NewFileTime for Windows

If you've ever viewed all your image or music files sorted by date, you may have wondered how you ended up with a picture you apparently saved 10 years before you bought your first PC. That may not be as bad as those mysterious files from the future. These things happen when a file's time stamp is incorrectly entered, deliberately changed, or corrupted. Nenad Hrg's NewFileTime is freeware that can modify the time stamps showing when a file or folder was created, changed, or accessed. You can add files and folders by dragging and dropping them into NewFileTime or by importing them, including subfolders.

NewFileTime's dialog-style interface has separate date and time fields for Date Modified, Date Created, and Date Accessed above a main window that lists files and let us import and export data as text files. The program has simple controls, including a toolbar with buttons labeled Set Time, Be Older, and Be Younger, plus one labeled with a pound sign, for choosing dates and times from lists. The Be Older and Be Younger buttons enable quick sequential changes. We started by dragging and dropping some files, with the option to include subfolders as well as exclude either folders or files. To change any of the time or date stamps, we simply had to enter the specific values and check the appropriate box and click the Set Time button. We started by changing the Date Created stamp on a test image to next year. When we checked the file's properties sheet, the Date Created stamp showed next year, but the Date Modified and Accessed stamps still showed the correct times. It's very easy to use, obviously, but NewFileTime's Web site offers clear, well-illustrated instructions, FAQs, and other help.

We were puzzled by an entry field labeled "Text to time tester." The site's FAQs explained that it tests the String to Time converter (i.e. parser). NewFileTime can export your file list as text and edit it in Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc and test the results in the "Text to time tester."