[finboy]

Hi folks:
Whenever I copy older files onto an external drive or burn them to CD, OS X insists on changing their file dates to reflect today's date. Is there any way to fix this? Is there any way to copy files and keep their original date?

Thanks in advance.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by finboy

Hi folks:
Whenever I copy older files onto an external drive or burn them to CD, OS X insists on changing their file dates to reflect today's date. Is there any way to fix this? Is there any way to copy files and keep their original date?

Thanks in advance.

bump

[suthercd]

The files you copy are new. They were created when the copy was done. To preserve creation dates, you need to think in terms of backup. Use the OS X 10.4.6 'rsync', command line tool, and it will backup the file and preserve creation dates when given the right parameters. Entering 'man rsync' in the Terminal will show the modifiers that need to be added to the command for create date preservation. SuperDuper will also preserve them. If you install Developer Tools, ASR (Apple Software Restore) is another command line tool that will do this.

Here is a link that explores some of these options.

HTH

Craig

[Millennium]

This is correct behavior. The date that the copy is created is "today" (meaning the day the copy took place), and the OS uses the date which reflects this.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by suthercd

SuperDuper will also preserve them.

This is why I haven't had to deal with this before, I've used SuperDuper to do exact backups.

As for it being "proper behavior" I have no doubt, but why doesn't OS 6, 7, 8, and 9, DOS 2.x forward, and Windows 286, 3.0, 3.11, 95, 98SE and XP do the same thing? All of those OSs preserve the archive date when copying. That's why it's so disconcerting.

I was kinda hoping there was a way to do it within the GUI without resorting to the command line. Like in every other GUI I've ever used.

Thanks for the links, I'll see how it works out.

[suthercd]

Not a matter of being 'proper', just the design choices inherent in each of the file systems. OS X uses HFS+, OS 9 and before were HFS. With each release of OS X the file metadata scheme has become more mature and (to me) what were puzzling initial design implementations with earlier versions now make sense.

-Edit-
Use Automator's shell script capabilities. Write the rsync command with your particular needs and make it a Finder plug-in so you can select the files/folders/volumes you want to duplicate and right/ctrl click to do the job. Make it an iCal plug-in and have it run unattended on a schedule, duplicating locations you hard wire into it. There is not a lot of buzz about Automator which is a shame because it is a great tool-- for free!

C-

[Hal Itosis]

Originally Posted by suthercd

The files you copy are new. They were created when the copy was done.

Originally Posted by Millennium

This is correct behavior. The date that the copy is created is "today" (meaning the day the copy took place), and the OS uses the date which reflects this.

Fascinating.

Then, can either of you explain why my Mac behaves "incorrectly" ?

Using 10.4.6 and Finder to drag-and-drop copy an .rtf (or a .webloc or a shell script)
over to an external... dates are being perfectly preserved. What's 'wrong' with that?

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by suthercd

Not a matter of being 'proper', just the design choices inherent in each of the file systems. OS X uses HFS+, OS 9 and before were HFS.

Nope, that's incorrect. HFS+ was compatible with OS 8.1 and all releases subsequent thereto - it just was not the required format until OS X.

[suthercd]

Big Mac,

Thanks for the correction.

C-

[finboy]

Originally Posted by Hal Itosis

Fascinating.

Then, can either of you explain why my Mac behaves "incorrectly" ?

Using 10.4.6 and Finder to drag-and-drop copy an .rtf (or a .webloc or a shell script)
over to an external... dates are being perfectly preserved. What's 'wrong' with that?

Weird.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by finboy

Weird.

It's really strange. When I copy files to a folder on the desktop, OS X doesn't change the creation/mod dates. It's only when I try to burn a CD or copy to an external drive that it screws things up.

[Hal Itosis]

Originally Posted by finboy

> When I copy files to a folder on the desktop, OS X doesn't change the creation/mod dates.
> It's only when I try to burn a CD or copy to an external drive that it screws things up.

Is that external formatted as HFS+ ("Mac OS Extended") ?

[finboy]

Originally Posted by Hal Itosis

Is that external formatted as HFS+ ("Mac OS Extended") ?

In some cases, yes, but in some cases, no, they're formatted to DOS or Windows for cross-platform use.