Copying files to USB stick loses timestamps

The old PC in my shed workshop (running XP) has no internet connection. So I
frequently copy files to it by using a USB stick. But a big downside is that all
the copied files then lose their original dates (Modified/Created/Accessed) and
get the date on which they were copied.


Instead of just dragging (or copy/pasting) from my Win 10 PC as I do at present,
is there some way I can avoid the timestamps changing please?

Version 20H2 (OS Build 19042.1466)

I've not used it but you can test out SafeCopy.

SafeCopy Free - copy files and preserve date/time stamps (elwinsoft.com)

Many thanks, appreciate the fast reply. Duly downloaded and will try later today.

Hello @Terrypin,

Terrypin said:

The old PC in my shed workshop (running XP) has no internet connection. So I frequently copy files to it by using a USB stick.

Instead of just dragging (or copy/pasting) from my Win 10 PC as I do at present, is there some way I can avoid the timestamps changing please?

Have you looked into or considered XCopy or RoboCopy?

Here are just a couple of links that might help . . .

> XCopy
> RoboCopy
> RoboCopy

I hope this helps.

If you put the files in a .zip, then they keep their dates when unzipped at the other end.

Bree said:

If you put the files in a .zip, then they keep their dates when unzipped at the other end.

I agree with Bree.

RoboCopy also preserves file creation dates & modification dates. I've never bothered checking accessed dates because the act of checking would change them anyway.
RoboCopy does take a bit of study but here's an example batch file using RoboCopy

Code:

Set BackupDrive=G:
RoboCopy "D:\Desktop" "%BackupDrive%\Desktop" /S /R:10 /MT:1 /DCOPY:DAT /XA:SH /MIR
RoboCopy "D:\Documents\Work" "%BackupDrive%\Documents\Work" /S /R:10 /MT:1 /DCOPY:DAT /XA:SH /MIR
RoboCopy "D:\Documents\Home" "%BackupDrive%\Documents\Home" /S /R:10 /MT:1 /DCOPY:DAT /XA:SH /MIR
RoboCopy "D:\Documents\Cooking" "%BackupDrive%\Documents\Cooking" /S /R:10 /MT:1 /DCOPY:DAT /XA:SH /MIR
RoboCopy "D:\Documents\Friends" "%BackupDrive%\Documents\Friends" /S /R:10 /MT:1 /DCOPY:DAT /XA:SH /MIR
RoboCopy "D:\Documents\House" "%BackupDrive%\Documents\House" /S /R:10 /MT:1 /DCOPY:DAT /XA:SH /MIR
RoboCopy "D:\Documents\Odds N Sods" "%BackupDrive%\Documents\Odds N Sods" /S /R:10 /MT:1 /DCOPY:DAT /XA:SH /MIR
RoboCopy "D:\Documents\Suppliers" "%BackupDrive%\Documents\Suppliers" /S /R:10 /MT:1 /DCOPY:DAT /XA:SH /MIR
Pause to look at the results until you have confidence in the file.  This line makes the batch file stay open when it has finished its job.

I assume the USB is formatted NTFS.

Denis

Bree, Dennis,

Thanks both. Robocopy looks promising, will study its syntax and try it.

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All,

In case it's relevant I should have added that sometimes the eventual destination is not my XP PC but a micro SD card, using a USB stick adapter. The SD card has FAT 32 format.

Also
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Odd. I've only just noticed that in this forum when composing replies in my iPad's default Safari browser, there is no 'Thank You' option:



- - - Updated - - -

PiKo said:

Format stick to ntfs.

I only format occasionally when my target destination the micro SD, which uses FAT 32, but I'll keep your tip in mind.

Terrypin said:

… a micro SD card, using a USB stick adapter. The SD card has FAT 32 format.

There are particular uses for which Fat32 is appropriate. NTFS is 'normal'.

If

- your SD card is 32GB or less,
and if
- none of your files are greater than 4GB

Then

- you might as well just leave it as Fat32.

Else

- backup all the files off it and reformat it as NTFS.

All the best,
Denis

Terrypin said:

all the copied files then lose their original dates (Modified/Created/Accessed) and
get the date on which they were copied.

The Date Modified is the date the file was last changed (e.g. edited and saved). That date should remain the same when you drag and drop copy to a USB stick regardless of whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32, or ExFAT.

The Date Created is the date the file was first created on that disk. It's supposed to change when the file is copied to a different disk. Often people wish this field meant "Date file was first created regardless of what disk it's on", but it just doesn't mean that. It really just tracks the date a file was first created on a particular media. So, in short, nothing wrong there.

The Data Accessed is a near useless field because it's supposed to track when a file was last read, but that data is intentionally write-delayed by the OS as to not cause undue performance impact. As a result, it's rarely accurate. Even so, the act of copying the file to another disk is certainly a file access, so that date should also change when you copy to another disk. So, also nothing wrong there.

In summary, the only file date field that should not change is Date Modified. Please double-check the Date Modified field of your files. If they are actually changing to the date of the copy, then let's dig deeper. Otherwise, all is working as designed.

Note: The Date Modified for a folder will also change to the current date when the folder is copied to another disk.