How do I freeze date and time in Windows?

Question

The video provides a visual step-by-step demonstration of how users can facilitate the management of Windows updates on workstations that have Deep Freeze Reboot to Restore installed on them. There are two ways through which windows update installation can be managed through Deep Freeze Configuration Administrator.

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Automating Windows Update via Configuration Administrator

‘Windows update’ is the default task that appears when users click on the ‘Workstation Task’ on the Configuration Administrator window. The ‘Add’ button provides multiple configuration options, such as selecting a name of the task, and a day and time when the update would be performed. There are additional options to disable keyboard and mouse during the installation and shut down the system after it is complete. More advanced Windows update configuration options are found under the ‘Windows Update’ tab, by which users can specify the Windows Update websites, and choose whether Deep Freeze will cache Windows update or not.

Creating Thawed Period Task in Configuration Administrator

With Deep Freeze, users can also leverage third-party tools to deploy Windows updates on the networked workstations. By creating a ‘Thawed Period’ task on the same ‘Workstation Task’ tab, users can select a day and time period for the Windows update to be installed. Machines remain on a thawed state when the update is installed.

Initiating Windows Update from Deep Freeze Enterprise Console

If Windows users do not have a windows update task already configured and want to initiate it immediately, they can do it from a single console. They need to right click on the selected/all workstations and choose ‘Run Windows Update’, which allows Deep Freeze to restart the workstations in a thawed state, run the necessary updates and restart the systems again back into the frozen state.

#1

How do you freeze the time/clock on a PC so that any file you write/save will always be the same date and time? I notice that when companies create installation files they all have the exact date and time. For example, the setup files for MS-DOS version 6.22 are all 05-31-94, 6:22:00 AM. There must be a DOS program out there, I'm hoping that freezes the clock of a PC. My searches of the internet didn't turn anything up.

#2

They don't really freeze the clock. The directory entries can be modified to anything you want. I am sure DiskEdit in Norton Utilities can be used. Likely there is another program in Norton that can be used too.

#3

Lots of proggies for that. Here's one:

Code:

C:\SYS\0 $dir touch

 Volume in drive C is ANA
 Volume Serial Number is 1C49-1602
 Directory of C:\SYS\0

TOUCH    EXE        11,600 09-26-94   3:49a
        1 file(s)         11,600 bytes
                     253,415,424 bytes free

C:\SYS\0 $touch

TOUCH     Modify file date and time.
DOSNIX (TM)   Ver. 2.2b
Copyr. 1990,1993 by  G. Vrooman.  All rights reserved.

USAGE: touch [-t] [mm/dd/yy;hh:mm:ss] filename

OPTIONS:  -t  User selected date and time.

C:\SYS\0 $

That should be easy to find on the net. Otherwise, let me know.

#5

I'm sure that one works too, but I couldn't help but notice that its 48K!!!. The cat.exe is 35K and so on. I'd be suspicious of something that is that much bigger than it needs to be. My touch.exe is 11K and cat.exe is 9K. Something is wrong somewhere.

Oops! I just tried one of those. "This program cannot be run in DOS mode." That one never occured to me! My bad.

#6

Not for pure DOS

Not for pure DOS

I didn't realize the TOUCH.EXE at the Microsoft site was not for pure DOS systems. I just tried it on PC-DOS 6.3, and it didn't work. Seems to work in Microsoft Windows XP command prompt. Where can I get TOUCH.EXE for real DOS?

#7

I would try simtel.net or mirrors, maybe garbo too. I'll help you look, just for curiosities sake. If I don't see it we'll figure something out - I've got all the good utilities here.

On my DOS systems I usually don't use MS utilities. The only part I rely on is the three basic files (and one or two OK ones from them). I like to look for better written, smaller, faster etc. In this case we're talking about a nice little suite of UNIX utilities ported to DOS by G. Vrooman and called DOSNIX. There are other port/rewrite options too, but looking for DOSNIX might be a good choice.

ttl - O

#9

Last edited: Nov 20, 2008

#10

Man! I just loved 4DOS! I used it so much I am sure I got much more than my money's worth at the time.

#11

For the record, the file date/time is stored in the directory table/FAT table entries. So you just search the fat table for the file name and 4 bytes after that is the creation time hex. (note: this is best played with using debug and a floppy if you want to goof around and see if you did it right).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table

#12

Here's a touch that I wrote in 1985 for MS-DOS. Includes MASM source and (less than 1K) COM.

It doesn't recurse through subdirectories, but it does accept wildcards and stamps files with the current time.

Enjoy.

#13

To be picky, it is NOT in the FAT table. The FAT table just lets the system know which blocks are in use and which are not. A pointer in the directory entry indicates the first block number allocated to the file and the FAT table indicates if another block is used next or if it the end of the chain.

per

Veteran Member

#14

To be picky, it is NOT in the FAT table. The FAT table just lets the system know which blocks are in use and which are not. A pointer in the directory entry indicates the first block number allocated to the file and the FAT table indicates if another block is used next or if it the end of the chain.

but the name and file date is stored in the FAT table. Look in the DOS TechRef. The layout of a diskette is: 1 sector of Boot code, 2 sectors of data about bad sectors (etc), 4 sectors of File Allocation Table.

Last edited: Nov 20, 2008

#15

Hehe, I can see we have a nomiclature discussion. In my mind, the FAT table has always just been the 2 copies of pointers. Obviously, some have a more inclusive definition of " FAT ". So, everyone is right, depending on which definition you use.

per

Veteran Member

#16

Hehe, I can see we have a nomiclature discussion. In my mind, the FAT table has always just been the 2 copies of pointers. Obviously, some have a more inclusive definition of " FAT ". So, everyone is right, depending on which definition you use.

Ok. For a full list the FAT contains a pointer to the starting cluster, and data about number of clusters used by the file, the Filename, file extension, datestamp, timestamp and attiblutes of the file. Altogether 32 bytes per file record. The two sectos of pointers is actually the prefix to the FAT.

*Edit*
I see that Wikipedia has listed the two cluster-status sectors as FAT tables. As you say, it is part of the FAT, but since they only contains information about clusters (not files), and that FAT is for "File Allocation Table", I would call that a Prefix to the FAT.

Last edited: Nov 20, 2008

#17

Two copies of the FAT on most disks, one copy of the (root) directory. The directory is the thing with names and modification times. The FAT is a table addressable by cluster ordinal and links clusters together to form files.

Two different structures with different purposes.

#18

Man! I just loved 4DOS! I used it so much I am sure I got much more than my money's worth at the time.

4DOS was the best thing to ever happen to DOS.

The scripting language and command was the best! I never used Command.com after I found 4DOS.

Last edited: Nov 20, 2008

per

Veteran Member

#19

Two copies of the FAT on most disks, one copy of the (root) directory. The directory is the thing with names and modification times. The FAT is a table addressable by cluster ordinal and links clusters together to form files.
Two different structures with different purposes.

But why do they call it "File Allocation Table" when it should have been named "Cluster allocation table"?

#20

But why do they call it "File Allocation Table" when it should have been named "Cluster allocation table"?

MS-DOS (at least some versions) constructs a bitmap of allocated clusters internally, for use when allocating new clusters (saves a lot of space). That's what I would call the "cluster allocation table". The FAT shows how allocated clusters are linked to form a file, so calling it a "File Allocation Table" is reasonable--and probably historic, from SCP DOS.

MS-DOS, contrary to some sources, did not pioneer the use of linked-list cluster allocation. When DOS made its appearance, the technique was at least 20 years old and used on many mainframe OSes.