UNUSUAL FILE DATES

The various folder views provided by My Computer or Windows Explorer, properties of a collection of files. In most cases, Windows 9x gives users a separate Creation Date and Last Modified Date so that they can determine if a sought-after file is the correct one. Users can even sort a list of files by these fields.

However, it's possible for a file on a Windows 95 or 98 computer to have a Last Modified Date earlier than its Creation Date. As confusing as it looks, this discrepancy may not be the result of file corruption or tampering. In fact, Modified Dates that precede Creation Dates usually occur if a file is copied from one Windows computer to another.

When files are copied between Windows PCs, the recipient computer uses the current date as the Creation Date for the file. The Creation Date that's currently on the file then becomes the Last Modified Date. As the original creation date is likely to be earlier than the current date, the seemingly impossible file details are created.

While the presence of files with Last Modified Dates that are "older" than Creation Dates doesn't necessarily indicate file tampering, the possibility of viral corruption remains. A thorough virus scan is recommended in any instance where the creation of such files can't be accounted for.