There is a small battery integrated into your computer’s motherboard to keep the PC clock running even when the computer is turned off. When the battery runs out, you will start seeing error messages such as “System CMOS checksum bad – Default configuration used” when starting up the computer and the date and time getting reset back to the default BIOS manufacturer date. You can still start up the computer by pressing a button to resume the boot process and Windows will load as normal.
Sync Your Clock With Internet Time Servers from the Vista Command Prompt. First you’ll have to right-click on the clock and choose “Adjust Date/Time” Then you select the Internet Time tab, and click the Change Settings button After the UAC prompt you can finally click the “Update now” button to tell the computer to resync. That’s a lot of steps but check out how simple it is from the command line. At the moment, you need OfficeTime for the desktop. Just sync both to OfficeTime for Mac or PC and all three will be kept in sync. You can get a free trial at www.officetime.net. We’re working on a cloud sync to sync directly without need for the desktop. Can I sync my iPhone to both my work computer and my home computer?
The problems start when you begin using the computer whereby the created, modified and accessed time on files and folders will get messed up, the emails that you sent and received on your email client software are marked with a much older date resulting in the mails being pushed to the bottom, all secure HTTPS websites won’t load on your web browser, evaluation periods of trial software may instantly expire, etc. Windows has an automatic time synchronization feature to keep your computer’s clock accurate, but unfortunately it is scheduled to only run once a week.
Changing the integrated battery on the motherboard will solve the problem and is actually quite easy to accomplish for desktop computers but on laptops the battery is often harder to get to. If you don’t want to take things apart, here are a few ways to automatically synchronize your PC clock on Windows startup so you don’t have to remember going to the Internet Time Settings option and manually click on the Update Now button each time you power up your computer.
1. Dimension 4Dimension 4 is probably the most popular time correction software for computers running Windows operating system. It is free for personal use but commercial users will require to purchase a license at $10 each. What we like about Dimension 4 is it comes with a huge list of time servers, able to load the program at Windows startup through services, run a time sync once and then automatically exiting the program. Apart from that, if the time server fails, it can automatically retry the next time server until it gets a working time sync.
If you want to use Dimension 4 to automatically sync your computer’s time on Windows startup, there are a few settings that you need to take note of. First of all, click the Settings button on the program. Then you will need to enable the following options by ticking the checkbox:
- Load Dimension 4 at startup
- Once loaded, wait until online
- Synchronize once, then exit
At the correction area uncheck the “Maximum correction” checkbox or else it won’t work. This maximum correction setting will only update the time if the time on the computer is within the specified time range. Do take note that there will still be a d4.exe process running after closing the program, but it takes up very little memory usage at only 500Kb.
Download Dimension 4
2. Time-Sync
Time-Sync is another free Windows time correction software that installs and runs as a service. It is quite similar to Dimension 4 but is much simpler with less options. After installing Time-Sync, by default it is configured to run at Windows startup and automatically performing a time synchronization when the service is started. You can verify this from the Protocol tab.
At the Settings tab, you can configure to enable the event logging and change the update interval. The update interval contains selection as fast as every half a minute to once every day. So if your computer is having battery problems and not maintaining the time, you should select “Synchronize every day” so that the program doesn’t unnecessarily perform time synchronization. Time-Sync supports up to 5 time servers which can be configured in the Settings tab. It uses the first time server on the list, and automatically attempts the next one when it fails.
While Time-Sync doesn’t have the option to automatically close the program after a successful time sync, the executable file TimeSyncServiceClient.exe running in background only takes up 532Kb of memory.
Download Time-Sync
3. Neutron
If you prefer a simpler tool that just checks for the current time on the server and automatically adjusts the clock without too much fuss, check out Neutron. What makes Neutron stand out is the small file size (10KB), it’s portable, it automatically retries the next time server when the current one fails and has the ability to auto sync on startup. Importantly it can also exit after the time has been synced so nothing is left running in the background. Neutron’s an old tool dating back to 2008 but still works fine.
Although Neutron can automatically check for the system’s time accuracy during boot by placing it in the Startup folder or registry Run key, we prefer a more elegant solution of setting Neutron up to run as a scheduled task. This has some advantages such as bypassing UAC restrictions and only launching after the system has connected to the network, which is better if your network adapter takes several seconds to initialize. Here’s how to do it:
a) Download Neutron, extract the Zip file and copy the Neutron folder to the root of your C: drive. The path to the executable should look like this:
C:NeutronNeutron.exe
b) Launch Neutron and click the arrows at the bottom right to open the options panel. Check the “Auto sync at program startup” and “Exit after time has been synced” boxes, then close Neutron.
c) To try and simplify the process we’ve already created a scheduled task to be imported into your Task Scheduler. Download NeutronTime_Task.zip, extract it and run Create_NeutronTime_Task.bat. Users without administrator privileges will need to right click and Run as administrator or there’ll be an access denied error in the script.
d) When asked type in the password for the current user account, if the account has no password just hit Enter.
A new task will appear in Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc) which runs whenever the system boots and/or the network is initialized. Neutron will start, sync the time and close after 5 seconds. The batch script relies on the Neutron folder being in C:, if you want to change the location edit NeutronTime.xml with Notepad and change the path to Neutron.exe near the bottom, then (re)run the batch file. Edit the INI settings file to add your own custom time servers.
Note: We had a small issue on one of our test PCs although the PC itself may have caused the problem and not Neutron. The clock sync was always out by 1 hour but all time zone settings were correct. If you get the same, click on the taskbar clock > (Change) Date and time settings > Change time zone (Windows 7 only), choose a different time zone from the drop down (make sure it has a different + or – time), then change it back to your time zone. This fixed the issue for us.
4. Synchronize The Clock on Boot With Windows Time
As we’ve mentioned Windows can automatically resync the time and it does this using a scheduled task running once a week which isn’t very useful if you need to resync the clock every time the computer starts. The solution is starting the Windows Time Service on boot which will automatically synchronize the time, and it can be done by creating a new scheduled task.
Windows 10 actually does this automatically and will start the Time service via the task during boot so manually creating a task for that operating system isn’t strictly necessary. We’ve found from testing Windows 10 will sync on boot only if your system clock is currently wrong by more than 16 hours. If you need to keep the clock more closely synced you can also use this method. For Windows 7 users there is something you should do first before creating the task.
Fix The Time difference Is Too Great Error
If the clock is out by weeks, months or even years, when trying to sync the time in Windows 7 it could fail with an error saying “Windows can’t synchronize automatically with the time server because the time difference is too great. Please update your time manually”.
The error is caused by a hidden setting in Windows which only allows the clock to resync when the time difference is less than 15 hours. Increasing this to something bigger requires two settings to be edited in the registry. To modify the registry press Start, type regedit and hit Enter. Navigate to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeConfig
Look for the registry values MaxPosPhaseCorrection and MaxNegPhaseCorrection. The default hexadecimal value for each is d2f0 (15 hrs), double click and change both values to FFFFFFFF, the new value is equivalent to 35 years so any time change less than that will be accepted in future.
Alternatively, you can download this ready made .reg file and run it to make the changes if you don’t want to edit the Windows registry yourself.
Create The Windows Time Scheduled Task
Like the Neutron tool above you can create a new scheduled task by importing one we’ve already made although in this case it’ll start the Windows Time Service, sync the time and then the service will stop again upon completion.
To do that download WindowsTimeSync.zip and extract it. Run the Create_WindowsTimeSync_Task batch file making sure to right click and Run as administrator if you don’t have full privileges. A new task called WindowsTimeSync will appear in Task Scheduler which will run whenever you boot or manually enable the network adapter.
A drawback using the Windows Time service is sometimes the Internet Time server fails to synchronize the clock. Third party tools we’ve mentioned in this article solve the problem by automatically attempting to sync with another server when the default fails but Windows Time will just fail if it cannot contact the default time server.
Make Sure The Windows Time Service is Not Disabled
In order for the Internet Time task to work you have to make sure the service itself is not disabled, which it will be if Internet Time is not set to synchronize once a week. To make sure go to Control Panel > Date and Time > Internet Time tab > Change settings and make sure “Synchronize with an internet time server” is checked. Click OK to confirm.
Using a More Reliable Time Server
Because the Windows Time servers supplied by Microsoft are not 100% reliable it’s possible to get server not responding or timeout errors when synchronizing. This is more likely if you live outside the United States because all the Windows time servers are US based. For a more reliable time server it’s best to use one closer to where you live.
The NTP Pool project is a service with nearly four thousand time servers available worldwide. The generic global address of pool.ntp.org does work for everybody and tries to sync with a server in your local area but it’s preferable to manually choose the closest servers to you:
a) Visit the NTP Pool Project website and click on the link for your region on the right of the page in the active servers list.
b) Inside the region page locate your country or the closest country to you and check how many servers there are in brackets. If the number is low (single figures) choose the next closest country with a higher number. Note down the server address (xx.pool.ntp.org), for the US it’s us.pool.ntp.org, for Malaysia there is only one server so a close alternative with a reasonable number would be Singapore (sg.pool.ntp.org).
c) To change the default time server in Windows to a NTP Pool server go to Control Panel > Date and Time > Internet Time tab > Change settings. Ensure the Synchronize option is checked and enter the Pool server address into the box, then click OK.
When Windows tries to sync the time according to the schedule or by pressing the Update now button, local NTP Pool servers will now be used to sync from instead, which should be faster and more reliable causing fewer errors from the Windows Time service. This is recommended for all versions of Windows as they all use the same time servers, including Windows 10.
Make Sure Your Computer Has The Correct Time Zone
Besides syncing the clock to the right time and date, another important setting in Windows to make sure the synchronization is correct is having the right time zone. If you live in Europe for example, and the time zone is set to the USA your clock could be out by as much as 10 hours. Making sure you have the correct time zone relative to your location will solve the problem.
Right click on the clock in the tray and select Adjust date/time, Windows 7 users will need to additionally press the Change time zone button. Click on the drop down and find the right time zone for your area, also make sure the daylight saving time option is enabled if your country uses DST.
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thanks! It’s good experience
Replytime-sync works d4 doesnt work,neutron sync when you click but 1 hour ahead of real time.
I tried change the time manual to see how it will be adjusted and it took just one second for time -sync to adjust
ReplyI tried change the time manual to see how it will be adjusted and it took just one second for time -sync to adjust
D4 works fine and we still use it here sometimes. If you read the article, we explain the Neutron 1 hour issue and how to fix it.
ReplyThanks man. The ntp servers work perfectly with widows too apparently. Thank you again.
Replyhi desktop dell optiplex3050 time and date always change after power off i do any troubleshooting but not working
ReplyWhat about Meinberg NTP??? Come on
ReplyHi
Time-Sync is best app and works perfectly
Thanks raymond
ReplyNetTime is another perfect tool to sync time…
timesynctool.com
Replytimesynctool.com
Create_WindowsTimeSync_Task.bat does not work in Window 7 Home Premium:
*** Create WindowsTimeSync Scheduled Task by Raymond.cc ***
ERROR: Invalid argument/option – ‘Time’.
Type “SCHTASKS /CREATE /?” for usage.
Press any key to continue …
Reply*** Create WindowsTimeSync Scheduled Task by Raymond.cc ***
ERROR: Invalid argument/option – ‘Time’.
Type “SCHTASKS /CREATE /?” for usage.
Press any key to continue …
Just tried it myself on both Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit and 64bit, works fine and as intended. Must be an issue local to your system.
Replykindly sent link for windows timesync
ReplyWell, or you use the comfortable PTBSync, which does not only adjust your clock when a user is logged in. The backgound service does this also without user (optimal for servers) You can enter 2 time servers. If one fails the other one is taken. For people behind a firewall which blocks NTP port 123 you can even sync with a HTTP time server. Additionally you have a configurable Desktop calendar, which displays the current weather, a scheduler and a configurable trayclock which may show seconds. Strange that this program is missing here. PTBSync is donationware which means that you can use it for free but you are asked to give a donation to an ONG for using it. Description with serveral screenshots here: netcult.ch/elmue/ElmueSoft-en.htm
Replythank you valuable article after hour of searching!
ReplyThank you for the article. I downloaded Neutron, made a shortcut on the desktop, changed the shortcut with the small program UACpass, and put the new shortcut in the startup folder. This works fine on my Win 7.
ReplyMy english is poor but i try to text my problem
i have problem in my pc cmos bettery holder or in motherboard. when i restart my pc date is 1 1 2005 then my some software like 3dsmax, corel draw ,etc have some error ….and my pc not have internet connection and not connected any network pc …can have utility that custome time in boot ….i dont want to sync exect date or time …..can have any utility that custome time in boot and fix date start like when i start time like 01 01 2015. ….have software?
ReplyNeutron works like a charm.
Thanks a lot.
ReplyThanks a lot.
Personally, I just create a Windows Task:
%windir%system32sc.exe start w32time task_started
%windir%system32w32tm.exe /resync
%windir%system32w32tm.exe /resync
Runs at 1:15am every day and makes sure time stays in sync using built in Windows NTP client.
ReplyGreat advice…. assuming i could get omline,whch i cant.
ReplyThanks for all this, but I downloaded the batch file NeutronTime_Task.zip and extracted it to create the Neutron Time task. It creates the task in the task scheduler, but every time I reboot the computer, the task disappear. I don’t really understand why, if someone can help me with this..
ReplyA scheduled task should not disappear during a reboot after it has been created. Are you running some sort of security software that is watching the tasks?
ReplyI have Avast Premium and I run BoostSpeed 9, but I don’t anything else that could interfere with the task. I also had Unchecky that I have uninstalled who was running from the start. Could it be that because i created a scheduled task of synchronizing the time every day that the system deletes the Neutron task? I don’t really know what to do.
ReplyOnce the task is created and you can confirm it’s present in Task Scheduler, the task will not be deleted by Windows itself, something else must be removing the entry. It won’t matter if you are using Windows Vista, 7, 8 or 10.
You can always use the other method of placing a shortcut for Neutron in your Startup folder if the task is giving you so much trouble. We like the task method but it’s not the only way to run Neutron on boot.
ReplyThanks for reminding me of the method of the startup folder, I had forgotten about that one! It will be much simpler and I don’t think it will be deleted. I hope so that it will stay there! Thanks.
Thanks for the useful articles, as for additional info, I have using CMDTIME to solve bios clock reset, seems the motherboard issue instead of battery since i have try to replace the battery but the problem still persist. I simply put this small cmdtime batch file to windows 7 64 startup, as long as you have internet connection it will work like charm. Please check it here autohotkey.com/board/topic/2618-synchronize-clock-with-internet-time-servers-at-startup/
ReplyIn my experience w32time will not sync the time on the first attempt, because the time sample usually is “stale” (as reported by w32tm cli tool). To solve this, I ran a batch file which invoked w32tm /resync three times with pauses of 4-5 seconds, or alternatively set the SpecialPollInterval very low initially, and then changed it to normal. Interesting trigger for that task scheduler. I figured I could ping an IP to wait for network to become available instead. This also works on XP. To keep the service running on Seven I deleted the scheduled task that already existed.
Disappointingly, on XP I received no clear description of the error either in control panel or in the event log, until after after one poll interval had elapsed. Understanding and configuring W32time is just like NetBIOS shares, where the only feedback Windows gives is “access denied” after a loong delay…
Thank you for the link to Dimension 4. It is smaller than Meinberg NTP.
ReplyGood blog posting as usual Raymond. I run much profitable ecommerce store and I sometime need to process a payment on my personal computer if my portal fails. If the time on my labtop does not match with the payment system the payment fail. It is critical that my time is write so I’m happy for these informations.
ReplyThanks for this post. I installed immediately Neutron on my portable.
Replyvery interesting.
ReplyD4 user for years.
ReplyI have been using Atomic Clock Sync: a free configuration utility for years provided by worldtimeserver.com/atomic-clock/, simple, reliable.
ReplyIt is indeed a useful tool and we looked at it, unfortunately it has several shortcomings for what we are doing in the article. It cannot auto sync on starting the program, cannot quit once synced, cannot contact any other servers besides time.nist.gov and relies on the Windows Time service (which can be hit and miss).
Remember, the article is not about general or useful time syncing tools, but tools that can auto sync with a time server when starting your computer.
ReplyIs there a time server based on http rather than ntp? The proxy server at work seems to block ntp.
ReplyDimension 4 allows you to setup a time server over http, more information on how to do it is in their FAQ:
thinkman.com/dimension4/faq.htm
Replythinkman.com/dimension4/faq.htm
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Can the clock not sync to the Internet time on Windows 10? You must be annoyed when you come across the problem with update time on Windows 10. Especially in the case where every time you sign in or reboot your computer, the clock on Windows 10 desktop is not syncing with the Internet time.
Solutions:
Want to synchronize the time on Windows 10 with the Internet Time Server? For many people, you will find your clock failed to sync. This tutorial will assist you in solving Windows 10 time not syncing issue effectively and easily by way of various time configuration which is associated with time syncing, such as changing time settings in Windows time services and Command Prompt to fix time not syncing issue on Windows 10. And here are solutions for
time always wrong on Windows 10.
time always wrong on Windows 10.
Solution 1: Synchronize Time Manually
Synchronizing Windows time is necessary and important for people who are working online. By default, Windows updates time automatically.
But sometimes, time cannot synchronized for some unknown reasons, so you should set the clock manually to synchronize with the Internet time.
1. Goes to Settings> Time & Language > Date & Time > Set Time Automatically > Turn off.
2. In change date and time window, you can set the details to sync with the local time.
Updating time manually is very easy, but the problem lies in that you have to set it so long as it is wrong.
Solution 2: Synchronize Time with an Internet Server
As you can see, syncing time to the Internet time server must be related to the Internet time settings, and in some sense, your clock not syncing on Windows 10 probably arises from the Internet time settings. When updating time on Windows 10, you can synchronize time with an Internet server, which can help you to get the exact time automatically.
1. At first, you should make sure options of Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically are turned on. You can follow this path to set it:
Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time.
Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time.
2. Follow this path: Control Panel > Date and Time > Internet Time > Change Settings to set Internet time server.
3. Check Synchronize with an Internet Time Serverand then choose a Server, here choose time.windows.com. Click Update now to change the Internet time settings.
Here if you find that though you have open the Internet time server — time.windows.com, the clock is still prevented from syncing, you can try to change the Internet server to time.nist.gov and check if it can make the time sync with that on Internet.
4. In the window, you will see the reminding word that “Please wait while Windows synchronizes with time.nist.gov“.
Soon Windows 10 will automatically sync your clock with the Internet. At this moment, you are entitled to make your time synchronized. And it is no wonder that time not syncing on Windows 10 can be resolved.
There is another problem that when you synchronize the time, an error may appear reminding you that the RPC server is unavailable. If you meet this error when synchronizing time, you should restart the Remote Procedure Call(RPC) service.
Solution 3: Restart Windows Time Services
Usually, if the services about the time on Windows 10 is stopped, there is no doubt that you cannot synchronize the time to the Internet server. Therefore, you would better start or restart the Windows Time in Services.
1. Type Services in the search box and press Enter.
2. Scroll down to find out Windows time and right click it to Start it.
Tips:
If you do not want to restart it every time, you should choose Windows Time > Properties > General > Startup Type > Automatic.
As long as you opened the Windows time services on Windows 10, you are able to make the time synchronized as well. And what’s more, adjusting time settings is also available.
In a large sense, if you have started Windows time services on Windows 10, you can change the related time settings in command prompt.
Solution 4: Resync Time in PowerShell
Using commands to fix the time not synchronize problem is another way. If your computer cannot update the time in some conditions and the above method is no help, you can try this way.
In Powershell, a command below will set the time settings to default and help you update windows time again.
1. Search PowerShell in the search box and right click to select Run as Administrator.
2. In the opening window, type these commands step by step:
net stop w32time – – – – – – – – -(annotation: stop windows time services)
w32tm /unregister – – – – – – – – – (annotation: unregister windows time services)
w32tm /register – – – – – – – – – (annotation: register windows time services again)
net start w32time – – – – – – – – – (annotation: restart windows time services)
w32tm /resync /nowait – – – – – – – (annotation: Resynchronize Windows time)
Once you have altered the time syncing settings and reboot Windows 10, you will find your clock is synchronized with the Internet time and Windows 10 time not syncing problem is thus solved without question.
Obviously, from this tutorial, you are capable of getting the skills about how to make the time sync to the Internet time on Windows 10 by different time resetting. And you have solved the time syncing issue for Windows 10, you can also fix other date and time issues on Windows 10.
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