Windows 10 "Save As" File Dialog Problem

hurricane51 · 17 Feb 2023

Windows Ver 22h2

I have an odd problem using the Save As feature in one of my programs. The publishers have been unable (or unwilling) to troubleshoot, and they said it's a Windows 10 problem (don't they always!).

When I click Save As on the file menu, and view in Details view, I get File Name, then Date, then whatever columns after that (Size, Type, etc.).

However, the Date displayed appears to have no connection to the actual file displayed. For example, I created a new file in another program. It's dated 17-Feb-2023. When I see this file in the dialog, the Date field says 1/1/2023. (The Jan 1 date is not significant -- there are other random dates displayed for other files.) When I pull up the list of columns to display, there is Date Modified, Date Created, and Date. Both the Modified and Created dates are correct. Whatever this other Date field refers to is a mystery, however the publisher says they have no control over that. Worse, it resets the display if I choose Modified Date instead of Date.

Does anyone have a clue to suggest? Thanks in advance.

Try3 · 17 Feb 2023

The Date definition baffled many of us and I believe that, like me, many of us removed that Date column and displayed Date modified instead.
You'll have to do this separately for
- File explorer
- SaveAs dialog
- Open file dialog
because they use different Windows components.
Once you've changed the view then it should hold for future uses of that component [for File explorer, for future uses of that folder type, since it allows different views to be set for several folder types - Documents, Pictures, Music, Video, General items].

hurricane51 said:

... the publisher says they have no control over that. ...

They are correct. Windows controls these components. All your applications do is call up the SaveAs/FileOpen dialog written by Windows.
You might find some very old utilities call up an older type of dialog that needs separate settings up. I can't remember any examples but even some Windows 10 components used to call up non-standard dialogs at one time.

There is a comparison of various Date columns in example - MisterEd #22 - TenForums but the thread was about a specific issue an OP had.
There is an explanation in What is the Date column in Windows 7 explorer - Super User.
Apparently, I haven't kept links to the other TenForums discussions.

Denis

AndreTen · 17 Feb 2023

Thanks for detailed explanation Denis.

Strange I have "Date modified" column in File Explorer, save as and Open file dialogs. Never changed it myself, was always like that.
@hurricane51, were you changing columns in File explorer? Or do you have any other file explorer installed beside Windows one?

mngerhold · 17 Feb 2023

Further to what Denis wrote, the date column defaults (I think) to any date found in the 'metadata' of the file, if Windows recognises it, eg inside the EXIF data of a photograph. So in your case the internally stored date may be corrupt, and that could be down to the software involved. Simple solution is to do as Denis suggested, and change the column in the 'save as' dialogue - whether any change will stick is another matter... I can confirm it 'sticks' with Excel.

dalchina · 17 Feb 2023

Worse, it resets the display if I choose Modified Date instead of Date.

Resets the display? Could you explain?

Might you mean some program crashes and restarts perhaps?
- The whole screen?
- A Window content?
- If so does the frame remain and the content change somehow?

Please explain.. try to capture some screenshots..

Date column - a possibly helpful concise explanation here (albeit Win 7- I assume similar now)
What is the "Date" column in Windows 7 explorer? It matches no date column from Windows XP explorer - Super User

Try3 · 17 Feb 2023

AndreTen said:

Strange I have "Date modified" column in File Explorer, save as and Open file dialogs. Never changed it myself, was always like that.

Andre,

By the way, I was still fiddling with my previous post when you replied.

It's possible that clean installs since some unknown Version / date have had different default settings and that mere Version updates did not alter existing defaults.
It would not be the first example of such behaviour.
- Having clean installed in about 2016 & then just updated over time, I still had a deprecated entry in Control panel for the Display whereas those on the same Version as me did not.
- Those others had clean installed at a later Version and had never had that entry at all.

All the best,
Denis

AndreTen · 17 Feb 2023

Try3 said:

Andre,

By the way, I was still fiddling with my previous post when you replied.

It's possible that clean installs since some unknown Version / date have had different default settings and that mere Version updates did not alter existing defaults.
It would not be the first example of such behaviour.
- Having clean installed in about 2016 & then just updated over time, I still had a deprecated entry in Control panel for the Display whereas those on the same Version as me did not.
- Those others had clean installed at a later Version and had never had that entry at all.

All the best,
Denis

Checked also on laptop, new and clean installed last year...

But silly me, OP was describing the specific program, not par of the Windows itself..

Windows Ver 22h2

I have an odd problem using the Save As feature in one of my programs. The publishers have been unable (or unwilling) to troubleshoot, and they said it's a Windows 10 problem (don't they always!).

When I click Save As on the file menu, and view in Details view, I get File Name, then Date, then whatever columns after that (Size, Type, etc.).

It would be a great help, if OP give us a name of the program..

hurricane51 · 17 Feb 2023

As one person noted, it is only ONE program that exhibits this behavior. The program is Topaz Video AI. The previous version of this app did not have this problem. The trail of the file(s) was like this:

-Extracted an MPEG2 file from a DVD using the utility MakeDVD, which creates an MKV file.
-Ran the app through another utility to deinterlace it and adjust the FPS.
-Add the app to the Topaz app. You are required to give it an output name before processing it. That's where the Save As happens.

The files in the list have all been previously created in the past 2 or 3 days, yet the Date field insists on dating them sometime in early January. I don't think it was some leftover metadata -- all the files were newly created, and the source DVD was printed in the early 2000's.

It's not that big of a deal, just an annoyance, like a pebble in your shoe, and I hate to have something I don't understand floating around. I'm sure you know that feeling. I'll just live with it and maybe in a future version of the app it will disappear! Thanks for all of the suggestions.

AndreTen · 17 Feb 2023

Thanks for letting us know. Not sure if anybody can help you with this. Keep buggin' the developer, it's his job to fix this.

For opening the file you could go from Explorer, but can't think of anything to get pass Save as..

Try3 · 17 Feb 2023

hurricane51 said:

That's where the Save As happens.

Please would you post a screenshot of that SaveAs dialog and describe what you meant by

hurricane51 said:

... it resets the display if I choose Modified Date instead of Date.

hurricane51 said:

yet the Date field insists on dating them sometime in early January ... all the files were newly created

I agree that it's looking more like a fault in the application's saving procedure but please explain if the Date modified & Date created make sense when checked later using File explorer.

All the best,
Denis