When first called, FileSystemInfo calls Refresh and returns the cached information on APIs to get attributes and so on. On subsequent calls, you must call Refresh to get the latest copy of the information.

If the file described in the FileSystemInfo object does not exist, this property will return 12:00 midnight, January 1, 1601 A.D. (C.E.) Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), adjusted to local time.

NTFS-formatted drives may cache file meta-info, such as file creation time, for a short period of time. This process is known as file tunneling. As a result, it may be necessary to explicitly set the creation time of a file if you are overwriting or replacing an existing file.

This property value is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) if the file system containing the FileSystemInfo object does not support this information.

For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.

Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition Platform Note:

These operating systems do not support this property, and DirectoryInfo implementations of this property are not supported.

Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows CE Platform Note:

This property is read-only.

The following example demonstrates the CreationTime property. This code example is part of a larger example provided for the FileSystemInfo class.

Sub DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(ByVal fsi As IO.FileSystemInfo)
    ' Assume that this entry is a file.
    Dim entryType As String = "File"

    ' Determine if this entry is really a directory.
    If fsi.Attributes = FileAttributes.Directory Then
        entryType = "Directory"
    End If

    ' Show this entry's type, name, and creation date.
    Console.WriteLine("{0} entry {1} was created on {2:D}", _
        entryType, fsi.FullName, fsi.CreationTime)
End Sub

static void DisplayFileSystemInfoAttributes(FileSystemInfo fsi)
{
    //  Assume that this entry is a file.
    string entryType = "File";

    // Determine if entry is really a directory
    if (fsi.Attributes == FileAttributes.Directory)
    {
        entryType = "Directory";
    }
    //  Show this entry's type, name, and creation date.
    Console.WriteLine("{0} entry {1} was created on {2:D}", entryType, fsi.FullName, fsi.CreationTime);
}

• FileIOPermission 

  for setting the creation time. Associated enumeration: FileIOPermissionAccess..::.Write

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

.NET Framework

.NET Compact Framework

XNA Framework

Reference

Other Resources