reading a file updates the modification time

I just noticed that reading a file updates the "Date Modified." Even using the
TYPE command in a command window updates the Date Modified, even though the
TYPE command cannot possibly modify the content of a file.

Why is this happening? How can it be fixed? I often really want to know how old
the content of a file is, and the only reliable way, looking at the Date
Modified, is no longer reliable.

Is this the result of some security update?

Martin
Sat Mar 08 18:01:56 PST 2008

My apologies, this is not a Windows problem. It occurs only on my
SimpleShare network drive. I suspect that it's a side effect of the
peculiar operating system that runs the drive. I'm looking into that.

mbrilliant@alum.mit.edu (Martin B. Brilliant) wrote in
news:vOSdnXXY4Pi-3U7anZ2dnUVZ_tGonZ2d@suscom.com:

> I just noticed that reading a file updates the "Date Modified." Even
> using the TYPE command in a command window updates the Date Modified,
> even though the TYPE command cannot possibly modify the content of a
> file.
>
> Why is this happening? How can it be fixed? I often really want to
> know how old the content of a file is, and the only reliable way,
> looking at the Date Modified, is no longer reliable.
>
> Is this the result of some security update?
>
>