Windows Time (W32Time) Service Defaults in Windows 7
Maintains date and time synchronization on all clients and servers in the network. If this service is stopped, date and time synchronization will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.
Default Settings
| Startup type: | Manual |
| Display name: | Windows Time |
| Service name: | W32Time |
| Service type: | share |
| Error control: | normal |
| Object: | NT AUTHORITY\LocalService |
| Path: | %SystemRoot%\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalService |
| File: | %SystemRoot%\system32\w32time.dll |
| Registry key: | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time |
| Privileges: |
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Default Behavior
Windows Time is a Win32 service. In Windows 7 it won't be started if the user doesn't start it. When the Windows Time service is started, it is running as NT AUTHORITY\LocalService in a shared process of svchost.exe. Other system components, such as drivers and services, may run in the same process. If Windows Time fails to start, Windows 7 attempts to write the failure details into Event Log. Then Windows 7 startup should proceed and the user should be notified that the W32Time service is not running because of the error.
Restore Default Startup Configuration of Windows Time
1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Copy the command below, paste it into the command window and press ENTER:
sc config W32Time start= demand
3. Close the command window and restart the computer.
The W32Time service is using the w32time.dll file that is located in the C:\Windows\system32 directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 7 installation media.