GetSystemTimeAsFileTime has lower precision (roughly 1ms–15ms resolution) compared to the 100ns precision of the "Precise" version. 3. Application-Specific Fixes
Some developers create specialized shims (DLLs) that intercept calls to GetSystemTimePreciseAsFileTime and redirect them to GetSystemTimeAsFileTime . These are often packaged as api-ms-win-core-sysinfo-l1-2-0.dll or similar files.
Redirecting those calls to a custom function written by the patcher.
Modern apps call a function that only exists in Windows 8+.
Report prepared for technical evaluation of Windows time APIs.
Real-world time can be adjusted backward or forward by Network Time Protocol (NTP) daemons. If your emulation wrapper relies purely on QPC delta math without checking for system time steps, your "precise" time may drift significantly away from actual wall-clock time until the next resync.
Since there is no system update to install this function, users and developers employ several workarounds:
) and provides the expected response, allowing newer software to run. Version Rollbacks:
But it is still a hack. It trades long-term stability for short-term precision. Every call to the patched function relies on unchanging performance counter behavior, correct system time synchronization, and careful handling of edge cases.
Are you and need high-precision timing?
When a developer compiles an application that to this function, the compiler generates an import entry in the executable's PE (Portable Executable) header. When that executable runs on Windows 7, the operating system's loader attempts to resolve the import address—and fails. The result is the familiar error dialog: