Windows 10 time update fails

J

J McInvale

Active member
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Posts
25
I have two Windows 10 home X64 computers I always keep up to date and for about a year the time will not auto update at all and manually syncing the time fails as well.

The desktop shows last successful time sync 4-23-2019

The laptop shows last successful time sync 9-16-2019

Any idea what the issue is?
 
What time server are you using?

I use "time.nist.gov" with no problems. I found that to be more reliable than Microsoft's. Also, make sure the "Synchronize with an Internet time server" box is checked.
 
I use Norton 360. Has never given any trouble in the past.

Thing is it all the sudden stopped working on one and later on with the other one.

One other with Norton 360 is fine.

I haven't changed any settings that I know of.

I forget how I changed the time server, but I tried every option and got the same error.
 
I ask again, what time server? Is that check box checked?

J McInvale said:
Thing is it all the sudden stopped working on one and later on with the other one
Click to expand...
This is a little confusing since automatic checking is either on, or off. And one stopped over a year ago in April 2019, the other 10 months ago.

In any case, see this to make sure automatic syncing in on, and again, I recommend time.nist.gov. If you don't live in the US and your government maintains a reliable time server, you might consider adding that. Or you can use one of the many public time servers maintained by other organizations like Google, who maintains several around the world.
 
Basically I had tried all the available time servers and none worked.

Under Windows 10 how do I change time servers? I forget how to do it.

Also it is set to auto update the time, but even doing a manual sync fails.
 
Ok so I followed that link.

On my laptop.

I'm at

How to troubleshoot time server synchronization problems

Step 3 returns the time service is not started.

Step 4 returns the following error.

Access is denied (0x80070005)

Step 6 gives me this.

System error 5 has occurred
Access is denied.

Command prompt is open as admin and the only account I use is an admin one.
 
Last edited:
1) Open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste:
2) sfc /scannow
3) dism /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth
4) dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
5) sfc /scannow
6) chkdsk /scan

7) When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on edit then copy > paste into the thread
 
I also went and changed the time server then hit update time and got the message unable to start the Windows time service.

That was done on my desktop since the laptop is running those commands now.

The first command finished and some corrupt files were found and repaired.

Suppose I have good ole Windows updates to thank for the corrupt files.
 
The easiest way to make an attempt to fix this is by Doing a Windows 10 Repair Install or Feature Update Using the Windows 10 ISO file.

You have never mentioned what version and build of Windows 10 is currently running on these two computers. If they're still on 1909, and you do not have either the 1909 ISO file or a bootable USB drive for 1909, and you are being presented with the "not quite ready" message for Version 2004 in Settings, Update & Security, Windows Update pane then I'd just wait until version 2004 installs before pursuing this further.

If, however, you have the Download and install link for Version 2004 being presented, then I'd follow the instructions above after downloading the Version 2004 ISO file.

The repair install (or an actual feature update) gets you about as clean a slate as you can get short of doing an actual completely clean reinstall of Windows 10, which is a last resort as far as I'm concerned.
 
I also checked the windows time service under services.msc and all the settings are grayed out on both computers.

Agreed about a clean re-install being a last resort..


Image Version: 10.0.18363.900

[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>chkdsk /scan
The type of the file system is NTFS.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
824576 file records processed.
File verification completed.
7038 large file records processed.
0 bad file records processed.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
1106 reparse records processed.
1014154 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
1106 reparse records processed.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
94790 data files processed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
39831472 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

467883956 KB total disk space.
117005496 KB in 567438 files.
309084 KB in 94791 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
955656 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
349613720 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
116970989 total allocation units on disk.
87403430 allocation units available on disk.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>
 
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That didn't post the whole thing.

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18363.900]
(c) 2019 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at
windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline
repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.900

Image Version: 10.0.18363.900

[==========================100.0%==========================] No component store corruption detected.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.900

Image Version: 10.0.18363.900

[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>chkdsk /scan
The type of the file system is NTFS.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
824576 file records processed.
File verification completed.
7038 large file records processed.
0 bad file records processed.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
1106 reparse records processed.
1014154 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
1106 reparse records processed.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
94790 data files processed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
39831472 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

467883956 KB total disk space.
117005496 KB in 567438 files.
309084 KB in 94791 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
955656 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
349613720 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
116970989 total allocation units on disk.
87403430 allocation units available on disk.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>

Now I'm running those commands on my desktop.

Ok so on my laptop I restarted and tried to run the commands listed earlier from that link. Same exact errors as before.

Also under services the settings for Windows time service are still grayed out. I think that's the only reason I cannot sync the time. It's listed as manual (trigger start).

I don't know how the settings got grayed out nor how to re-enable them.
 
Last edited:
Desktop

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18363.900]
(c) 2019 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at
windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline
repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism/online/cleanup-image/scanhealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.900


Error: 87

The online/cleanup-image/scanhealth option is unknown.
For more information, refer to the help by running DISM.exe /?.

The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log

C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.900

Image Version: 10.0.18363.900

[==========================100.0%==========================] No component store corruption detected.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>dsm /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
'dsm' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.900

Image Version: 10.0.18363.900

[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>chkdsk/scan
The type of the file system is NTFS.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
484608 file records processed.
File verification completed.
7166 large file records processed.
0 bad file records processed.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
1124 reparse records processed.
644856 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
1124 reparse records processed.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
80125 data files processed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
34089608 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

467958293 KB total disk space.
77010144 KB in 284444 files.
206448 KB in 80126 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
606333 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
390135368 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
116989573 total allocation units on disk.
97533842 allocation units available on disk.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>

Checking the internet I saw where someone else has the same problem and a repair install only fixed it temporarily.
 
Operating system corruption was fixed in each computer running scannow.

A Windows 10 iso can be downloaded to each computer overnight or you can make one bootable Windows 10 iso 1909.

Then as britechguy commented in post #16 perform an in place upgrade repair.

If this fixes the problems on each computer then you're set.

If it fails then you can perform other repairs that save files and install a fresh operating system.
These require the re-installation of drivers and applications.
They are similar to reset save files and often can be performed when reset save files fails.
a) custom install windows 10
b) refresh windows 10

An additional option is to attempt upgrades to 2004.
If they upgrade they typically fix underlying problems.
 

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