diff --git a/src/models/NoteData.ts b/src/models/NoteData.ts
index 66e979b0..73c6339e 100644
--- a/src/models/NoteData.ts
+++ b/src/models/NoteData.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ export interface NoteData {
   }
 
 export interface EvernoteNoteData {
+  _type_id: 'EvernoteNoteData';
   title?: string;
   created?: string;
   updated?: string;
diff --git a/src/outputLanguages/StandardMD.ts b/src/outputLanguages/StandardMD.ts
index a08c142f..b339b18e 100644
--- a/src/outputLanguages/StandardMD.ts
+++ b/src/outputLanguages/StandardMD.ts
@@ -19,8 +19,7 @@ export class StandardMD implements Language {
     postProcess= async(options: YarleOptions, outputNotebookFolders: string[]) => {};
     noteExtension= '.md';
     noteProcess= (options: YarleOptions, noteData: NoteData, note: EvernoteNoteData)  => {
-
-        saveMdFile(fixImagesInLink(noteData.appliedMarkdownContent), noteData)
+        saveMdFile(fixImagesInLink(noteData.appliedMarkdownContent), noteData, note)
     };
     tagProcess= (content: string, tasks: Map<string, string>, currentTaskPlaceholder: string, updatedContent: string): string => {
         return updatedContent;
diff --git a/src/process-resources.ts b/src/process-resources.ts
index b893fbe9..eed72ac0 100644
--- a/src/process-resources.ts
+++ b/src/process-resources.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { yarleOptions } from './yarle';
 import { OutputFormat } from './output-format';
 import { EvernoteNoteData } from './models';
 
-const getResourceWorkDirs = (note: any) => {
+const getResourceWorkDirs = (note: EvernoteNoteData) => {
   const pathSepRegExp = new RegExp(`\\${path.sep}`, 'g');
   const relativeResourceWorkDir = utils.getRelativeResourceDir(note).replace(pathSepRegExp, yarleOptions.pathSeparator);
   const absoluteResourceWorkDir = utils.getAbsoluteResourceDir(note); // .replace(pathSepRegExp,yarleOptions.pathSeparator)
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ const processResource = (workDir: string, resource: any): any => {
 };
 
 export const prepareContentByExtractingDataUrlResources = (
-  note: any,
+  note: EvernoteNoteData,
   content: string,
 ): string => {
   if (content.indexOf('src="data:') < 0 && content.indexOf('href="data:') < 0) {
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ const createResourceFromData = (
   base64: boolean,
   data: string,
   absoluteResourceWorkDir: string,
-  note: any,
+  note: EvernoteNoteData,
 ): string => {
   const baseName = 'embedded'; // data doesn't seem to include useful base filename
   const extension = extensionForMimeType(mediatype) || '.dat';
diff --git a/src/utils/content-utils.ts b/src/utils/content-utils.ts
index 045142a0..61345590 100644
--- a/src/utils/content-utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils/content-utils.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import Moment from 'moment';
-import { utimesSync } from 'fs';
-import { utimes } from 'utimes';
+import { utimesSync } from 'utimes';
 
 import { yarleOptions } from './../yarle';
 import { MetaData } from './../models/MetaData';
@@ -116,19 +115,15 @@ export const logTags = (note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   return undefined;
 };
 
-export const setFileDates = (path: string, created: any, updated: any): void => {
-  const updatedMoment = Moment(updated).valueOf();
-  const mtime = updatedMoment / 1000;
-  utimesSync(path, mtime, mtime);
-  // also set creation time where supported
-  const creationTime = Moment(created);
-
-  const createdMoment = (Moment('1970-01-01 00:00:00.000').isBefore(creationTime)
-    ? creationTime
-    : Moment('1970-01-01 00:00:00.001')).valueOf();
-  if (createdMoment) {
-    utimes(path, {btime: createdMoment});
-  }
+export const setFileDates = (path: string, created?: string | Date, updated?: string | Date): void => {
+  const createdTime = created ? Math.max(0, Moment(created).valueOf()) : 0;
+  const updatedTime = updated ? Math.max(0, Moment(updated).valueOf()) : createdTime;
+
+  utimesSync(path, {
+    btime: createdTime,
+    mtime: updatedTime,
+    atime: updatedTime
+  });
 };
 
 export const getTimeStampMoment = (resource: any): any => {
diff --git a/src/utils/filename-utils.ts b/src/utils/filename-utils.ts
index ae36abcb..db2a34cd 100644
--- a/src/utils/filename-utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils/filename-utils.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { getCreationTime } from './content-utils';
 import { escapeStringRegexp } from './escape-string-regexp';
 import { isLogseqJournal } from './is-logseq-journal';
 import { closest } from 'fastest-levenshtein';
+import { EvernoteNoteData } from '../models';
 
 const applyCharacterMapSafely = (title: string): string => {
   return applyCharacterMap(title).replace(/[/\\?%*:|"<>\[\]\+]/g, '-');
@@ -88,11 +89,11 @@ export const getResourceFileProperties = (workDir: string, resource: any): Resou
   };
 };
 
-export const getFilePrefix = (note: any): string => {
+export const getFilePrefix = (note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   return normalizeFilenameString(note['noteName'] ? `${note['noteName'].toString()}` : 'Untitled');
 };
 
-export const getNoteFileName = (dstPath: string, note: any, extension: string = 'md'): string => {
+export const getNoteFileName = (dstPath: string, note: EvernoteNoteData, extension: string = 'md'): string => {
   return `${getNoteName(dstPath, note)}.${extension}`;
 };
 export const getExtensionFromResourceFileName = (resource: any): string => {
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ export const getExtension = (resource: any): string => {
   return getExtensionFromResourceFileName(resource) || getExtensionFromMime(resource) || UNKNOWNEXTENSION;
 };
 
-export const getZettelKastelId = (note: any, dstPath: string): string => {
+export const getZettelKastelId = (note: EvernoteNoteData, dstPath: string): string => {
   return Moment(note['created']).format('YYYYMMDDHHmm');
 
 };
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ export const getUniqueId = (): string => {
   return nanoid(5);
 };
 
-export const getNoteName = (dstPath: string, note: any): string => {
+export const getNoteName = (dstPath: string, note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   let noteName;
 
   if (yarleOptions.isZettelkastenNeeded || yarleOptions.useZettelIdAsFilename) {
diff --git a/src/utils/folder-utils.ts b/src/utils/folder-utils.ts
index 7bf5f304..b1d318d0 100644
--- a/src/utils/folder-utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils/folder-utils.ts
@@ -9,11 +9,12 @@ import { getNoteFileName, getNoteName, getUniqueId, normalizeFilenameString } fr
 import { loggerInfo } from './loggerInfo';
 import { OutputFormat } from './../output-format';
 import { RuntimePropertiesSingleton } from './../runtime-properties';
+import { EvernoteNoteData } from '../models';
 
 export const paths: Path = {};
 const MAX_PATH = 249;
 
-export const getResourceDir = (dstPath: string, note: any): string => {
+export const getResourceDir = (dstPath: string, note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   return getNoteName(dstPath, note).replace(/\s/g, '_').substr(0, 50);
 };
 
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ export const truncatFileName = (fileName: string, uniqueId: string): string => 
   return fullPath.length <  MAX_PATH ? fileName : `${fileName.slice(0, MAX_PATH - 11)}_${uniqueId}.md`;
 };
 
-const truncateFilePath = (note: any, fileName: string, fullFilePath: string): string => {
+const truncateFilePath = (note: EvernoteNoteData, fileName: string, fullFilePath: string): string => {
   const noteIdNameMap = RuntimePropertiesSingleton.getInstance();
 
   const noteIdMap = noteIdNameMap.getNoteIdNameMapByNoteTitle(normalizeFilenameString(note.title))[0] || {uniqueEnd: getUniqueId()};
@@ -42,25 +43,25 @@ const truncateFilePath = (note: any, fileName: string, fullFilePath: string): st
   // -11 is the nanoid 5 char +_+ the max possible extension of the note (.md vs .html)
 };
 
-const getFilePath = (dstPath: string, note: any, extension: string): string => {
+const getFilePath = (dstPath: string, note: EvernoteNoteData, extension: string): string => {
   const fileName = getNoteFileName(dstPath, note, extension);
   const fullFilePath = `${dstPath}${path.sep}${normalizeFilenameString(fileName)}`;
 
   return fullFilePath.length <  MAX_PATH ? fullFilePath : truncateFilePath(note, fileName, fullFilePath);
 };
 
-export const getMdFilePath = (note: any): string => {
+export const getMdFilePath = (note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   return getFilePath(paths.mdPath, note, 'md');
 };
 
-export const getJsonFilePath = (note: any): string => {
+export const getJsonFilePath = (note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   return getFilePath(paths.mdPath, note, 'json');
 };
-export const getHtmlFilePath = (note: any): string => {
+export const getHtmlFilePath = (note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   return getFilePath(paths.resourcePath, note, 'html');
 };
 
-export const getHtmlFileLink = (note: any): string => {
+export const getHtmlFileLink = (note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   const filePath = getHtmlFilePath(note);
 
   return `.${filePath.slice(paths.resourcePath.lastIndexOf(path.sep))}`;
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ const clearDistDir = (dstPath: string): void => {
   fs.mkdirSync(dstPath);
 };
 
-export const getRelativeResourceDir = (note: any): string => {
+export const getRelativeResourceDir = (note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   const enexFolder = `${path.sep}${yarleOptions.resourcesDir}`;
   if (yarleOptions.haveGlobalResources) {
     return `..${enexFolder}`;
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@ export const createRootOutputDir = (): void => {
   : `${process.cwd()}${path.sep}${yarleOptions.outputDir}`;
   fsExtra.mkdirsSync(outputDir)
 }
-export const getAbsoluteResourceDir = (note: any): string => {
+export const getAbsoluteResourceDir = (note: EvernoteNoteData): string => {
   if (yarleOptions.haveGlobalResources) {
     return path.resolve(paths.resourcePath, '..', '..', yarleOptions.resourcesDir);
   }
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ export const getAbsoluteResourceDir = (note: any): string => {
 };
 
 const resourceDirClears = new Map<string, number>();
-export const clearResourceDir = (note: any): void => {
+export const clearResourceDir = (note: EvernoteNoteData): void => {
   const resPath = getAbsoluteResourceDir(note);
   if (!resourceDirClears.has(resPath)) {
     resourceDirClears.set(resPath, 0);
diff --git a/src/utils/save-html-file.ts b/src/utils/save-html-file.ts
index e29cd707..dfe75e04 100644
--- a/src/utils/save-html-file.ts
+++ b/src/utils/save-html-file.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-import { NoteData } from './../models';
+import { EvernoteNoteData, NoteData } from './../models';
 import { getHtmlFilePath } from '.';
 import { writeFile } from './file-utils';
 
-export const saveHtmlFile = (noteData: NoteData, note: any) => {
+export const saveHtmlFile = (noteData: NoteData, note: EvernoteNoteData) => {
     if (noteData.htmlContent) {
         const absHtmlFilePath = getHtmlFilePath(note);
         writeFile(absHtmlFilePath, noteData.htmlContent, note);
diff --git a/src/utils/save-md-file.ts b/src/utils/save-md-file.ts
index 9d64bff9..4dfcc80b 100644
--- a/src/utils/save-md-file.ts
+++ b/src/utils/save-md-file.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
-import { NoteData } from './../models';
+import { EvernoteNoteData, NoteData } from './../models';
 import { RuntimePropertiesSingleton } from './../runtime-properties';
 import { writeFile } from './file-utils';
 import { getMdFilePath } from './folder-utils';
 import { loggerInfo } from './loggerInfo';
 
-export const saveMdFile = (noteContent: string, note: NoteData) => {
-
-    const absMdFilePath = getMdFilePath(note);
+export const saveMdFile = (noteContent: string, note: NoteData, pureNote: EvernoteNoteData) => {
+    const absMdFilePath = getMdFilePath(pureNote);
     const runtimeProps = RuntimePropertiesSingleton.getInstance();
     runtimeProps.setCurrentNotePath(absMdFilePath);
-    writeFile(absMdFilePath, noteContent, note);
+    writeFile(absMdFilePath, noteContent, pureNote);
     loggerInfo(`Note saved to ${absMdFilePath}`);
 };
diff --git a/test/utils.spec.ts b/test/utils.spec.ts
index 2beb8875..4492d63a 100644
--- a/test/utils.spec.ts
+++ b/test/utils.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import assert from 'assert';
-import fs from 'fs';
+import fs, { fstat } from 'fs';
 import parser from 'fast-xml-parser';
 import moment from 'moment';
 
@@ -40,16 +40,18 @@ describe('SetFileDates', () => {
         assert.ok(errorHappened);
 
     });
-    it('set to now if no updated field in note',  () => {
+    it('set to created time if no updated field in note',  () => {
             notes['note']['updated'] = undefined;
             utils.setFileDates('./test/data/test-justText.enex', notes['note']['created'], notes['note']['updated']);
             const fStat = fs.statSync('./test/data/test-justText.enex');
-            const atime = moment(fStat.atime);
-            const mtime = moment(fStat.mtime);
-            const referTimeLo = moment().subtract(3, 's');
-            const referTimeHi = moment().add(3, 's');
-            assert.ok(atime.isBetween(referTimeLo, referTimeHi));
-            assert.ok(mtime.isBetween(referTimeLo, referTimeHi));
+            const created = moment(notes['note']['created']).valueOf()
+
+            const btime = fStat.birthtime.valueOf();
+            const atime = fStat.atime.valueOf();
+            const mtime = fStat.mtime.valueOf();
+            assert.equal(btime, created)
+            assert.equal(atime, created)
+            assert.equal(mtime, created)
     });
 
    });