☩ Walking in Light with Christ – Faith, Computing, Diary

Some people are still forced to run Windows 10 due to hardware limitations on Legacy desktop PCs and Laptops as Windows 11 does not support all hardware. Hence the Windows Automatic Time Synchronization service might not have been started properly (is failing) and due to that the system clock might be slowing down or up from the actual time. This is a rare issue you might encounter but if you're physically situated on a place with very slow internet connection and / or on an 10 years+ old Gamer PC with Windows 10 you might encounter it under some specific unlucky circumstances combination, like very slow internet or using some kind of damaged windows due to failed Windows updates or due to running some unlicensed copy of Windows (which you should not!) etc.
Perhaps Windows time synchronization issues miight be caused  due to BIOS / UEFI time setting misconfiguration causing the PC clock to be back in time with minutes / hours  or in future mis-synchronized.
This perhaps could could happen even on more modern 356 Domain connected PCs / notebooks running on modern Windows 11?

In this article I'll give you an easy way how to resolve Windows Clock (Timing) issues by running few standard Windows commands in
Windows Administrator Prompt (elevated) cmd.exe line:

Run cmd.exe as Administartor: and try to get information on the configured time server:

sc query w32time

Usually that won't produce a good result if your clock is not properly synching with Windows Time server via the w32time service, to further debug run cmd:

w32tm /query /source

If you run the command:

and receive the error:

The following error occurred: 
The service has not been started. (0x80070426)

it means the Windows Time (W32Time) service is not running on your system.

This service is responsible for synchronizing your computer’s clock with an internet time server or domain controller. Without it, time sync will not work properly.

Why This Error Happens

The error usually appears when:

• The Windows Time service is disabled

• The service was stopped manually

• System policies disabled time synchronization

• The PC was recently restored or cloned

Below is how to fix it quickly.

Solution 1 : Start the Windows Time Service

Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:

net start w32time

After it starts successfully, verify the time source:

 
w32tm /query /source

Solution 2: Set the Service to Start Automatically

If the problem keeps happening after reboot, set the service startup type to Automatic:

sc config w32time start= auto
net start w32time

Note: There must be a space after start= .

Solution 3: Re-register the Windows Time Service

If the service fails to start, try re-registering it:

w32tm /unregister
w32tm /register
net start w32time

Then force time synchronization:

w32tm /resync

Solution 4: Configure an NTP Server Manually

If no time source is configured, set one manually:

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:"time.windows.com,0x8" \
/syncfromflags:manual /update
net stop w32time
net start w32time
w32tm /resync

You can also use other NTP servers such as for example:

• pool.ntp.org

• time.google.com

Alternative: Start the Service via Services Console services.msc

1. Press Win + R

2. Type services.msc

3. Find Windows Time

4. Set Startup type to Automatic

5. Click Start

Finally Check time server syncs fine

After fixing the issue, confirm everything works:

 w32tm /query /status 
w32tm /query /source

If a valid NTP server or domain controller is displayed, the issue is resolved.