Wrong date for new files

[NC]

Hi, I have an odd problem after installing IMatch on my new PC.  I have tried adding new files but they are showing completely wrong dates.  The attached screenshot shows an example of this.  The images were taken on 27/07/2025 but the metadata displayed in IMatch and used for sorting shows 09/11/2022.  Manually rescanning does not change this.  I can't find any settings that could account for this.  There seems to be some general indexing issue going on, which this may or may not be related to, as indexing is taking a very long time to complete.  Any suggestions for what may be going on would be welcomed.

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[Mario]

You are using the Default File Window Layout.
This layout displays the Date and Time Original in short format. And what I see in the File Window matches what I see for this tag in the Metadata Panel in your screen shot.

If you want to display a different timestamp in the File Window layout, just change the Default layout or create your own layout.

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See File Window Layouts for more information, and How IMatch uses Date and Time Information for background information about the many timestamps available in metadata.

[NC]

Thank you for the reply Mario, but I think there's something else going on.  The new screenshot attached has one of the standard sort profiles selected and the default file window layout.  The image of the drinker should sort inbetween the PC and dog images as it was taken on 27/07/2022, also it should be showing the correct date taken.  The date 09/11/2022 has no relevance to this image at all.  When attempting a metadata writeback the file is marked as not writable, but it is not read-only and it is in the same folder as several other files that writeback  ok.  I've only shown one image with this problem, but it's actually affecting all images added since moving to a new PC.  The three correct images in the screenshot were already in the database.

Im beginning to think there may be a more fundamental issue with my new installation.  I've now noticed that when I close IMatch it takes a very long time to exit and the next time I try to start it I get a message saying it is already running and I have to end the process in Task Manager before I can reopen it.

Grateful for any advice.

[Mario]

The sort order looks correct?
You sort by capture time, newest first.
The first image is from today, then 2 images from 2025 (one showing a Negroni) and the the last image is from 2022.

As always, if you experience issues with IMatch, include the zipped log file from the session where you experienced issues.
See log file. ZIP and upload the log file when you experience a slow shut-down. At this point, we don't even know if your database manages 50,000 or 500,000 files.

Did you check in the Info & Activity panel what IMatch is doing? Maybe it is ingesting files or performing face recognition, which might cause a delay during shut-down. 
The screen shot shows no activity, though.

The log file will tell us more.

[thrinn]

It looks like the pictures are being indexed from a network drive? Might this be a reason for slow performance?

The metadata dates (EXIF and XMP EXIF, specifically) of your sample image show as 09/11/2022, with the exception of "Date/Time Digitized". That looks as if this is the date present in the metadata, which would make the sorting correct.

[NC]

Thanks for the replies. 

Mario, I've attached the latest log files.  The issue isn't that sorting is incorrect, it's that the metadata imported into IMatch is incorrect, which is what is causing the sort to be not as expected for the dates shot.  The image of the drinker was shot on July 27th this year, it's an original image not edited in any other software, just copied onto the PC from the memory card.  There is no reason for a date in 2022 being associated with it at all.  I think there is a general problem reading metadata, I've taken a test picture today (the plant in the screenshot).  The date has imported correctly this time but it's showing a rating of 3.  I have not applied a rating and there is nothing set on the camera to do so.  Again the file was just copied directly from the memory card to the PC.  It just seems that random metadata is being added to the database rather than the correct values.
As always, any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Thrinn, the files are on the same PC as IMatch, but I refer to them via their network location (just a shared folder on the same PC) as it makes it easier to work with IMatch on both my desktop and laptop.  Running a LAN speed test on the folder shows it's faster than the old PC, which didn't have any issues.  I think I've covered the sort issue above.  It's correct for the metadata, but the metadata isn't being added to IMatch correctly.
Many thanks for the reply.

[NC]

Not sure if the files attached above.  Here they are to be sure.

[Mario]

it's that the metadata imported into IMatch is incorrect,

That would be a first. ExifTool is very reliable when it comes to importing metadata. 
IMatch imports multiple timestamps from your images, as explained in How IMatch uses Date and Time Information

You can check the timestamps in the image file yourself with the The ExifTool Command Processor in IMatch.
Run the "List Metadata" preset and search for date to find the relevant information.

You can also use the VarToy app with these variables:

Code Select Expand

DT: {File.DateTime}
DT: {File.DateTime.TZO}
UTC: {File.DateTime.UTC}
LT: {File.DateTime.Local}
LT: {File.DateTime.Local.TZO}
Org: {File.DateTime.Original}
Org: {File.DateTime.Original.TZO}
You can provide us with a sample image (attach or post a link to your cloud space) and I will have a look.
This will show me the timestamps in your file, if it has EXIF or legacy IPTC or even XMP metadata etc.

I'm quite sure IMatch and ExifTool are right. Metadata Timestamps can be difficult, and there are many. Which is why I've explained all of this in the help topic I've linked to.

Looking at your screen shots, both what IMatch displays in the File Window and the Metadata Panel and the sort order is 100% correct.

The Logfiles

They look normal. There are some warnings about IMatch being unable to create cache files for some MP4 files. I mean in the log file with 28KB. The log is not in debug logging mode, so no additional details are available.

In all log files, IMatch is not shutting down completely. It stops somewhere during the shut-down sequence. Very unusual.
Can you repeat the test but enable debug logging before via Help menu > Support > Debug logging? This will produce a more detailed log file.

Which virus checker do you use?
If it is not Windows Defender, create an "exception/exclusion" for the file "C:\Program Files\photools.com\imatch6\IMatch2025x64.exe" and see if this makes any difference.

[NC]

Thanks Mario, the antivirus (Trend) is certainly having an impact.  I added the executable to the exclude list as you suggested and it didn't make any difference, however I paused virus checking while running IMatch and everything speeded up dramatically and seemed to come to life.  It has also cured the incomplete shutdown issue. Activity monitor reported over 4,000 files being added and updated, so I assume the virus checker had been preventing this since moving to the new PC.  Are there any other executables or folders I could try excluding from the antivirus to see if it makes a difference as just excluding the main exe didn't?  Log file attached for info.

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[Mario]

Exclude the database folder, for sure. A virus checker scanning the database after each change (thousands per minute) will bring down performance to a crawl.

Maybe add an exclusion for

"C:\Program Files\photools.com\imatch6\IMatchChromiumHelper.exe"
"C:\Program Files\photools.com\imatch6\exiftool.exe"
"C:\Program Files\photools.com\imatch6\ffmpeg.exe"
"C:\Program Files\photools.com\imatch6\ffprobe.exe"

and see how it goes. These are helper executables used by IMatch for reading/writing metadata, for the App panels, for reading video files.

Not sure what your AV is doing. Does it not inform you when it blocks something or at least logs it somewhere?
Since the free Windows Defender became so good, AV vendors have a hard time explaining why they charge money. So they add more and more stuff, and, sadly, getting in the way more often than before.

IMatch may run without any issues on a PC with Trend, but fails or run with really bad performance on another PC with the same Trend version. It's impossible to tell in advance.

If temporarily disabling Trend makes such a huge difference, It must be interfering badly with IMatch, the database or one of the helper applications.

[NC]

Many thanks for that Mario.  Trend hasn't reported anything blocked, but it may just be that it's on-access scanning it slowing things down unacceptably.  I'll add the exclusions and run that way for a few days then report back. 
Thanks for the advice.

[NC]

Just to confirm now this has been running for a few days, adding the AV exclusions did fix the slow response and related problems.
Many thanks.

[Mario]

Very good. Thanks for following up.

Virus checkers really can get in the way. Problem is, to not "confuse" the user, most no longer inform you that they have blocked something or causing severe performance issues. The software knows when this happens, but does not tell. Which is of course stupid.