Timestamp appears one hour off in X2, not WinExp

[succus78]

I used a 'touch' program (within FileMenu Tools, by Rubén López Hernández, here) to change the timestamp of several PDF files. The timestamp appears correctly in the standard Windows file properties and in Windows Explorer, but is shown as one hour off in X2. [Win7 Home custom]

Problem with X2, or the toucher?

[nikos]

if the timestamp recent (e.g. today), then it should be the same in xplorer2 and windows explorer. If it is set to an older time, e.g. before the last DST time change, then differences may appear. Windows explorer every other year changes how it deals with DST times and I got bored trying to keep up with it

[succus78]

I see there was not much you could do about that.

Files with a last modified time during a DST period (March to November here in the USA) show an earlier time when the current day/time is not during DST. Like you, I've learned to adjust.

[nikos]

if it was today's dates and there was an hour of difference, it would be a problem. But for files 6 months ago, one hour up or down it is of no consequence. It is a matter of reporting anyway, internally all file dates are UTC

[Kilmatead]

In case anyone is curious about the technical aspects of this problem from a Windows historical point-of-view, they may find these project notes interesting (including some trivia about "le temps universel coordonné" and where UTC came from in the first place), as well as the almost endless MS blogs of Raymond Chen related to the curiously entertaining subject of timestamp DST calculating errata.

Well, "curiously entertaining" from an anorak's perspective.

What seems like a simple enough thing to do turns out to be rather convoluted - and not even WinExp can be considered particularly accurate (about anything time-related really).