Creation date later than modified date (“date modified” less than “date created”) In Word XP the creation date of a document can be later than the modified date when saved elsewhere. Microsoft says “When the document is copied [...]]]> I needed to do a little research on how timestamps work in Winders, XP and 2003 server.

Creation date later than modified date (“date modified” less than “date created”)
In Word XP the creation date of a document can be later than the modified date when saved elsewhere. Microsoft says
“When the document is copied or is saved to a new location, a new file is created. This file is generated by a parent file that has the earlier “Modified” date. This parent file also has an earlier “Created” date. “

When you copy or re-save a document, the “Created” date is updated in the Statistics tab and in the General tab. However, the “Modified” date is not updated.”

* Turn off Last Modified timestamping
Whenever XP reads a file, it stamps the file with the date and time of the access.

This feature has its place but is not required for normal use unless you rely on the date of last access for backup purposes, which is a rare requirement for most backups. Putting a timestamp on a file that has just been read means that a write access has to be made to disk, so every time a read is executed, a corresponding write is also executed.

At the command prompt, enter the following then reboot:

> FSUTIL behavior set disablelastaccess 1

To turn timestamps back on, repeat the command but replace the 1 with 0.

*Update
It appears the FSUTIL is XP Pro and server only.

To Improve Windows XP Home Edition?s NTFS performance
There are two possibilities for the Home Edition: (but only, if you trust yourself to edit the registry)
1. Start, Run and type Regedit:navigate to:
HKEY CURRENT USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/
CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer:
Rightclick in the right column,choose New,
then Dword-value and name it: NoInstrumentation,doubleclick on it and give it a value 1,close and restart.
2. Start, Run and type Regedit: navigate to:
HKEY LOCAL MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/
Control/FileSystem:
Rightclick in the right column, choose New,
then Dword-value and name it:
NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate, doubleclick on it and give it a value 1, close and restart.