Are you having an issue that in your Linux your time is perfect but in Windows, your time gets messed up? If yes, then you are in the right place. I also had the same problem and fixed it. If You are thinking How to Fix Windows and Linux Showing Different Times when dual-booting then I have the solution ready for you.
Your computer stores the time in a hardware clock on its motherboard. The clock keeps track of time, even when the computer is off. By default, Windows assumes the time is stored in local time, while Linux assumes the time is stored in UTC time and applies an offset. This leads to one of your operating systems showing the wrong time in a dual boot situation.
To fix this, you have two options: Make Linux use local time, or make Windows use UTC time. Don’t follow both steps of instructions or they still won’t be speaking the same language! We recommend you make Linux use local time, if possible.
Option One: Make Linux Use Local Time
Making Linux use the local time the same way Windows does is probably the best option. Windows do have a registry setting that forces it to store the time as UTC, but it reportedly isn’t well supported and can cause problems with some third-party applications that always assume the hardware clock is in local time. It’s also incompatible with Windows’ own Internet time-syncing service.
The steps to make your Linux system use local time can vary from Linux distribution to Linux distribution. However, on any Linux distribution with systemd, you can use the timedatectl command to make this change. This will work on modern versions of Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, Debian, Mint, and other Linux distributions that use systemd.
To make this change, first open a Terminal window on your Linux system. Run the following command to put the real-time clock on the motherboard into local time. Linux will store the time in local time, just like Windows does.
timedatectl set-local-rtc 1 --adjust-system-clockTo check your current settings, run:
timedatectlIf you see “RTC in local TZ: yes”, Linux is set to use the local time zone instead of UTC. The command warns you that this mode is not fully supported and can cause some problems when changing between time zones and with daylight savings time. However, this mode is probably better supported than the UTC option in Windows. If you dual-boot with Windows, Windows will handle daylight savings time for you.
If you ever want to undo this change, run the following command:
timedatectl set-local-rtc 0 --adjust-system-clockOption Two: Make Windows Use UTC Time
Making Windows use UTC time like Linux is probably not the best option. You can edit the registry to make Windows use UTC time, but this could potentially cause more problems than just making Linux use local time.
If you do want to do this, you’ll first want to disable the Internet time updating feature on Windows. This ensures Windows won’t set the clock incorrectly when trying to sync the current time from the Internet. On Windows 10, head to Settings > Time & language and disable “Set time automatically”. On Windows 7, right-click the system clock in the taskbar and select “Adjust date/time”. Click the “Internet Time” tab, click the “Change Settings” button, uncheck the “Synchronize with an Internet time server” option, and click “OK”.
Make Windows Use UTC Time By Editing the Registry
You will now need to add the appropriate value to the Windows registry. Here’s our standard warning: The Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. This is a pretty easy hack and you shouldn’t have any problems as long as you follow the instructions. That said, if you’ve never worked with it before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes.
First, open the Registry Editor by clicking Start, typing “regedit”, and pressing Enter. Agree to the security prompt that appears.
Navigate to the following key in the left pane of the registry editor:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation
On the latest versions of Windows 10, you can copy and paste the above line into the address box. However, this hack will work on Windows 7 as well.
Right-click the “TimeZoneInformation” key and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Name your new value RealTimeIsUniversal.
Double-click the RealTimeIsUniversal value you just created, set is value data to 1, and click “OK”.
You’re now done, and you can close the Registry Editor. Windows will store the time in UTC, just like Linux does.
If you ever want to undo this change, return to this location in the registry, right-click the RealTimeIsUniversal value you added, and delete it from your registry.
Download Our One-Click Registry Hack
If you don’t want to edit the registry yourself, you can use our downloadable registry hack. We created one hack that makes Windows use UTC time and one that restores it to local time. Both are included in the following ZIP file. Just download the file, double-click the hack you want to use, and agree to add the information to your registry.
Make Windows Use UTC Time
The above hacks do the same thing we described above. The Make Windows Use UTC Time hack creates the “RealTimeIsUniversal” entry with a value of “1”, while the Make Windows Use Local Time hack deletes the “RealTimeIsUniversal” entry.
If you ever want to see what this or any other .reg file does, right-click it and select “Edit” to view the file in Notepad. You can easily make your own registry hacks, which just consist of a list of registry entries to add, edit, and remove in a properly formatted list.
Conclusion
Hurray! I hope you have fixed your Time Issue. The fix is very simple but many people were suffering from this issue.
If you have any questions, suggestions, feedback please don’t hesitate to write them in the comment box below because it will help us to improve or correct our contents. Thanks, Happy FOSS Computing 🙂
Kool Arpan is a tech enthusiastic who loves blogging and writing articles on technology. He loves sharing knowledge to the others by any means and medium.