combine separate date & time fields into one datetime field?

Good morning.

I am importing an XLS file into one of my tables. The fields are:

Date Id Time IO

12/22/2006

2

12:48:45 PM

9

12/22/2006

16

5:40:55 AM

1

12/22/2006

16

12:03:59 PM

2

When I do the import, I get the following:

Date Id Time IO
12/22/2006 12:00:00AM 2 12/30/1899 12:48:45 PM 2
12/22/2006 12:00:00AM 16 12/30/1899 5:40:55 AM 1
12/22/2006 12:00:00AM 16 12/30/1899 12:03:59 PM 2

Here are my doubts:

1. Is it be better to combine the Date & Time fields into one column? Advantages/Disadvantages?
2. If I don't combine them, should I use varchar or datetime data type?
2. What issues or problems might I have when I program SQL reports, if I leave the fields as they are?

Any comments or suggestions will be very much welcomed.

Cheers mates.I was suggested to try this out:

UPDATE tbl
SET Date = Date + convert(char(8), Time, 108)

I'll run it after I use DTwizard to export the data into my table. I should also mention I have no PKs defined, just a FK that references Id from a table called Employees. I'm thinking it's best to define ID and Date and Time as PKs.|||

As far as SQL Server is concerned, it will be far easier over time to work with and deal with date/time data if it is stored as one column. I recommend combining the two.

One primary reason is that the combined column will allow easier datetime comparisions and searches.