Keeping attributes and creation/modification dates when copying files/folders

[Cynic]

Hi.

Is there any utility that keeps all attributes and both creation and modification dates of files and folders when copying/moving them? I'm using WinRAR to pack the files/folders and extract them at the desired location, because Explorer will only preserve the attributes in very specific situations.

I've searched the forums and it seems Directory Opus is able to do it, but I'm hoping there's a free alternative somewhere as it seems like a pretty basic feature.

[hamradio]

Dont know if this will do files or keep attributes as it looks like it is for folders, but it is suppose to keep modified/creation/accessed times from what it says not sure about attributes as I said. http://www.attributemagic.com/safecopy-free.html >> You could always test it and see. 

[Cynic]

I've done a few quick tests and unfortunately that's not quite what I'm looking for. It doesn't copy files recursively, and it only keeps the creation date if the original file is not read-only.

Still, it's better than nothing at all and it can certainly help in some specific situations, so thanks for your effort.

[lanux128]

iirc, under ntfs, most copy programs will keep the original dates when copying/moving except for folders which will be the date that you copy/move and will keep on being updated every time you copy/move into that folder. this is not a problem in FAT32 but i haven't used FAT32 for some time..

[Cynic]

If moving to the same partition, Explorer will indeed keep both created and modified dates; however, when copying or moving to a different partition/physical disk, the creation date will be updated, I reckon it's because the files/folders are actually being rewritten, whereas when moving within the same partition they stay in the same clusters.

What I wanted was an app that could force the creation dates to stay the same regardless of where to I copy/move the files/folders.

EDIT: Actually, when MOVING between partitions, only the folders' creation date is updated, not the files'.

[PhilB66]

SafeCopy Free!

[Cynic]

SafeCopy Free!

-PhilB66 (September 17, 2007, 02:58 AM)

I've already tried that one, see above (third post in this thread).

[PhilB66]

SafeCopy Free!

-PhilB66 (September 17, 2007, 02:58 AM)

I've already tried that one, see above (third post in this thread).

-Cynic (September 17, 2007, 10:43 AM)

Oops, was going too fast through the posts. Anyways, how about XXCOPY?

[Cynic]

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think XXCOPY does what I want (see here: http://www.xxcopy.com/xxcopy30.htm, scroll to the bottom of the page and read the last paragraph), and it's command line only, which I'd rather avoid.

I've also tried a couple of GUIs for Robocopy from MS but I can't get it to retain the folders' timestamps, but I'm not sure if it's a limitation of the program itself or if I'm doing something wrong.

[Cynic]

I did a few more tests, and I don't think Robocopy does it, it only keeps the timestamps of files, folders' dates are completely ignored. At least it is able to copy files recursively, so it's better than SafeCopy Free.

Does anyone know of other alternatives? If not, it looks like I'll just have to continue using WinRAR to preserve the timestamps when moving directories across partitions.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

[bjk]

Total Commander (www.ghisler.com) has an option in its configuration that will copy the date/time of folders, too.

[Cynic]

Thanks, I'll look into it.

[bjk]

I've also tried a couple of GUIs for Robocopy from MS but I can't get it to retain the folders' timestamps, but I'm not sure if it's a limitation of the program itself or if I'm doing something wrong.

-Cynic (September 17, 2007, 06:30 PM)

Please, see the second screenshot of "CopyRite XP" on http://www.msu-hb.de.../system/robocopy.htm. There is a checkbox "Copy Timestamps" (though, I didn't try it myself).

The download can be found here: http://www.msu-hb.de...download/critexp.zip

[Cynic]

Thanks for the suggestion, I haven't tried it because I think the limitation is in Robocopy, not in its GUIs; I used Robocopy through the command line and still couldn't keep folder timestamps.

Anyhow, my search has come to an end: the latest XYplorer beta does what I want through the Backup function, I've asked Don and he implemented this feature in no time.