how to preserve last access date when mirroring?

marcelma · Joined: 09 Dec 2017 Posts: 3

I am running Windows 7 on a Mac under Parallels and I share the data folders between both operating systems. Now I want to backup data from an NTSF disk (linked via network) [source] to such a shared folder [target].

In Windows 7 I have enabled last access update: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000000

In ViceVersa (installed under Windows 7) I have tagged the chexbox: File -> change Profile settings -> More settings -> Preserve last access timestamp of files being copied and then mirrored a folder from source to target.

Try what might - the last access date and time is being replaced by the date and time at which the files are being mirrored.

Does anyone have any idea what could be the issue? - Thanks a lot in advance.

TGRMN Software · Site Admin Joined: 10 Jan 2005 Posts: 8771

Might this be an issue of Windows 7 on a Mac under Parallels?
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marcelma · Joined: 09 Dec 2017 Posts: 3

I don't think so. I have just tried to mirror from an USB-connected NTFS harddisk partition to an NTFS-formatted USB-Stick and got the same result. The last access time and date are the time and date of copying.

Moreover I have tried the 32 bit version - same result.

Philip Gore · Joined: 29 Jan 2018 Posts: 2

No answer?

TGRMN Software · Site Admin Joined: 10 Jan 2005 Posts: 8771

Can't recreate this issue. Are you replicating a folder between two local disks or external drives? No files can the file access timestamp copied? thanks
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GoneToPlaid · Joined: 07 Feb 2018 Posts: 1

Hello marcelma,

NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate enables or disables updating the last access date for only folders, not files.

Ideally, you want NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate set to 1 (the default value) so that the Date Modified time stamp in Windows Explorer will always show the date that the folder was Created. There is an additional setting in ViceVersa which you must enable in order to preserve the Date Created and Date Modified timestamps for folders when copying. This This is under Advanced Settings > More Advanced Settings, and the check box is titled "Retain folder created and modified timestamps when copying".

I forgot what freeware utility I used to reset the Last Access (Date Modified) settings for my folders back to the Date Created date for my folders. This only works on the original folders on the source if you did not have "Retain folder created and modified timestamps when copying" when the mirrored folders were created by ViceVersa. If you did have "Retain folder created and modified timestamps when copying" checked (enabled) in ViceVersa, then the freeware utility which I used will work on those folders as well. If not, then the target folders and files will have to be deleted, once the source folders have had their Last Access timestamps set to the Date Created timestamps and after ViceVersa's "Retain folder created and modified timestamps when copying" is enabled, and then you can use ViceVersa to once again mirror all of the source folders and files to the Target location.

TGRMN: Fixing Date Created and Date Modified folder issues when using ViceVersa would be a nice new Advanced Setting in ViceVersa. Obviously both could be fixed for the Target folders such that the timestamps for the Target folders would now match the timestamps for the Source folders. For the Source folders, there could be a setting which fixes the Date Modified timestamp such that this timestamp becomes the same as the Date Created timestamp for the Source folders. Yet this has to be thought through carefully, as a user could select Source folders which are on the backup media or another computer, instead of selecting Source folders which are on the computer on which ViceVersa was launched. Another nice new feature would be to fix the Upper case/Lower case/Mixed case for file names, yet again the same logic and conditions would apply for doing so, as I just outlined for fixing Date Created and Date Modified folder issues. Thinking about this, perhaps the ideal solution is to add tick boxes for these settings in the side by side comparison window. The tick box settings would never be preserved, and would only be effective for the present ViceVersa synchronization process as shown in the side by side comparison window. The more that I think about it, the more I realize that this would be the best way to implement these new features.

Best regards,

--GTP