Files/Folders with a Date Created of Dec 31, 1903 8:00 PM

[netnothing]

So I have this weird occurrence when I open a Finder window and view files on one of my Mac Pro's internal harddrives.

A bunch of the Files and Folders have a Date Created of Dec 31, 1903 8:00PM.

The Date Modified is correct.

It's not every file/folder either. Mostly contained in one directory I have with client files in it.

I have:

- Reset PRAM
- Reset SMC
- Verified Permissions, Disks
- Deleted Finder's plist

So far, still happening.

Anyone have a clue as to what to check next?

I'm trying to figure out when this happened.....only noticed it today.

Could it have anything to do with sharing files from an XP machine.

-Kevin

 

[netnothing]

Ok, so now I'm wondering if this is a Finder issue.

When I take one of the files in question, and look at the metadata in Terminal using the mdls command, the dates are all correct.

-Kevin

 

[gnasher729]

It's not every file/folder either. Mostly contained in one directory I have with client files in it.

I have:

- Reset PRAM
- Reset SMC
- Verified Permissions, Disks
- Deleted Finder's plist

So far, still happening.

Anyone have a clue as to what to check next?

I'm trying to figure out when this happened.....only noticed it today.

Well, someone set the "creation date" of these files to this date. Actually, what probably happened is this: Older APIs for time used to record the time as seconds since Jan 1st 1904, so setting a time to zero meant "Jan 1st, 1904". This is GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), and you are probably a few hours away from there, so you get a date a few hours earlier than this.

There is not much that you can do. The creation date of these files is set to this date, and that is what the Finder is going to display. It's like accidentally deleting a file without backup: All the things you did (PRAM, verified disks etc.) cannot possibly bring it back.

 

[netnothing]

Well, someone set the "creation date" of these files to this date. Actually, what probably happened is this: Older APIs for time used to record the time as seconds since Jan 1st 1904, so setting a time to zero meant "Jan 1st, 1904". This is GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), and you are probably a few hours away from there, so you get a date a few hours earlier than this.

There is not much that you can do. The creation date of these files is set to this date, and that is what the Finder is going to display. It's like accidentally deleting a file without backup: All the things you did (PRAM, verified disks etc.) cannot possibly bring it back.

Any idea why Finder shows this 1903 date, but using terminal and the mdls command, shows the correct Creation Date?

-Kevin

 

[netnothing]

Well, someone set the "creation date" of these files to this date. Actually, what probably happened is this: Older APIs for time used to record the time as seconds since Jan 1st 1904, so setting a time to zero meant "Jan 1st, 1904". This is GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), and you are probably a few hours away from there, so you get a date a few hours earlier than this.

There is not much that you can do. The creation date of these files is set to this date, and that is what the Finder is going to display. It's like accidentally deleting a file without backup: All the things you did (PRAM, verified disks etc.) cannot possibly bring it back.

I'm in EST, so if GMT is Jan 1 1904 00:00, then my time for right now should be Dec 31 1903 7:00 PM.

However, all the files are shown at Dec 31 1903 8:00 PM

This is all very weird.

-Kevin

 

[netnothing]

So, since the mdls data is showing a different date, I decided to use Spotlight to search for a file.

I picked a file that had the 12/31/1903 creation date in finder. Looked at it with mdls, and the creation date showed 08/31/2007

Did a search in Finder for Date Created exactly 12/31/1903.....no results

Did a search in Finder for Date Created exactly 08/31/2007.....sure enough, the file shows up.

What is up?

-Kevin

 

[netnothing]

After reading some other article on another user having issues with the 1903 on his iDisk, I checked my, and all my folders in my iDisk have the Dec 31, 1903 date.

-Kevin

 

[kamiboy]

I suggest putting a txt file in that folder warning people about the stock market crash in the 1920's, world wars I & II and a bunch of other things that would have been handy to have know beforehand.

 

[lawcodename]

File in Trash with Date Created of Dec 31 1903

I'm not sure if this information will help, but I had a similar problem recently. Do you, by chance, have Windows installed on your Mac via Boot Camp, Parallels, or other? I had this problem with a file in my Mac OS trash I couldn't delete with this date. The cause was a corrupted file in Windows. I went into Windows, and tried to delete the .Trashes folder on the C: drive. When it wouldn't let me delete the folder, I went to the C: drive, right clicked it, chose Properties, and checked the C: drive (chose "automatically fix the system errors" box). Then rebooted Windows, which ran the disk check. It found he error in the .Trashes folder, converted it to a file, and I could then go to the C: drive, find the .Trashes file, and delete it. Once I did that, the file in my Mac OS trash was gone.