setting directory mod date

[jyoung79 at kc.rr.com]

I've got some Python code (2.5.1) that's compressing folders 
on a Windows machine.  When the directories get 
compressed, their modification date changes.  Is it possible 
to grab the modification date of the folder before it's 
compressed, and then set it's modification date back to it's 
original state after it's compressed?  I've been reading 
different articles on-line about this, but nothing looks very 
promising.  I haven't tested os.utime() or win32file since 
others have said these won't work correctly with folders on 
Windows XP.

Thanks.

Jay