How to Change the Currency, Time Server and Time Zone (Windows 7)

Windows 7 has several features that just waits  to be discovered. These features can also be tweaked in many ways to make them work the way you want them to. One very useful feature that is available on any Windows version is the Time and Date display which you can find at the bottom-right side of the screen right at the extreme-right tip of the taskbar. This feature is often ignored by average users and only seldom knows that this area of the Windows operating system can be adjusted and changed to fit your location and the language that you speak. I have discussed the basics in making tweaks with the date and time format and right now, we will me moving deeper into the other details of this section so you can make everything work the way you want it to. But first, you need to learn how to access the settings section for this part of Windows. Just read on to learn how you can do it.

Accessing the Settings Window

Most of the tweaks that we will be making will stay on the same settings Window which can be accessed in many ways but I’ll show you the one that is done from the “Control Panel” because it is where the links leading to the different areas of the Date and Time section is located. Here are the steps in accessing the Date and Time setting Window from the Control Panel.

  • First, you need to open the main “Control Panel” Window by clicking on the  “Start” button and once the “Start Menu” appears, just click on the “Control Panel” link which is found at its right side.

ScreenHunter_12 Jul. 29 14.47

  • Once you arrive at the main “Control Panel” Window, just click on the link that says “Clock, Language, and Region” then you’ll see different links on the Window that would follow which will lead you to the different areas where we will be doing some tweaks later on.

ScreenHunter_12 Jul. 29 15.15

Tweaking the Format of Currency and Numbers

Windows 7 has a default settings for how currency is denominated and the way numbers are displayed for a specific account and tweaking this aspect is what I’ll be showing you first. Just follow the steps shown below to access the settings Window for this section.

Assuming that you are already on the “Clock, Language, and Region” Window of the “Control Panel”, you will then need to click on the link that says “Region and Language” and a Window that looks like the screenshot below will appear. From this Window, just click on the “Additional settings” button found near the bottom of the Window.

ScreenHunter_12 Jul. 29 15.32

After clicking the button, a new Window will appear labeled “Customize Format”. From here, you’ll see different tabs labeled “Numbers”, “Currency”, “Time” and “Date”. I have already discussed the how to customize the Time and Date format on the first article for this series so we will now be focusing on the “Numbers” and “Currency” tab. If you missed the first part of this tutorial please feel free to read the article entitled “Tweaking the Date and Time Format on Windows 7”.

Now, lets do some tweaks on the “Numbers” tab settings. The “Customize Format” Window opens by default to the “Numbers” tab.  There will be a number of input boxes which also are drop-down lists on this tab section and you’ll notice that some input boxes are gray and others are white. The gray boxes mean that you are just allowed to choose from the options that are available on the drop-down list while the white input boxes indicate that you can input your own value or symbol to it.

ScreenHunter_12 Jul. 29 16.06

As you can see on the screenshot above, you’ll notice that if the drop-down list on a white input box is expanded, the entry inside the box itself gets highlighted and there is only one or two entries that would appear on the list. The highlight on the entry inside the box means that it can be deleted and replaced by another entry specified by the user. The gray input box on the other hand does not work in the same way. You’ll notice that when the drop-down list is expanded, the entry that is already inside the input box never gets highlighted and instead, you are just allowed to choose from the available options on the list. Just input your desired values on each of the input boxes then once you are done, simply click on the “Apply” and “OK” buttons to finalize all the changes.

The “Currency” tab also contains a lot of input boxes which are also either white or gray. These colors mean the same way as in the “Numbers” tab section so all you need to do is input your desired values on the white boxes then choose the available options from the drop-down list for the gray input boxes. After making the changes that you want, just click on the “Apply” then the “OK” button so that the changes would take effect.

ScreenHunter_12 Jul. 29 16.19

If the changes you made does not look pleasing to your eyes then you can click on the “Reset” button to restore everything back to the default values and settings.

How to Change the Time Zone

Now, let’s go back to the “Clock, Language, and Region” section of the “Control Panel” so we can access the Window where we can make tweaks on the Time Zone. On the “Clock, Language, and Region” Window, just click on the “Change the time zone” link.

ScreenHunter_13 Jul. 29 16.28

After clicking on it, the “Date and Time” settings Window will appear and from this Window, just click on the “Change time zone…” button.

ScreenHunter_14 Jul. 29 16.34

A Window where you can choose your country’s time zone will then appear. Just expand the drop-down list available on this Window and choose your desired time zone and click on the “OK” button to make the changes final.

 ScreenHunter_14 Jul. 29 16.37

How to Change the Time Server

Your computer time is set to “time.windows.com” by default but you can tweak it to synchronize with a different time server. To do this, just access the “Date and Time” settings Window again and click on the “Internet Time” tab located on top.

ScreenHunter_14 Jul. 29 16.49

On this section, you’ll find another button that is labeled “Change settings…”. Click on it to open the Window where you can make changes on the time server by choosing from the drop-down list.

ScreenHunter_14 Jul. 29 17.01

After choosing the server that you want, just click on the “Update Now” button then on the “OK” button to make all the changes final.

More Tweaks Creates a More Personalized Computer

As you can see, there’s really much that you can make tweaks and improvements on even with just the Time and Date display and as well as other related features and settings on your Windows 7 machine. There are still other features on Windows which we will be discussing in future tutorials that will surely surprise you and make your Windows machine look unique but for now, we will just end up with this feature. If you have questions or would want to recommend a topic which you want to be discussed on the future, please feel free to post them as comments below.