Slow Windows Explorer, and file date stamps automatically being reset. Please help!

I’m at my wit’s end, and ready to yank Win 11 off my system and put Win 10 back on.

Windows Explorer is stupid slow much of the time. ThE worst part is, all my original files on my external drives, and all my saved files on my other internal drives, are being date stamped with the date of whenever win 11 scans them for the first time.

I just recently installed Win 11 23H2 (build 22631.6060, Oct 2025) on my 6 yr old i7 10-700. Too many online checks and software updates were starting to complain about my old Win 10 20h2 system being unsupported. I installed Win 11, 23h2. I tried 25h2 at first, but it was just too boggy and slow. All that AI crap was totally turning me off. 25H2 was messing up my files too.

Anyhoo, this date stamp overwriting issue is a SERIOUS PROBLEM for me. Rar files and zip files are ok, but folders and exe files are not retaining their original date stamps. Both the “originally created” and “last modified” date stamps are being jiggered by WinBlows! The issue happens to ALL exe files (and most folders) on the various drives & partitions in my desktop, and also my external drives.

I have been researching and have implemented the few, scant proposed fixes that I found online, but thus far, nothing has worked. And no, it is not any kind of virus or malware issue. I know my files are clean. It’s been suggested that since the files are from “unknown” sources, that it is Microsoft’s new “MoTW”, or disk optimization causing it. I have disk indexing turned off. I have classic search enabled. I keep my system OFFLINE as much as possible. It’s mostly used for home studio recording and music production.

This issue is much more than annoying - it’s frigging up my files’ date stamps irrevocably.

Off topic, but what is up with blinkin’ Windows Explorer constantly communicating with cloud servers? I use NetLimiter, and it is constantly alerting me that explorer.exe is trying to reach MS servers.

Hello @SSaurus and welcome to ElevenForum.

A lot of issues in one post.

Ok... let's do these things...

1. Do a clean install of 25H2. Follow ALL the instructions. I recommend using MS's Media Creation Tool to create your installtion media (USB stick). Step #15 shows you how to install with a LOCAL account. You can change to MS account later if desired.


2. As soon as 25H2 is installed, disconnect wireless or wired internet.
3. Use REVO Uninstaller (free) to remove any MS bloatware, you don't want.


These are the things I removed. You can choose to remove anything you want.
Each time you remove something, make sure to use the "Scan" for leftovers button, and delete all that stuff as well.




4. As for the rest... see the links below. Get Windows 11 tweaked the way you want, and make a backup, using 3rd party backup software.

Here's some things that you may find useful...






5. When you get all that done... be calm, and post any issues you may still have. Please fill out your computer specs as well.

Thanks for the suggestions, Ghot.

I suggest you get to the root of the timestamp issue before dealing with the any issues with explorer. While it might help in your slow explorer problem, IMO a clean install and even removing bloatware is not the cause of your timestamp/datestamp problem. If NTFS metadata is inconsistent or a security component is touching EXEs, reinstalling Windows won’t stop it. You have to disable or remove the cause.

The only legitimate mechanisms that can rewrite timestamps are:

• AV / SmartScreen / MoTW unblocking When Windows applies or removes MoTW, it may rewrite ADS streams, but it should not rewrite Created/Modified timestamps.
• File system metadata repair CHKDSK or storage drivers can rewrite timestamps if metadata is corrupted.
• Third‑party tools touching files Backup tools, sync engines, or indexing services can rewrite timestamps.

The most likely culprits are:
1. Corrupted NTFS metadata on external drives, especially if they were used for years on Windows 10 and then accessed by a fresh Windows 11 install. NTFS will “fix” metadata silently when inconsistencies are detected.
I would check data integrity on the external drives. chkdsk X: /f /r (where X is drive letter)

2. Smartscreen/MoTW reclassification of these files.
Windows 11 aggressively scans EXEs from external drives. If the OS flags them as “from the internet,” Explorer may apply MoTW, which can cause metadata updates. Disable Smartscreen to see if the issue is resolved. Control Panel → Security → App & Browser Control. Turn off SmartScreen for apps and files.

3. Security Policies
Windows 11 25H2 introduced expanded Smart App Control and reputation checks.Even 23H2 has more aggressive background scanning than Windows 10 had. In Windows Security, disable Smart App Control if its enabled.

4. Cloud hooks in Explorer that cause the outbound traffic you are seeing.
Explorer.exe now integrates with:
OneDrive
Microsoft Account presence
Widgets
Copilot
Cloud‑based metadata lookups. You can eliminate some of this by using the tutorials in the forum tutorial section to disable.

5.Update Intel Rapid Storage Controller Driver. Old IRST driver can cause metadata rewriting on external drives.

6. Anything that scans or syncs files - Check any Backup/sync tools that might be touching files & rewriting metadata. (Google Drive, Dropbox, an imaging app, even Onedrive)

I don't believe adding or removing MOTW will change a file's timestamp. MOTW is applied to a file's Alternate Data Stream, which is external to the file itself, and so NTFS doesn't consider this a change a reason to change the timestamp.

Dear @glasskuter, thanks for your excellent input — greatly appreciated! I appreciate the former suggestions about clean installing, etc., but as someone who formally worked as a professional tech for 30 years, the general “start from scratch” methodology really didn’t offer me a feasible path of resolution that I was willing to blithely follow just yet . I agree with everything you wrote, but having been out of the tech game over the past 10 or 15 years, I wasn’t sure how to deep dive the issue(s).

I completely yanked OneDrive outta my system. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t even installed. Neither was Edge, and many other bloated, invasive MS Slops. Just to make sure that Defender wasn’t being the skallywag, I sedated it and removed it as well.

As regards the “time-stamperry-messing-about-isms”, and the profuse explorer sluggishness, I am convinced that they are directly related. Explorer is speedy enough while accessing any newly created files (including Windows 11’s own files). I perhaps was remiss to have not mentioned that these ntfs (and a couple of exFAT drives & partitions) have also been shared with my dual-booted Linux system (Kubuntu 25.10).

Speaking of the exFAT USB devices . .

We know that this wonky computer problem of mine can’t be directly tied to NTFS corruption solely, since the exFAT doodles aren’t using that file system. Hmmm. Things that make a fella go, “hmmm.”

garlin said:

I don't believe adding or removing MOTW will change a file's timestamp. MOTW is applied to a file's Alternate Data Stream, which is external to the file itself, and so NTFS doesn't consider this a change a reason to change the timestamp.

Click to expand...

Thanks, G. I agree. Nevertheless, for good measure, I’m vested in mitigating MoTW on my system anyway.

I hope you solve your problem. I also hope that in your "Yanking", the proper procedures were taken. For certain things like Onedrive, uninstalling is not enough in some cases.
I stay away from exfat unless I have a need to directly access files across cross-platform devices.

The fact you say neither Edge nor Onedrive was installed leads me to believe you are definitely not running a standard windows installation.

glasskuter said:

I hope you solve your problem. I also hope that in your "Yanking", the proper procedures were taken. For certain things like Onedrive, uninstalling is not enough in some cases.
I stay away from exfat unless I have a need to directly access files across cross-platform devices.

The fact you say neither Edge nor Onedrive was installed leads me to believe you are definitely not running a standard windows installation.

Click to expand...

Well, the ISO I used was official. I used Tiny11 to remove the extras, and Edge. After installation, I used a zoicware PowerShell utility to deal with Defender. I only used the so-called "proven" tools - not just any ol' ps1 script found on the Git . . .

have you run sfc /scannow in a admin command prompt just to check the system files.
best of luck Steve ..