch. However, many other Windows actions will still potentially update the folder timestamps after they've been touched.

[uidd]

There's no copy involved. For a part-second while/after the file listing is drawing the dates are correct. Then they all change to something incorrect. The incorrect dates aren't random, by the way. They have some consistency.

[Aaron]

Hello,

So it is the loading step, where as things are scanned dates are changing? If you then check from Windows Explorer -> Properties on a specific item, which date is shown here: the correct old date or the newer one that BC3 is displaying?

If you issue a Refresh (F5) or Full Refresh (Ctrl+F5) in BC3 after checking Explorer, does the date update or display differently?

What type of FAT32 devices are you comparing? And do you have a content scan running in BC3 (Session Settings, Comparison tab)? Or anti-virus software currently enabled (it might be scanning and updating timestamps as we scan file content)?

[uidd]

Yes, it happens during the loading stage. Explorer's Properties shows the correct dates, both when opened from within BC or through explorer.exe. What BC shows isn't affected by whether you've opened or not Explorer's properties. No content scan enabled. No AV running in the background. FAT32 partition I've tried: a USB flash drive, and a mounted filesystem-in-a-file that functions like a normal drive (drive/partitions appear in Windows' Disk Management, can be formatted...).

A new detail I've noticed. When one side is non-FAT32, issuing a full refresh (Ctrl-F5) shows the correct dates. Fast refresh (F5) shows them incorrectly. When both sides are FAT32 also Ctrl-F5 shows it wrong.

[Aaron]

Hello,

I have setup an XP test machine with a USB Fat32 device (and also tested a Fat device), but was not able to reproduce the odd timestamp issue you are seeing with either BC 3.3.13 or BC4.1.4. In my test case, I'm comparing different folders on the same device, with default settings. It may help for you to email in your current BCSupport.zip from the Help menu -> Support; Export so we can use a copy of your settings. When you email, please include a link back to this forum thread for our reference.

[uidd]

Hey Aaron. Thanks for your help so far. I thought it's a bug/feature someone could be familiar with, and someone will reply "oh, just change this and that". I'll try to analyze it in more detail here instead of having you spend time on this.

[Aaron]

Appreciated. Post or email (with a link back to this thread) with whatever you find.