How can timestamp change when I have only installed today?

[bokenrosie]

I get a bunch of errors talking about a change in files that does not make sense has I am running a sync for the first time and there is nothing it can compare to. Here's an example of the errors.

Copying "CLIENT~2.WPD" (5.29KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\MELAMED\CLIENT~2.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "ADVATT~1.WPD" (2.50KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\MELAMED\MELAMED\ADVATT~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "EISENB~1.WPD" (4.45KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\MELAMED\MELAMED\EISENB~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "HERESB~1.WPD" (5.11KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\MELAMED\MELAMED\HERESB~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "PROCSE~1.WPD" (4.95KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\MELAMED\MELAMED\PROCSE~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "REPLYM~1.WPD" (15.87KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\MELAMED\MELAMED\REPLYM~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "STIPUL~2.WPD" (4.86KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\MELAMED\MELAMED\STIPUL~2.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "COSTNA~1.WPD" (3.43KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\COSTA\COSTNA~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "DEPTOF~1.WPD" (3.12KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\GENERA~1\DEPTOF~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "MATAMO~1.WPD" (2.17KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\GENERA~1\MATAMO~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "MERCED~1.WPD" (3.65KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\GENERA~1\MERCED~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "STATUS~1.WPD" (12.86KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\GENERA~1\STATUS~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "SYOSSE~2.WPD" (3.55KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\GENERA~1\SYOSSE~2.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "USATTY~1.WPD" (3.60KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\GENERA~1\USATTY~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "CLTSTA~1.WPD" (4.68KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\LOVELL~1.FUN\CLTSTA~1.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "GELLIS~4.WPD" (4.05KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\LOVELL~1.FUN\GELLIS~4.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.
Copying "CLERKA~4.WPD" (3.87KB) ... [The size, attributes and/or timestamp of the file "C:\TempWorkArea\Closed Files\ROSELLI\LUGO\CLERKA~4.WPD" have changed since the last scanning and comparison. File will be skipped.] Error.

[TGRMN Software]

Hi, these messages refer to files that have changed their timestamp after source/target scanning by ViceVersa and before copying or no longer exist ... if you re-run the profile these messages should be gone.
_________________
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TGRMN Software Support
http://www.tgrmn.com
http://www.compareandmerge.com

[bokenrosie]

Thanks for you reply. Unfortunately that is not what I am seeing.

I installed your software to evaluate.

My situation is I have a user that made multiple copies of a directory and I need to gather up the newest version of every file and make one copy of the directory and subdirectories.

I created the \tempworkarea\ directory as the target that would receive all the files.

I did a compare from an directory to that empty target and it reported those errors. I did this immediately after installing the program and it is simply not possible to change the timestamp unless your program is changing it. These are old files that have not been touched in years.

I'm concerned that there is something wrong here.

How do I gather up all those source directories (running different times) into my tempworkarea target?

[TGRMN Software]

Try enabling the option Copy files even if timestamp changes after initial comparison: ViceVersa initially compares source(s) and target(s) and then starts copying/deleting files. If a file has changed its timestamp after the initial comparison, ViceVersa will skip this file because it needs to be re-checked. If you want to force ViceVersa to copy every file (e.g. you are performing a mirror backup of source to target) you should enable this option.

This option is in profile settings -> advanced settings
_________________
--
TGRMN Software Support
http://www.tgrmn.com
http://www.compareandmerge.com

[bokenrosie]

The reason I sought out this software is that a user inadvertently forked a set of directories and subdirectories and I want to be sure that I get only the latest and greatest files in my target. I'm going to run it on each of the forked sets and hope to come up with one superset that only has the most recent version of each file.

Is the timestamp setting that you suggest still the right way to go?

[TGRMN Software]

Yes, this option will not impact that.
You can copy all the dirs into the same one and only copy newer/missing files each time. Then you should have a dir containing all the newest files.
_________________
--
TGRMN Software Support
http://www.tgrmn.com
http://www.compareandmerge.com

[bokenrosie]

Not sure how I can better explain this but let me take another shot.

Consider the following directory structure:
c:\clients\active\johnson
c:\users\tom\documents\clients\active\johnson
c:\users\tom\active\johnson

I have a user that has multiple copies of a directory called "clients". Inside of that directory are folders for each client. The problem is that he's made updates to different subdirectories along the way and I need the "latest and greatest" version of the files.

Is your suggest to enable "Copy files even if timestamp changes after initial comparison? still the right way to do this?

Say, for example, the user created a file called "contract.doc" and it appeared in all three of the above-mentioned directories. How do I assure that only the newest version remains no matter how many different sources I add?

Thanks

[TGRMN Software]

Hi, yes that option only tells ViceVersa to copy files if they have changed after initial source/target comparison and before copying.
_________________
--
TGRMN Software Support
http://www.tgrmn.com
http://www.compareandmerge.com