Why do I have files with Date Created of Feb 5, 2040?

Question

denke Author

Level 1

68 points

Why do I have files with Date Created of Feb 5, 2040?

I have at least 26 documents with Date Created shown as Feb 5, 2040 10:28 PM.

The Date Modified seems to be okay, ranging from 9/24/00 to 10/29/12 - except for one that's 12/31/69.
The Get Information window shows the same dates as the normal Finder window.
File types are mostly DOC with some JPG and PDF and one TIFF.
All were created by me over the course of time on a succession of Macs (except for that 12/31/69 PDF, which was downloaded from Garmin) and then migrated.
Those I've checked have a Last Opened date that's the same as the Date Modified date.
These documents are all in my Documents folder, in two subfolders, with some of them further down a hierarchy of subfolders.
I first noticed this a few weeks ago.
The number of these 2/5/40 documents seems to be increasing.

Does anyone know:

What could cause this phenomenon?
How can I stop it?
It's not a big problem per se, but is it likely to cause other problems?
Is there a way to correct the Created Date?

Thanks for any help!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), 13 inch, 3 GHz, 8 GB, 500 GB

Posted on Jan 9, 2014 2:08 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,919 points

Jan 9, 2014 2:10 PM in response to denke

Check your Date & Time preferences settings.

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Answer 2

denke Author

Level 1

68 points

Jan 9, 2014 2:30 PM in response to Kappy

Sorry, I didn't mention that I'd already done that and found nothing that seemed wrong. What in fact should I be looking for? The time and date are correct. They are set automatically by Apple. The time zone is correct. Am I missing something?

Thanks.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,919 points

Jan 9, 2014 2:34 PM in response to denke

Then I may only guess that perhaps the date was off at some point in time that coincided with when those files were created or the application that created them has a bug in it.

Oh, at this point in time are all new files dated incorrectly? If so then there could be a corrupted part of the PRAM. You might try Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.

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Answer 4

denke Author

Level 1

68 points

Jan 9, 2014 2:41 PM in response to Kappy

But those files were created over the course of 12 years, on several successive Macs, in several different applications. I have thousands of other documents created during the same time period that are not showing this problem.

And no, not all new files have this problem.

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,919 points

Jan 9, 2014 2:42 PM in response to denke

As I said, I don't know what happened or why. You probably never will find out what happened.

You can download a utility such as Touch 1.3.0.3.0 to change dates on those files.

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Answer 6

denke Author

Level 1

68 points

Jan 9, 2014 2:53 PM in response to Kappy

Thank you for the link to Touch. I tried it on one document, and it worked. It'll take me a half-hour or so to do them all, one document at a time, but then I'll find out if the problem is ongoing.🙂

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Answer 7

Kappy

Level 10

361,919 points

Jan 9, 2014 2:59 PM in response to denke

I think Touch will make batch changes. Should be faster than one at a time. 🙂

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Answer 8

denke Author

Level 1

68 points

Jan 9, 2014 3:05 PM in response to Kappy

Yes, but I'd like to get the creation dates to be not later than the modified dates - for search purposes.

I just noticed that Touch seems to allow changing dates until 2040.😕

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Answer 9

Kopcap

Level 1

1 points

Apr 17, 2015 8:59 AM in response to denke

I've got 2040 year with different actions in Yosemite 10.10.3 and I thought it was a 10.10.3 bug since I noticed it only yesterday.

When I MOVE some file from my system HDD to network HDD - date of CREATION changes to February 6, 2040 (date of modification set to current date and time).

But when I COPY the same file, both dates are set to the correct dates (as original file has).

When I move files around my system disk, everything is OK as expected.

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Answer 10

daeron

Level 1

9 points

Aug 11, 2015 7:40 AM in response to denke

Yep. Just set up a new Mac server, then upgraded to Yosemite. Many (but for some reason not all) files copied from our local drives to the server after upgrading them to Yosemite have file creation dates of February 5 or 6, 2040. But, hey. Who ever needs to know when a file was really created? Huh, Apple?

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Answer 11

Eric Root

Level 10

684,831 points

Aug 11, 2015 7:43 AM in response to daeron

Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

Feedback

Or you can use your Apple ID to register with this site and go the Apple BugReporter. Supposedly you will get an answer if you submit feedback.

Feedback via Apple Developer

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Answer 12

daeron

Level 1

9 points

Aug 11, 2015 7:49 AM in response to Eric Root

Done. Thanks.

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Answer 13

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Aug 11, 2015 7:59 AM in response to Kappy

Hi Kappy,

You can download a utility such as Touch 1.3.0.3.0 to change dates on those files

the main page is not available anymore ?? Although in Macupdate there seems to be not such blatant problem of manipulated installers (like CNET, etc), maybe you could check out "A Better Finder Attributes" http://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderAttributes/

greetings,

Lex

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Why do I have files with Date Created of Feb 5, 2040?