Mastering Time with Shell and PowerShell
A comprehensive guide to Windows time management using shell and PowerShell commands, covering system uptime, boot times, time synchronization, and timezone configuration.
Explore an array of shell and PowerShell commands focused on time management, including last boot-up time, system boot time, and time zone adjustments.
DATE
Display the current date using the DATE command:
DATE /T
wmic
LastBootUpTime
Retrieve the last boot-up time using Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (wmic):
wmic path Win32_OperatingSystem get LastBootUpTime
SystemUpTime
Determine system uptime, showing the duration since the last boot-up:
wmic path Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfOS_System get SystemUpTime
systeminfo
System Boot Time
Obtain the system boot time using the systeminfo command in conjunction with find:
systeminfo | find "System Boot Time"
w32tm
The w32tm command-line tool is used for diagnosing and configuring the Windows Time Service.
configuration
Check the current configuration:
w32tm /query /configuration
Register and Unregister
Register or unregister the Windows Time Service:
w32tm /unregister
w32tm /register
resync
Resynchronize the system clock with the configured time source:
w32tm /resync
query source
Display the current time source and related information:
w32tm /query /source
Win32_OperatingSystem
LastBootUpTime
Calculate the time elapsed since the last boot-up in PowerShell by subtracting the LastBootUpTime from the current date:
(get-date) - (gcim Win32_OperatingSystem).LastBootUpTime
Alternatively, execute the same command within a shell environment:
powershell.exe -c "(get-date) - (gcim Win32_OperatingSystem).LastBootUpTime"
TIME
Obtain the current system time using the TIME command with the /T flag:
TIME /T
tzutil
Display the current time zone:
Show the current time zone:
tzutil /g
Change time zone
Change the system time zone using the tzutil command by providing the desired time zone as an argument after the /s flag. For example, set the time zone to Eastern Standard Time:
tzutil /s "Eastern Standard Time"
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