Problem with Invalid System Time dialog preventing autologon.

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=D8ivind_Berentsen?=]

Hi all,

I've got a problem with a modal dialog preventing our systems autologin.
The dialog contains the following text:

Title:
Invalid System Time

Text:
The time or date on your system is invalid. Please use the date/time
applet in the Control Panel to properly set your system time and

I believe the dialog appears because we do not have a battery in our
hardware and the real time clock is reset every time power is lost.

I've found a preliminary fix to this problem by enabling implementing
message box interception, but this solution presents some problems since
all message boxes automatically automatically returns the default button
as result.
I used the following registry settings:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Error Message
Instrument]
"EnableLogging"=dword:00000001
"LogSeverity"=dword:00000000
"EnableDefaultReply"=dword:00000001
"TypesSupported"=dword:00000007
"EventMessageFile"="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\User32.dll"

I also tried setting the NoPopUpsOnBoot and ErrorMode keys like this:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows]
"ErrorMode"=dword:00000002
"NoPopUpsOnBoot"=dword:00000001

but they did not seem to have any effect. Is this messagebox a special
case which is not affected by the NoPopUpsOnBoot setting?

If anybody have any suggestions how to remove this dialog it would be
greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Øivind Berentsen

 

[steves]

I would think that the system bios would write a valid time into the
CMOS clock during POST. Perhaps your motherboard manufacturer could
provide a modified BIOS that would initialize the clock correctly (Set
it to a version number or something). I have in the past reverse
engineered my BIOS to accomplish such things. There are a couple of
books out there that contain the I/O maps for the CMOS Ram maps that
alllow you to figure out what needs to be done.

If you compared the time/date seen in the computer's CMOS ram utility
with the range of allowed times for a windows clock, maybe you could
see why this is occurring.

Steves

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=D8ivind_Berentsen?=]

Thanks steves,

The problem is that this is a system which we sell to customers, using
of the shelf hardware (AmPro CoreModule 600). So I'd rather fix this in
software instead of modifying every single board we deliver.

I was also unable to disable this message on a XP Proffesional
installation. It seems this question has gone unanswered in multiple
posts around the net. Is there nobody who knows how to disable this
message box or knows from which dll/service it originates from?

Thanks in advance,
Øivind

I would think that the system bios would write a valid time into the
CMOS clock during POST. Perhaps your motherboard manufacturer could
provide a modified BIOS that would initialize the clock correctly (Set
it to a version number or something). I have in the past reverse
engineered my BIOS to accomplish such things. There are a couple of
books out there that contain the I/O maps for the CMOS Ram maps that
alllow you to figure out what needs to be done.

If you compared the time/date seen in the computer's CMOS ram utility
with the range of allowed times for a windows clock, maybe you could
see why this is occurring.

Steves

Hi all,

I've got a problem with a modal dialog preventing our systems autologin.
The dialog contains the following text:

Title:
Invalid System Time

Text:
The time or date on your system is invalid. Please use the date/time
applet in the Control Panel to properly set your system time and

I believe the dialog appears because we do not have a battery in our
hardware and the real time clock is reset every time power is lost.

I've found a preliminary fix to this problem by enabling implementing
message box interception, but this solution presents some problems since
all message boxes automatically automatically returns the default button
as result.
I used the following registry settings:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Error Message
Instrument]
"EnableLogging"=dword:00000001
"LogSeverity"=dword:00000000
"EnableDefaultReply"=dword:00000001
"TypesSupported"=dword:00000007
"EventMessageFile"="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\User32.dll"

I also tried setting the NoPopUpsOnBoot and ErrorMode keys like this:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows]
"ErrorMode"=dword:00000002
"NoPopUpsOnBoot"=dword:00000001

but they did not seem to have any effect. Is this messagebox a special
case which is not affected by the NoPopUpsOnBoot setting?

If anybody have any suggestions how to remove this dialog it would be
greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Øivind Berentsen

 

[steves]

I'm sure there is SOMEBODY who knows somewhere!

I suggested a BIOS fix from your manufacturer because it would be a
clean solution, and puts the work off mostly on them. In my experience
some distributors manufacturers will have an updated BIOS to you in
less than a week, fixing your problem completely. Others - you will
never get it. Tough to implement on previously deployed systems
though.

Other ideas:
How about looking for a way to script setting the system clock?
Is you image connected to the network? There are settings in the
registry that allow the computer to sync the time with publicly
available time servers.

The comand line utility NET TIME /SET will manually synchronize the
computer, maybe that could be scripted using a Computer Startup script
in Control Panel\Administrative Tools\Local Computer Policy\Computer
Configuration\Windows Settings\Scripts\Startup. (Create a
SyncNetTime.vbs script using the "Shell.Application" object, execute
C:\Windows\System32CMD.exe with parameter NET TIME /SET.)

You would have to make sure that the W32Time service is running, and
set the following registry keys up:

//COPY FOLLOWING TO A TEXT FILE: EnableTimeSync.reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
;Enable Time Sync using default windows servers

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters]
"Type"="NTP"
"LocalNTP"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NTPClient]
"SpecialPollInterval"=dword:00015180

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DateTime\Servers]
"1"="time.windows.com"
"2"="time.nist.gov"

' END EnableTimeSync.REG

If you are not connected to a network how about trying the same type of
Startup Script, calling the command processor
(C:\Windows\System32\Cmd.exe), with a parameter of "Time 8:00" and then
again with "Date 12-19-2020" or something.

steves
stevesATeyeDASHimagingDOTcom

Thanks steves,

The problem is that this is a system which we sell to customers, using
of the shelf hardware (AmPro CoreModule 600). So I'd rather fix this in
software instead of modifying every single board we deliver.

I was also unable to disable this message on a XP Proffesional
installation. It seems this question has gone unanswered in multiple
posts around the net. Is there nobody who knows how to disable this
message box or knows from which dll/service it originates from?

Thanks in advance,
Øivind

I would think that the system bios would write a valid time into the
CMOS clock during POST. Perhaps your motherboard manufacturer could
provide a modified BIOS that would initialize the clock correctly (Set
it to a version number or something). I have in the past reverse
engineered my BIOS to accomplish such things. There are a couple of
books out there that contain the I/O maps for the CMOS Ram maps that
alllow you to figure out what needs to be done.

If you compared the time/date seen in the computer's CMOS ram utility
with the range of allowed times for a windows clock, maybe you could
see why this is occurring.

Steves

Hi all,

I've got a problem with a modal dialog preventing our systems autologin.
The dialog contains the following text:

Title:
Invalid System Time

Text:
The time or date on your system is invalid. Please use the date/time
applet in the Control Panel to properly set your system time and

I believe the dialog appears because we do not have a battery in our
hardware and the real time clock is reset every time power is lost.

I've found a preliminary fix to this problem by enabling implementing
message box interception, but this solution presents some problems since
all message boxes automatically automatically returns the default button
as result.
I used the following registry settings:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Error Message
Instrument]
"EnableLogging"=dword:00000001
"LogSeverity"=dword:00000000
"EnableDefaultReply"=dword:00000001
"TypesSupported"=dword:00000007
"EventMessageFile"="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\User32.dll"

I also tried setting the NoPopUpsOnBoot and ErrorMode keys like this:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows]
"ErrorMode"=dword:00000002
"NoPopUpsOnBoot"=dword:00000001

but they did not seem to have any effect. Is this messagebox a special
case which is not affected by the NoPopUpsOnBoot setting?

If anybody have any suggestions how to remove this dialog it would be
greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Øivind Berentsen

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=D8ivind_Berentsen?=]

Thanks for your support steves!

I've taken the path you described and contacted AmPro for a modified
BIOS. Hopefully the can provide one with a usable default clock :-D

Regards,
Øivind

I'm sure there is SOMEBODY who knows somewhere!

I suggested a BIOS fix from your manufacturer because it would be a
clean solution, and puts the work off mostly on them. In my experience
some distributors manufacturers will have an updated BIOS to you in
less than a week, fixing your problem completely. Others - you will
never get it. Tough to implement on previously deployed systems
though.

Other ideas:
How about looking for a way to script setting the system clock?
Is you image connected to the network? There are settings in the
registry that allow the computer to sync the time with publicly
available time servers.

The comand line utility NET TIME /SET will manually synchronize the
computer, maybe that could be scripted using a Computer Startup script
in Control Panel\Administrative Tools\Local Computer Policy\Computer
Configuration\Windows Settings\Scripts\Startup. (Create a
SyncNetTime.vbs script using the "Shell.Application" object, execute
C:\Windows\System32CMD.exe with parameter NET TIME /SET.)

You would have to make sure that the W32Time service is running, and
set the following registry keys up:

//COPY FOLLOWING TO A TEXT FILE: EnableTimeSync.reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
;Enable Time Sync using default windows servers

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters]
"Type"="NTP"
"LocalNTP"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NTPClient]
"SpecialPollInterval"=dword:00015180

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DateTime\Servers]
"1"="time.windows.com"
"2"="time.nist.gov"

' END EnableTimeSync.REG

If you are not connected to a network how about trying the same type of
Startup Script, calling the command processor
(C:\Windows\System32\Cmd.exe), with a parameter of "Time 8:00" and then
again with "Date 12-19-2020" or something.

steves
stevesATeyeDASHimagingDOTcom

Thanks steves,

The problem is that this is a system which we sell to customers, using
of the shelf hardware (AmPro CoreModule 600). So I'd rather fix this in
software instead of modifying every single board we deliver.

I was also unable to disable this message on a XP Proffesional
installation. It seems this question has gone unanswered in multiple
posts around the net. Is there nobody who knows how to disable this
message box or knows from which dll/service it originates from?

Thanks in advance,
Øivind

I would think that the system bios would write a valid time into the
CMOS clock during POST. Perhaps your motherboard manufacturer could
provide a modified BIOS that would initialize the clock correctly (Set
it to a version number or something). I have in the past reverse
engineered my BIOS to accomplish such things. There are a couple of
books out there that contain the I/O maps for the CMOS Ram maps that
alllow you to figure out what needs to be done.

If you compared the time/date seen in the computer's CMOS ram utility
with the range of allowed times for a windows clock, maybe you could
see why this is occurring.

Steves


Øivind Berentsen wrote:
Hi all,

I've got a problem with a modal dialog preventing our systems autologin.
The dialog contains the following text:

Title:
Invalid System Time

Text:
The time or date on your system is invalid. Please use the date/time
applet in the Control Panel to properly set your system time and

I believe the dialog appears because we do not have a battery in our
hardware and the real time clock is reset every time power is lost.

I've found a preliminary fix to this problem by enabling implementing
message box interception, but this solution presents some problems since
all message boxes automatically automatically returns the default button
as result.
I used the following registry settings:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Error Message
Instrument]
"EnableLogging"=dword:00000001
"LogSeverity"=dword:00000000
"EnableDefaultReply"=dword:00000001
"TypesSupported"=dword:00000007
"EventMessageFile"="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\User32.dll"

I also tried setting the NoPopUpsOnBoot and ErrorMode keys like this:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows]
"ErrorMode"=dword:00000002
"NoPopUpsOnBoot"=dword:00000001

but they did not seem to have any effect. Is this messagebox a special
case which is not affected by the NoPopUpsOnBoot setting?

If anybody have any suggestions how to remove this dialog it would be
greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Øivind Berentsen