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Can’t Change Date and Time in Windows 7?
October 5th, 2012 by Aseem Kishore | File in: Windows 7 (http://helpdeskgeek.com/category/windows-7/)
I recently ran into a problem on one of my Windows 7 machines where I could not change the date and time. Every time I
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clicked on the Change Date and Time dialog box shown below, I kept getting an error message.
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The message that kept popping up was:
Unable to continue. You do not have permission to perform this task.
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I had previously had some problems with this machine and thought it might be related. In the end, I had to try a couple of
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different solutions before I stopped getting the error message about not having permission. Hopefully, one of the solutions will
work for you.
Method 1 – Safe Mode
One thing you can try is to change the date and time in Safe Mode. If you are able to change it here, you then know it’s a
problem with either a startup item or a Windows service. You can then perform a clean boot of Windows 7 to narrow down the
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Method 2 – System File Checker
The next thing you can try is to run the system file checker. If you’re having strange permission issues in Windows, it’s
probably some type of corruption of system files and settings. You can run SFC by opening a command prompt and typing in
the following command:
sc/cno
f sanw
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2. System file checker will verify all system files and will replace any file that is corrupt, modified or damaged.
Method 3 – Command Line
You can also change the date and time in Windows using the command line. Open a command prompt and type in the word
d a te and press enter. You’ll be prompted to enter a new date.
What about the time? Pretty easy too. Just type in the word time and you can change the time too:
Note that the time is in 24-hour format and you can specify it down all the way to milliseconds. You should be able to change
the time without having to open an elevated command prompt. If you get an error, however, then try running the command
prompt as Administrator.
Method 4 – Local Security Policy
If you get an error message like “A required privilege is not held by the client” when trying to use the command prompt, go to
Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Loca l Se curity P olicy and then navigate to Local PolicyUser Rights Assignment and
ensure that Cha nge the syste m time and Cha nge the time zone privileges are given to Ad ministra tors.
Note that if you are in a domain, you may simply be restricted by the group policy set by your company. If you’re not on a
domain and Administrators don’t have the two privileges shown above, then adding the group to the security setting should fix
the problem.
Method 5 – Windows Time Service
If you’re still having problems changing the date and time in Windows, go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools and click on
Se rvice s. Scroll down to Windows Time and right-click and choose P rop e rtie s. Click on the Log On tab and make sure it’s
set to T his a ccount – Loca l Se rvice .

3. The password fields should automatically be filled in, so there is no need to type in any passwords. Go head and restart the
computer and see what happens.
Method 6 – Uninstall Third-Party Clock Applications
If you have any third-party clock manager or time programs, go ahead and uninstall them and see if that resolves your issue
with changing the Windows date and time. Sometimes a conflict can occur and a third party program might prevent you
changing the time.
Hopefully one of the solutions above fixes your issue. If not, post a comment here and I’ll try to help. Enjoy!
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ASE E M KISHOR E
Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor.
He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in
2010 to blog full-time.
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Welcome to Help Desk Geek- a blog full of help desk tips for
IT Professionals. My name is Aseem Kishore and I work as a
Systems Analyst in Dallas, TX. I graduated from Emory
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