Sometimes it’s useful to retrieve the current date and time
from within a batch for a command file. For instance, say you create a batch
file to perform a backup or copy operation and want the program to write the
current date and time for specific actions to a log file. Or assume you create
a batch file that (among other tasks) copies several folders from one location
to another. Now you’ll want to export the date and time the action is completed
to a log file.

You have a couple of options for extracting the current date
and time. One is to use the ECHO command in the batch file. You can use the
%date% and %time% variables to extract the date and time, and use the > and
>> redirection symbols to redirect the text to a file. The > symbol
creates a file and >> appends to a file. For example, use the following
command to append the date, time, and a message to a text file:

echo %date% %time% File
copy operation complete. >> log.txt

Another option is to use the Now.exe tool included with the
Windows 2000 Resource Kit. Now.exe extracts the current date and time and
displays it on the standard output (by default, the screen). You can use
redirection to direct the text to a file. The following is an example that
appends the current date, time, and a message to a text file:

Now File copy operation complete. >> log.txt

To use Now.exe in a batch file, install the Windows 2000
Resource Kit and make sure the path variable points to the folder containing
Now.exe (or place it in the folder from which you’re executing the batch file).

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