I did this investigative research to figure it out a quite long
explaination:
I went to Windows Explorer and clicked on the Desktop object and changed the
folder view to detail view and got this result:
My Documents System Folder
My Computer System Folder
My Network Places System Folder
So if it's a object of type system folder then it was created by Windows XP
setup when XP was installed! But Explorer says that C:\Windows\System32
itself a System Folder even if its listed as a File Folder object because
its where the core OS lives! The file creation date of C:\My Documents in
comparison to that of C:\Windows can't be used as a valid indicator of when
the C:\My Documents folder was created because it can be moved and written
in another place at any time the user wishes on the HD.
However I surmised is that the only time you could make such a comparison is
after an initial installation of Windows XP provided that no other
modifications such as relocation to another partition to the C:\My Documents
which points to C:\Documents and Settings have been made. So on my PC my
C:\My Documents points to E:\Documents and Settings because I've moved
E:\Documents and Settings there myself.
Upon further discovery I've noticed two more things under C:\Documents and
Settings:
The folders UserID (your signon) as compared to C:\Windows on my system list
dates as:
E:\Documents and Settings\Marc Sims 10/24/2005
List the date and time as the last access point when I used Windows XP.
But here on my PC C:\Windows Shows a date of
C:\Windows 10/24/2005.
But wait how can this possibly be? I didn't install windows that most
recently so I must conclude that this has to do with either a dynamic change
in the Windows since the Registry stores the installed path of C:\Windows or
most likely the Paging File which is always suject to change when using
Windows which Windows updates the paging file which is always running and
updating itself as programs are excuted.
C:\Program Files 10/24/2005.
Now this makes a lot of sinse because if your running applications during a
user session and making minor changes to them such as options they get
written to the Windows registry. So what ever changes you make to the
program that your running this change also gets time stamped on the
C:\Windows directory so that Windows knows when the updates have occured.
C:\Documents and Settings\Default User 9/1/2003
Is a date same as that of:
C:\My Documents 9/1/2003
Which can only mean that C:\My Documents is a shortcut that points to
C:\Documents and Settings so as the contents of C:\My Documents change so do
those of C:\Documents and Settings. The directory structure in Windows XP as
was in DOS and all previous versions before it works much like a stored
linked list in C++.
All the files that you see in Windows explorer are stored in a linked list
chain which are a table of integer pointer objects which point to each item
in the list by integer address.
I can dig on a little further into this mystery but it would be too
complicated to explain on the basis that I'd have to explain it on a lower
systems C++ prgramming level.
Source: Book "Undocumented DOS" 2nd Edition By Andrew Schulman. 1992.
"Undocumented Windows" by Andrew Schulman.
I read the entire book all 830 pages of it. A very dry but somewhat
interesting read. Chapters 1,2,3 and 4 explain how to reverse engineer dos
6.22 and parts of Windows 3.1 and how Windows uses the AARD detection code
in Windows 3.1 to prevent itself from installing on a system using Novell
DOS 7.
Note: This publication is over 10 years old but the priciples of linked
lists can apply equally to Windows since Windows is or was based on the
foundations of DOS itself. ;)
-----Original Message-----
From: Windows Home/SOHO [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
Rick Glazier
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 5:59 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Windows Setup
Not on any machine I have ever installed... <grin> (This is almost brand new
machine, and it is not here...) Do us all a favor, and go in and look at the
Directory dates.
SPECIFICALLY the "Create date".
If it does not match the Windows directory "Create date", we have our
answer...
Rick Glazier
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