PowerShell: Change the timestamp (Date created) of a folder or file

Question

For PowerShell commands on Windows 10, I encounter a strange behaviour.

To change a file's Date created, I use:

Get-ChildItem  C:\testFile1.txt | % {$_.CreationTime = '01/11/2005 06:00:36'}

To change a folder's Date created, I use:

Get-Item  C:\testFolder1 | % {$_.CreationTime = '01/11/2004 22:13:36'}

Those 2 commands work well on a regular basis on system partition C:\ or on desktop.

The story is different if the folder exists on an external USB flash drive.

(P.S. The command to change a file's timestamp still remains working on the external USB flash drive.)

Suppose I try to change the Date created of a folder (not file) on an external USB flash drive:

Get-Item  U:\testFolder1 | % {$_.CreationTime = '01/11/2002 06:00:36'}

I get this error message:

Exception setting "CreationTime": "The process cannot access the file 'U:\testFolder1' because it is being used by another process."
At line:1 char:31
+ ... et-Item  U:\testFolder1 | % {$_.CreationTime = '01/11/2002 06:00:36'}
+                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], SetValueInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ExceptionWhenSetting

Digging further, I realize that the process is Windows 10's File Explorer, which prevents me from changing the timestamp. As long as I don't open File Explorer, I can use PowerShell to change the Date created of a folder on the USB flash drive.

Is there anyway like .Dispose() to stop Windows 10's File Explorer from locking the folder without the need to close File Explorer every time?

You could try with Directory.SetCreationTime() directly: [System.IO.Directory]::SetCreationTime('U:\testFolder1', '01/11/2002 06:00:36') — Mathias R. Jessen
PS U:\> [System.IO.Directory]::SetCreationTime('U:\testFolder1', '01/11/2000 06:00:36') — Bart Simpson
Exception calling "SetCreationTime" with "2" argument(s): "The process cannot access the file 'U:\testFolder1' because it is being used by another process." At line:1 char:1 + [System.IO.Directory]::SetCreationTime('U:\testFolder1', '01/11/2000 ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : IOException — Bart Simpson

TheMadTechnician TheMadTechnician · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-15T17:51:08

I have a function that I keep on hand that uses Handle.exe from SysInternals to find what process has a lock on a file, and then tries to kill that process's lock on the file.

Function Close-LockedFile{
Param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,ValueFromPipeline=$true)][Object[]]$InputFile
)
Begin{
    $HandleApp = 'C:\localbin\Handle.exe'
    If(!(Test-Path $HandleApp)){Write-Host "Handle.exe not found at $HandleApp`nPlease download it from www.sysinternals.com and save it in the afore mentioned location.";break}
}
Process{
    $HandleOut = Invoke-Expression ($HandleApp+' '+$InputFile.Fullname)
    $Locks = $HandleOut |?{$_ -match "(.+?)\s+pid: (\d+?)\s+type: File\s+(\w+?): (.+)\s*$"}|%{
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            'AppName' = $Matches[1]
            'PID' = $Matches[2]
            'FileHandle' = $Matches[3]
            'FilePath' = $Matches[4]
        }
    }
    ForEach($Lock in $Locks){
        Invoke-Expression ($HandleApp + " -p " + $Lock.PID + " -c " + $Lock.FileHandle + " -y") | Out-Null
    }
    $InputFile
}
}

You should be able to pipe your files to that, and it will unlock any that have a lock, and then pass the file object down the pipe.

PowerShell: Change the timestamp (Date created) of a folder or file

2 Answers