FreeCommander Forum

I imagine that my question has been asked and answered before but I am unable to put together previous strings on the topic of "dates" to get the answer to my question.

Using FreeCommander any time that I have folder or file is highlighted, such as a cursor landing on on a folder, the date for that folder or file is changed to the current date. If I want to compare the history of in a folder I am unable to do so. By the time that I get a folder open that is containing the files that I am interested in file dates are no longer accurate. The files and folder take on the current date.

I would like to have three columns - each column containing the appropriate date:
1. Creation Date - the date that a file is created. The state should not be changed with the possible exception of the file being renamed. Moving the file or copying the file should not change the creation date. Currently any activity involving the file causes the creation date to change to the current date.

2. Modification Date - changing internal parts of the file (such as the wording in a document) should caused the modification date to change. Moving or copying the file should not cause a change in the modification date.

3. File Last Accessed - this page should only change when the file is opened. It should not change if the file is copied or moved.

News from current FreeCommander2010prealfa-version. Threre are alle attributes which are available in Windows Explorer.
Included modified, last access, creation date and thousand others.

Hi Bigun
For the first part of your post, I'm not sure I'm understanding the problem.

any time that I have folder or file is highlighted, such as a cursor landing on on a folder, the date for that folder or file is changed to the current date.

Are you saying that simply selecting a file or folder is changing the date attributes?
If that is what is happening, I don't think it should be happening. Dates shouldn't change unless you perform an action. And maybe you need to re-install a clean copy of FreeCommander, something is wrong.
If that's not what you meant, I'm sorry I misunderstood.

For the second part of your post, do you mean you want columns that show the dates? You can create Custom Column profiles that include columns for those date attributes that you want when you are in Details view mode.
Go to menu View > Custom columns >> Customize.
If you haven't created Custom Column setups before, take a look at the help file, or maybe this can help http://www.freecommander.com/fc_guide_en.htm, see the section on "Saving Setups".

If you mean that you want the software to meet your definition of "Created", that can't happen in the current version. I believe it is a Feature Request, that might or might not be implemented in the future.

For me, Copying and moving files usually changes the Created date, but that is true in Windows Explorer as well, and always has been, I think. When you copy a file to a different location, that is a newly created file.The Modified Date is the only date that holds the true "last saved" date. For that reason, I always ignore Created and Accessed dates, they are too subject to change.

I think there are dedicated Copying softwares that do "preserve attributes", so perhaps you can find another utility to help you until (if) Marek programs that feature.

Please post back, this is an intriguing problem.

Granny, the answer is yes to your first question concerning a highlighted file changing its date to the current date. If the cursor is moved from file A elsewhere and then moved back to file A the date of file r A has been changed to the current date.

Still considering the above scenario: I reinstalled FreeCommander and checked for the same behavior with file A. The new installation keyword the anomaly discussed above. I have taken this cycle before and after a period of time the behavior of the file changing its date to the current date if that file is selected in any way - returns. I have no idea how many times that I have been through this cycle but is more than 3.

In detailed view, the date shown in the column "Modified" only changed when the file was opened and a substantial change was made in the file. After closing the file the modified date changes to the current date just as it is supposed to do. Changing a word or two in a text document and then saving the document is not changed enough to cause the modified date to change to the current date.

Part number two:

Starting with the configuration given below I attempted to change the column headings to show different values from what they originally showed.

Working with the new installation of FreeCommander I tried to define customized columns. Using detailed view and starting with columns consisting of "Name", "Size", " Modified", and "Attribute".

I edited the profile given above and modified the column list to show only "Name" and "Size". All other designations were removed. I should have said were supposed to have been removed. Because the customized columns remained exactly as they were before I tried to modify the columns for a particular profile. Repeated tries gave me the same results. I have not been able to change column headings through anything or through opening a new profile. This has all the makings for a new adventure.

Well, I have fiddled around on 3 different computers, and I cannot replicate your date-change problem.

I also have not been able to figure out why your defined Custom Columns won't save correctly.

What OS are you using? XP, Vista (I only know a little about Vista) Win7 (I have never used Win7). Are you using Vista? Maybe Vista UAC is interfering with saving your Custom Columns.

32-bit or 64-bit? FreeCommander is a 32-bit app, but I do run it on my 64-bit Vista with no problem (except you can't really integrate the right-click context menu correctly.)

Does this date-change only happen on one computer?
If so, maybe you have some sort of utility program running in the background that is causing this. Or perhaps some strange Registry tweak. Or a Registry corruption.

Is it possible for you to try FreeCommander on a different computer?
I have the portable version installed on a portable usb drive, and use it on office computer, and at the local library. Maybe you should try something like that to see if it is your computer causing the problems, or if FC is wonky.

I wish some of the gurus would jump in here. I'm sure you are getting frustrated!

I appreciate your diligence in trying to track down a solution to the problem that I am having. I will answer your questions concerning setup, computers used, operating system, etc. as the respective situations are now. After I gave you "this is how I have been doing it" answers, I make some comments concerning my ability to expand what I am doing on a single computer to checking everything on two computers. My problem is been going on for some time so I may be a little fuzzy on a few details.

I have FreeCommander installed on two computers sitting side-by-side. One of the computers is a Dell 8400 desktop using a Pentium 4 processor running at 3.3 GHz. I consider this my main computer. My second computer is a Dell OptiPlex desk top with a Pentium 4 CPU running at 3.3 GHz. The OptiPlex computer is used for specific duties outside of the many different tasks that I run on the 8400. An example use for the OptiPlex computer follows:

I have amateur radio communication programs set up on the OptiPlex computer. The computer is physically attached to a high-power communication transceiver on one end and computer's built-in soundcard on the other end. Uses such as this do not require frequent use of a file manager program such as FreeCommander.

Both computers run on Windows XP Pro, with SP 3 installed, and have hard drives with 50 GB plus amount of space. The Dell 8800 computer is used for a wide variety of functions such as assembling information for publication in scientific journals. This use would bring into play word processing, number processing, and presentation functions. FreeCommander issues very heavily on this computer. The date changing problems that I have mentioned happen either exclusively or almost exclusively on this computer. I have not paid particular attention to what is going on on the OptiPlex computer in reference to FreeCommander. I will change that and work heavily with FreeCommander on the OptiPlex computer to see if it to has problems dating files correctly.

Regardless of the outcome of further testing I will continue to use a dual pane file manager program such as FreeCommander keeping in mind the quirks that I have on my system. If my original inquiry had importance to anyone other than myself, I would be anxious to study the problem and develop. As it is, it does not seem likely that others are having similar problems with date changing using FreeCommander. It would be selfish on my part to ask for further singular help and monopolize the forum.

Should anyone wish to continue studying FreeCommander's unusual and unexpected behavior, make a brief mention stating that fact in the forum and I will send you my e-mail address so that we can continue to discuss FreeCommander's qualms.

Hi, I'm sorry I didn't find a solution for you. But I have a gut-feeling it is the computer you are running it on, not the application.

Let us know if you find any interesting results.
I hope one of the wiser heads can find a fix for you.