12,000 bad creation dates

Hi,

I have had some problems with 10.9. 4 kernel panics since December and some Finder issues (delay in files appearing in new folders when moved, delay in creating new folders, other problems...). AppleCare has had me reinstall 10.9, migrate from my Time Capsule and other things that I can't remember in detail.

I am now noticing that I have ~12,000 files with bad creation dates. I did a search starting from 1993 and found that many. They vary; pics, docs and some apps! (I also have ~300 bad modification dates, from doing a quick similar search.)

In the past I have used a program, A Better Finder Attributes 5, to fix a few files that had shown up with bad dates. Most then were dates in the future, if I remember correctly. (I don't have any files created in the future now...)

I talked with AppleCare about this today. The guy, who has been very helpful, recommended I not use a program like that to fix them. He didn't think the bad dates would be a problem. Maybe not but I am sorely tempted to fix them.

What do you think? Why do you think this happened? Is it possible to get the original file creation and modification dates back?

Thanks.

John L