What kind of project?
If you're doing a Windows application, you can use GetSystemTime() and
SetSystemTime() with a SYSTEMTIME structure. For more on these, plug the
phrase "system time" into the help, filtered by Visual C++.
More generally, VC++ 7.1 still supports time.h and ctime.h (time constants),
which can be used to get the system time.
I'm sure others will offer additional suggestions...