Accdate

Enables/disables the recording of the last access date of a file.
The ACCDATE statement is only valid in Config.sys.

Syntax:

Notes:

The only cases where I have found "Last Access Date" to be shown are with the DIR /V command in Dos and under a file's "Properties" tab in Windows Explorer in Win95. It also seems quite possible that some utility programs could use this information when deciding if a file should be classified as "seldom used" and a candidate for archiving.

Unfortunately, the mechanism for recording/retrieving "last access date" (and "file creation date", and "file modified date", come to that) under Win95 seem to be somewhat unreliable. On some machines (incl. mine), I find examples of "file modified date" which are before the "file creation date", and the "last access date" is always the current date - whether hard or floppy drive, normal or safe mode, and whatever the settings used with ACCDATE in Config.sys. With DIR /V the dates given make more sense but the "last access date" for directories is always the same as the "creation date".

I am finding it kind of tricky to get a handle on exactly how ACCDATE works and how it might be used. According to the notes in the Config.txt file on the Win95 CD (also available as MS Knowledgebase Q135481) about Win95 Config.sys commands:

"For each hard disk, specifies whether to record the date that files are last accessed. Last access dates are turned off for all drives when your computer is started in safe mode, and are not maintained for floppy disks by default."

"When you edit the Config.sys file to include an ACCDATE command so that the last accessed date for files is not updated, files may still be updated with the current date when you make changes."

In response to a query on Usenet, "raster" offered the following:

"..........
INT 21 .AX=5704 Get last access date and time
INT 21 .AX=5705 Set last access date and time
INT 21 .AX=5706 Get creation date and time
INT 21 .AX=5707 Set creation date and time

The values go in previously unused (officially unused!) bytes in the short-name directory entry. Which means that recording this info could screw up other operating systems which use the "unused" bytes for other functions. DR DOS's password scheme springs to mind.
..........."

Other Usenet postings going back to '95 suggest that using ACCDATE drive- will reduce some disk activity and hence could speed up system operation a smidgen.

I rather get the impression that the business of setting and retrieving a file's last access date was a minor routine that a programmer was playing with before being called off to more pressing things. As it stands, I can see no useful purpose for the statement and, if this is what Windows Explorer is using, it is pretty well non functional.

If I'm missing something here, I'd be most grateful for advice on this!