Windows 7: please try to check this

First enable showing of hidden and protected files [my computer>alt>tools>folder options>view>check the 'show hidden files,folders and drives' option and uncheck 'hide protected operating systems files option'- A dialogue box will open -choose 'yes' then apply].
Go to your 'recovery disk or partition' ,assuming you have one,check the 'modified date' for the '$RECYCLE.BIN' folder.
does that date match-doesn't have to completely match but is it close to the date you first booted your computer after you bought it-if you haven't done any changes like recovering the system through the recovery partition or the recovery disc you can check the first user boot date by running 'systeminfo' (without quotes) command.

Sorry and what is your question? Seems you are making a statement.

Why would you want to check the modified date of the Recycling bin in the factory recovery partition?


Also on most Manufactured systems the factory included Recovery partitions are normally hidden, and for good reason, so people can't muck around in there making it NON Functional.

Do see the point in what you are suggesting.

edwar,i know they hide those files so that you don't tamper with them..but am not asking you to tamper with them..just check the 'modified date' date of the "recycle.bin" in that recovery partition and compare it with the first user boot date. i will tell you what significance it has to me..please
you can later hide the protected files.

Don't have that partition on any of my Windows PCs. Desktops are home built and the newest Notebook I wipe the drive and reinstalled clean just after turning it on for the first time when I got it. Which is what I do with all Manufactured system. Don't need or want all the branded included software.

It would be nice to know exactly why you are doing this but if you chose not to tell me, and this forum, then so be it.

Honestly I see no real point in it.
But hey that's just the way I see it.

am not hiding anything..you see i want to find out when my friend's computer was first booted after being bought..i noticed that the 'date of modification' of the recycle.bin folder in the recovery partition does not change even after a system recovery through the recovery partition is perfomed and that date is usually the very close to the system install date.
in other words i want to find a way that can distinguish a system install date recorded after system recovery(which means the computer was in use before) and a system install date recorded after you've bought your computer and booted it for the first time(which means the computer is fresh from the factory).
am i a making any sense?

a pal of mine recovered his computer..before the system recovery the install date was 8/10/2012..after recovery the install date was and is 10/1/2012..the 'date of modification' of the recycle.bin was still 8/10/2012 even after recovery.

you are Kind of making sense. But if you, or anyone else, bought a system from a major manufacturer what would make you think the system had been used by anyone else and they sold and shipped you a unit that was used and refurbished?

I still don't see the point in what you are doing.

If you or your friend go a system that had scratches or some other damage on it the first time you took it out of the box then call the manufacturer and return it. All of them have a return policy that is good for weeks if not a month.

the thing is when he bought it it was already booted..he bought it on 8/11/2012..
it had a few scratches and he didn't buy it directly from the manufacturer..and the seller claimed it was ex-display..which would help to explain the scratches..and he got it at a very low price.

Samjambo I'm guessing you want to know if anybody has tampered with the install from the time it was built, is that correct? I'm not sure but this little program might help you under Operating Systems.
Speccy - System Information - Free Download

layback..good too see you again..you see i have tried that tool..but it cannot tell me when the computer was first booted by the user right from the factory- it will only tell you what you can get from the 'systteminfo' command.
for instance i bought my computer on 9/19/2012 and booted it on that same day but i did a recovery on 10/1/2012. my install date is now 10/1/2012 not 9/19/2012..speccy would recognize 10/1/2012 as the install date.

Ok what do you mean it was Already Booted?

Was there already a User profile on it? A username? In other words when it was turned on for the first time by your friend he didn't have to go through the normal setup pages that asks for Location, a Username, Computer name and all the normal stuff that comes up when the system is turned on for the first time or with a clean install of the OS?

My thought as to why there is a difference in the recovery section and the first turn on date is that the image used in the recovery section on the system may be months old. The manufacturers create one image for all there newest models and load that same image on every unit that is built and sold. If you bought that model 3-4-5 months after it original came out it would still have that same image that was created when that model was first introduced. Causing the date in the recovery section to be months old before the system was turned on for the first time.