RegCompact for Win9x

[Multibooter]

could you try downloading this file, Process Explorer v10.01 with FlashGet and let me know if the DateTime is preserved? I've tried with a bunch of tools ( don't have FlashGet yet ) and always get today's date, so I suspect that the server doesn't co-operate by sending the necessary info for the touch. I figure if you cannot get it, then there is no way.

Hi CharlotteTheHarlot,

Strange result: the file modification date of Process Explorer.exe , when downloaded with FlashGet, is 22-Sep-2012 10:14:50 PM. The current date on my computer is 24-Sep-2012 7:11:50AM, so the file modification date cannot have been related somehow to my download date.

The file modification date may have been set to the date of the last download by somebody who does not use FlashGet. No idea why this is done.

MiTec EXE Explorer displays a timestamp of 8-Feb-2006 6:46:31 PM for the file and may be a more useful way of describing this particular version. When Process Explorer.exe is extracted with Universal Extractor v1.6.1.61 (gora), the date modified of some of the extracted files is also 8-Feb-2006, but 10:46:28AM (different hours, probably due to the time difference here in California), so the version date seems to be of 8-Feb-2006.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Multibooter

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Strange result: the file modification date of Process Explorer.exe , when downloaded with FlashGet, is 22-Sep-2012 10:14:50 PM. The current date on my computer is 24-Sep-2012 7:11:50AM, so the file modification date cannot have been related somehow to my download date.

The file modification date may have been set to the date of the last download by somebody who does not use FlashGet. No idea why this is done.

MiTec EXE Explorer displays a timestamp of 8-Feb-2006 6:46:31 PM for the file and may be a more useful way of describing this particular version. When Process Explorer.exe is extracted with Universal Extractor v1.6.1.61 (gora), the date modified of some of the extracted files is also 8-Feb-2006, but 10:46:28AM (different hours, probably due to the time difference here in California), so the version date seems to be of 8-Feb-2006.

Thanks for checking it out. Yeah, I'm just manually setting that Date/Time since it seems to make the most sense. I wish Mark kept an archive of the older versions ( sigh )

The moral of the story: always use ZIPs or similar for uploading files

[dencorso]

MiTec EXE Explorer displays a timestamp of 8-Feb-2006 6:46:31 PM for the file and may be a more useful way of describing this particular version. When Process Explorer.exe is extracted with Universal Extractor v1.6.1.61 (gora), the date modified of some of the extracted files is also 8-Feb-2006, but 10:46:28AM (different hours, probably due to the time difference here in California), so the version date seems to be of 8-Feb-2006.

You both should try my little free console app PETmStp... It was intended to help precisely with such dating problems, when dealing with PE files.

This is just a heads up, because I released this tool in the Unattended Win2k forum...

To see the original release post, please do click in the curly arrow in the quotation box header below.

<snip> Well, here I am, back to the subject of PETimestamps... <snip>

[i have written] my own application for this, using an unambiguous format for the time and date string, and also presenting the hexadecimal unix time, together with the file name, all this in just one line. And it also supports "*.*", of course! I called it, rather unimaginatively, PETmStp (attached below), and here's hoping it will be as useful as I anticipated it should be. Please do report any bugs found.

PETmStp.7z

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

You both should try my little free console app PETmStp... It was intended to help precisely with such dating problems, when dealing with PE files.

Okay, gave it a whirl and extracted the date/time just fine.

>petmstp /?

PETmStp v1.0 Freeware by dencorso, 2012

Usage: PETmStp <filespec>

>petmstp ProcExp.exe

PETmStp v1.0 Freeware by dencorso, 2012

.\Procexp.exe is a PE file, which PE Timestamp is 0x43EA3C87 or Wed Feb 08, 2006 18:46:31 GMT

Is there a way to parse the output suitable for piping or plans to add it?

I can't think of any TOUCH commandline apps that directly do this like your utility does. But then again I haven't searched recently. I used to keep up with the FreeDos releases ( their TOUCH could copy another file's Date/Time ) but have slacked on this for the past few years. Anyone know of an exceptional CLI TOUCH?

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

I use TOUCH.EXE from MS resource kit. This is what I use to give the modded/patch files their original timestamp. If you look in SP3 you will find the tool along with the commands located in the PATCHES.BAT file. Since I'm posting from a phone, I can't help with links.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

PROBLEMCHYLD, thanks for the tip.

The only TOUCH I found seems to be in the [1998-04-30] Win98rk. It is TOUCH.EXE v5.0.1754.1.

usage: TOUCH [/f] [/t year month day hour min sec] files

where:

/f - force file touch if read only

/t - specifies a specific time other than the current time.

/c - specifies to create the file if it does not exist.

I don't see a way to use the original PE timestamp though. I thought it might be undocumented and just ran it and unfortunately it merely sets the file to the current date/time.

I searched through all the following expanded SDK, utility and tool collections pretty much covering the entire Windows history, click the button ...

[0000-00-00]_SDK_Misc-Files-From-Setups_(EXPANDED)

[1995-08-03]_Win95_ResKit_Win95rk_(EXPANDED)

[1996-07-03]_Win95_Kernel-Toys_krnltoys_(EXPANDED)

[1996-09-27]_Win95_Power-Toys_powertoy_(EXPANDED)

[1998-01-27]_Win9x_pSdk_Platform-Sdk_200-300_(EXPANDED)

[1998-04-30]_Win98_ResKit_Win98rk_(EXPANDED)

[1998-12-30]_WinNT40_ResKit_sp4rk_i386_(EXPANDED)

[1999-05-25]_Win98_Ddk_Win98ddk_(EXPANDED)

[1999-12-02]_MSISDK11_v1.1_32-bit_WinALL_IntelSDK_(EXPANDED)

[2000-04-04]_Office-2000_v09_Resource-Kit-Tools_orktools_(EXPANDED)

[2001-08-23]_WinXP_Support-Tools_Deploy_(EXPANDED)

[2001-09-19]_Win2000(sp1)_SysPrep-Tool_v1.1_q257813_w2k_spl_x86_en_(EXPANDED)

[2001-12-03]_WinALL_pSdk_Windows_(Nov-2001)_PlatformSDK_(EXPANDED)

[2001-12-21]_WinCE_SDK_(EXPANDED)

[2002-07-23]_Win2000(sp3)_Support-Tools_sp3supporttools_(EXPANDED)

[2002-09-03]_WinXP(sp1)_Support-Tools_Deploy_(EXPANDED)

[2002-12-23]_WinXP_Powertoys-and-Resource-Kit-Miscellaneous_(EXPANDED)

[2003-03-25]_MSISDK20_v2.0_32-bit_WinALL_msisdk-common.3.0_(EXPANDED)

[2003-04-02]_Win2003_Administration-Tools-Pack_Adminpak_(EXPANDED)

[2003-04-14]_Win2000_ResKit_Win2krk_(EXPANDED)

[2003-04-18]_WinXP-Win2003_Resource-Kit_Support-Tools_Rktools_(EXPANDED)

[2003-04-24]_Win2003_ResKit_Win2k3rk_Plus-Updates_(EXPANDED)

[2003-06-19]_Win2000_Administration-Tools-Pack_Adminpak_(EXPANDED)

[2003-07-03]_Win2000(sp4)_CDROM_Support-Tools_Deploy_(EXPANDED)

[2003-09-04]_Office-2003_v11_Resource-Kit_ork_(EXPANDED)

[2004-08-12]_WinXP(sp2)_Support-Tools_Deploy_(EXPANDED)

[2004-08-21]_WinXP(Sp2)_pSdk_Platform-Sdk_(EXPANDED)

[2005-03-24]_Win2003(sp1)_Support-Tools_Deploy_Administration-Tools-Pack_(EXPANDED)

[2006-03-04]_Win2003_pSdk_523790207551.platformsdk_Svr2003r2_CDROM_(EXPANDED)

[2007-03-10]_Vista_Sdk_6160001638410.Feb2007update_DVD_(EXPANDED)

[2008-01-31]_Win2008_Sdk-60600118000367_NET-Framework-35_DVD_(EXPANDED)_Core

[2008-01-31]_Win2008_Sdk-60600118000367_NET-Framework-35_DVD_(EXPANDED)_Help

[2008-04-14]_WinXP(sp3)_Support-Tools_Deploy_(EXPANDED)

[2009-05-01]_Win2003(sp2)_Support-Tools_Deploy_Administration-Tools-Pack_(EXPANDED)

If anyone can think of any filenames other than "touch" I can easily search for it within that gigantic set of files since I have them all expanded.

[jaclaz]

If anyone can think of any filenames other than "touch" I can easily search for it within that gigantic set of files since I have them all expanded.

I don't get it.

What you want is a "touch" like tool?

http://www.softtreetech.com/24x7/archive/47.htm

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html

http://www.stevemiller.net/apps/

http://www.stevemiller.net/downloads/ctb10w32.zip

Frm the latter (working on WIn95 up to 7 ):

Touch for Win32, Version 1.0

Freeware by Steve P. Miller (stevemil@pobox.com). Copyright 1997.

Visit http://pobox.com/~stevemil for the latest version and other utilities.

Usage: touch [/h] [/p] [/q] [/v] [/c] [/m] [/a] [/r file]

[/d mm-dd[-[cc]yy]] [/t hh[:mm[:ss[.ms]]]] filespec ...

/s Process subdirectories.

/h Process hidden/system files/directories.

/p Prompt for each file (Yes/No/All/Quit). Ignored in view mode.

/q Quiet mode; Only display errors; Ignored in view mode.

/v View mode; Display times rather than set times.

/c View/set created time.

/m View/set modified time; Default if /a and /c are not specified.

/a View/set accessed time.

/r Reference file; Use this file's date and time to set other files.

/d Date: month, day, century, year.

/t Time: hour (0-24), minutes, seconds, milliseconds.

In view mode (/v), the /p, /q, /r, /d, and /t options are ignored.

In set mode, the default is to use the current date and time.

Use the /r, /d, and/or /t options to override the default set time.

The century (cc) is assumed to be 19 for years 69-99, and 20 for years 00-68.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You may notice that you are unable to set the date and/or time of a file to

some exact setting. It is possible that the operating system may need to round

a value you have specified up or down to overcome limitations in the file

system. The following are some facts about FAT and NTFS:

FAT

Created time is accurate to the nearest 10 milliseconds (rounded down).

Modified time is accurate to the nearest 2 seconds (up on NT, down on 95).

Accessed time is accurate to the nearest day (rounded down).

Dates can range between 1/1/1980 and 12/31/2107

Dates and times are physically stored as locally adjusted times.

NTFS

Created time is accurate to the nearest 100 nanoseconds.

Modified time is accurate to the nearest 100 nanoseconds.

Accessed time is accurate to the nearest 100 nanoseconds.

Dates can range between 1/1/1601 and 9/13/30828

Dates and times are physically stored as UTC/GMT times.

jaclaz

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

PROBLEMCHYLD, thanks for the tip.

The only TOUCH I found seems to be in the [1998-04-30] Win98rk. It is TOUCH.EXE v5.0.1754.1.

usage: TOUCH [/f] [/t year month day hour min sec] files

where:

/f - force file touch if read only

/t - specifies a specific time other than the current time.

/c - specifies to create the file if it does not exist.

I don't see a way to use the original PE timestamp though. I thought it might be undocumented and just ran it and unfortunately it merely sets the file to the current date/time.

I searched through all the following expanded SDK, utility and tool collections pretty much covering the entire Windows history, click the button ...

Run this command with TOUCH.EXE and PROCEXP.EXE in the same folder.

TOUCH.EXE /T 2006 02 08 18 46 31 PROCEXP.EXE

You will get the timestamp Wednesday, February 08, 2006, 6:46:31 PM.

Edited September 25, 2012 by PROBLEMCHYLD

[dencorso]

The following are some facts about FAT and NTFS:

FAT

Dates can range between 1/1/1980 and 12/31/2107

Ah, yes! The infamous Y2108 bug, of course.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

I don't get it.

What you want is a "touch" like tool?

We were looking at Microsoft tools there, specifically a TOUCH utility for correcting timestamps. I have all those mentioned SDKs and such extracted and expanded so I was asking for filename suggestions to search for.

As far as 3rd party, I use the FreeDos one often since it can duplicate the stamp from another file. I do use NirCmd all the time as well, but for a million other things. I'll have to look at its TOUCH options next. Thanks for all the other suggestions, they're now in the to-do bucket list.

I guess the main criteria would be a CLI utility that can grab the PE timestamp ( as Dencorso's tool does ) and apply it to the file itself.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Run this command with TOUCH.EXE and PROCEXP.EXE in the same folder.

TOUCH.EXE /T 2006 02 08 18 46 31 PROCEXP.EXE

You will get the timestamp Wednesday, February 08, 2006, 6:46:31 PM.

Okay I knew that already! I simply misinterpreted this ...

I use TOUCH.EXE from MS resource kit. This is what I use to give the modded/patch files their original timestamp. If you look in SP3 you will find the tool along with the commands located in the PATCHES.BAT file. Since I'm posting from a phone, I can't help with links.

I thought you were saying it could give a file its original PE timestamp ( while disregarding the current MODIFIED stamp or current system datetime )

Sorry! My bad.

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

I thought you were saying it could give a file its original PE timestamp ( while disregarding the current MODIFIED stamp or current system datetime )

Sorry! My bad.

This is what it does. The modified date was 22-Sep-2012 10:14:50 PM, running the command gives it Wednesday, February 08, 2006, 6:46:31 PM. Or am I not understanding you? It changes the timestamp to whatever date you choose to make it. It works great in the SP because when files get patched they lose their original timestamp. So I use this tool to give patched files their original attributes. Remember that not all PE stamps are the same as the file attributes.

Example: Explorer.exe 4.72.3612.1700 PE Timestamp 2/8/1999 11:04:25 PM but the actual file timestamp is Tuesday, March 16, 1999, 11:43:06 AM.

Edited September 25, 2012 by PROBLEMCHYLD

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

I thought you were saying it could give a file its original PE timestamp ( while disregarding the current MODIFIED stamp or current system datetime )

This is what it does. The modified date was 22-Sep-2012 10:14:50 PM, running the command gives it Wednesday, February 08, 2006, 6:46:31 PM. Or am I not understanding you? It changes the timestamp to whatever date you choose to make it. It works great in the SP because when files get patched they lose their original timestamp. So I use this tool to give patched files their original attributes. Remember that not all PE stamps are the same as the file attributes.

Yes we are misunderstanding each other. But I see how it happened since it started with me! Let me explain:

Touch.exe requires parameters specifying the desired date/time to set the file to, as you demonstrated here ...

TOUCH.EXE /T 2006 02 08 18 46 31 PROCEXP.EXE

The misunderstanding happened when I misinterpreted what you said earlier here ...

I use TOUCH.EXE from MS resource kit. This is what I use to give the modded/patch files their original timestamp.

... so what I thought you were saying was that Touch.exe could give a target file its original PE timestamp ( the one contained within the file PE header ) without specifying parameters.

In other words, I thought you were describing that Touch.exe would read the target file's PE time/date ( like Dencorso's utility ) and then apply it to the file ( again, without specifying the parameters ). What Touch.exe actually does is what almost all of the TOUCH utilities do, change the modified date/time to a user specified string. The thought was to automate changing bad downloads to their original time/date without running a utility first and then needing to use a TOUCH with specified parameters.

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

I gotcha! Now we are on the same page

[dencorso]

While I may, as time permits, add a secondary optional output format, better suited for piping, to PETmStp, if you want a fast working solution, I'd suggest a batch file using the good old sed to massage the output from PETmStp before piping it into some form of touch. Cygwin v. 1.5.12 works quite well in 9x/ME and has a reliable and powerful sed command. However, as most unix utilities ported to the DOS world it changes the line-endings to unix-style, so that one'll also need to pipe through "unix2dos -D" to recover the dos-style line-endings.