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How can the FILE SYSTEM - DATE MODIFIED change without the MS Word DATE LAST SAVED not changing?

There have been numerous occasions where a user states that they VIEWED a FILE then closed it without saving it. The DATE MODIFIED is changing. But the MS Word LAST SAVE DATE is NOT changing (supporting their claim). I can't reproduce the behavior, but I now have dozens of examples.

  • Windows 2012 R2 File Server
  • Windows 7 Pro Clients
  • Files are indexed by Sharepoint 2010 Search Server
  • Folders are replicated between sites using DFS
  • Files are accessed by clicking LINK from SEARCH website.
  • Word doc is then opened using UNC path.

I am unable to reproduce the behavior, but I am seeing a dozen examples. Any ideas, how the DATE MODIFIED can be changing without the DATE LAST SAVED changing?

I have MOVED, COPIED, RENAMED, and SAVED AS (word) and I can't reproduce the issue.

Thoughts?

File Properties IMAGE LINK

Word Meta Properties IMAGE LINK

R_D
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  • I have an old version of Word and _viewing_ the metadata (without saving) causes the file to be updated, even though the document content hasn't changed. There may be other operations which are similar (eg printing, though from your screen dumps not in this case). Maybe you should protect against overwriting in the file system? – AFH Jan 29 '16 at 01:49
  • Thanks! I confirmed that ALL employees have Word 2010, except for ME on their remote server that has Office 2013. I'm going to have a few employees test the PRINTING function. I was only able to test PRINT TO PDF from Word 2013, need to test print from Word 2010. Thanks for your suggestion. It's appreciated – R_D Jan 29 '16 at 16:25

1 Answers1

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Date Last Saved is a file property handled by Microsoft Word itself. When you save the file with Microsoft Word, it will update that value.

Last Date Modified is handled based on the filesystem that you are using, probably NTFS. It is a property on every file in NTFS, and the NTFS filesystem determines what to set that value to and when to set it.

You can read about the rules of NTFS. In particular, this section may be what you are looking for:

the modified date and time of a file does not change unless a property of the file has changed

My guess is that SharePoint is somehow accessing the file, which is changing the Date Accessed property on the file, which, in turn, changes the Date Modified property on the file.

I wish I had read your question more carefully about the use of SharePoint. We don't use SharePoint, so I am unable to test your issue directly. But I really do believe some process is accessing the file along the way in such a way as to change the Date Access property (perhaps you can check that property), which will change the Date Modified property.

Bobort
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  • Hi Bobort. I appreciate you taking a moment to respond, but you did not address the question. Any ideas, how the DATE MODIFIED can be changing without the DATE LAST SAVED changing? Are you able to reproduce this behavior? – R_D Apr 27 '17 at 17:25
  • I opened the file properties dialog of a Word file in File Explorer. I clicked on the Details tab, and added an author to the document. I did not open the Word document at all. After I applied the change and re-opened the file properties dialog, I saw the Date Modified property had changed, but not the Date Last Saved. This is in line with my first two paragraphs above. Once again, I am guessing that SharePoint is modifying file properties either through instructions from you or your users or through some automated process. – Bobort Jan 16 '19 at 14:26
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    Hi Bobort, They were just opening, viewing and closing, and the file system date modified was changing. I had long suspected it was an Office(or windows) update that started the entire thing because of the timing of how the issue appeared. In the end I had to write a powershell script that would scan their network and manually synchronize the meta and file system dates. Then one magically patch Tuesday 6-9 months after everything started, the issue vanished. Thanks for chiming in! Much appreciated. – R_D Jan 17 '19 at 15:56
  • Well, I'm glad it was resolved! I wonder if there was a third-party plugin that may have been running when they opened the documents. – Bobort Jan 17 '19 at 17:40