Windows Time (W32Time) Service Defaults in Windows XP
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: | Automatic |
| Display name: | Windows Time |
| Service name: | W32Time |
| Service type: | share |
| Error control: | normal |
| Object: | LocalSystem |
| Path: | %SystemRoot%\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs |
| File: | %SystemRoot%\system32\w32time.dll |
| Registry key: | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time |
Default Behavior
Windows Time is a Win32 service. In Windows XP it is starting automatically along with the operating system. Then the Windows Time service is running as LocalSystem in a shared process of svchost.exe. Other services and drivers are allowed to run in the same process. If the Windows Time fails to start, the technical information about the error is added to the Event Log. Windows XP startup should proceed, but a message box should be displayed informing the user that the W32Time service has failed to start.
Restore Default Startup Configuration of Windows Time
1. Run the Command Prompt.
2. Copy the commands below, paste them into the command window and press ENTER:
sc config W32Time start= auto
sc start W32Time
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 XP installation media.