Is MS time server is off?

[Cameo]

When I installed W7, I selected Microsoft's time server to set my PC's
time. Yet my PC keeps displaying time that is about 2-3 minutes ahead of
the real time. Anybody else has this problem?

 

[Jeff Layman]

When I installed W7, I selected Microsoft's time server to set my PC's
time. Yet my PC keeps displaying time that is about 2-3 minutes ahead of
the real time. Anybody else has this problem?

Possibly the guys at CERN playing with neutrinos....

 

[Jolly polly]

When I installed W7, I selected Microsoft's time server to set my PC's
time. Yet my PC keeps displaying time that is about 2-3 minutes ahead of
the real time. Anybody else has this problem?

Try a different server, here's a few;

europe.pool.ntp.org
uk.pool.ntp.org
ntp2d.mcc.ac.uk
time-nw.nist.gov
time-a.nist.gov
time-b.nist.gov
time.nist.gov
time.windows.com

 

[Cameo]

Try a different server, here's a few;

europe.pool.ntp.org
uk.pool.ntp.org
ntp2d.mcc.ac.uk
time-nw.nist.gov
time-a.nist.gov
time-b.nist.gov
time.nist.gov
time.windows.com

I would, but I have no idea where that time server setting menu is.
During initial install I was just asked the question by the install wizard.

 

[Dominique]

I would, but I have no idea where that time server setting menu is.
During initial install I was just asked the question by the install wizard.

Click on the clock at the right side of the taskbar, in the clock that
appears, click on Modify parameters for Date and Time, in the window that
appears choose the Internet Time tab and click on the Change parameters
button.

My Windows is in French so it's approximate translation, the text might be
different than what I've written above.

 

[Char Jackson]

I would, but I have no idea where that time server setting menu is.
During initial install I was just asked the question by the install wizard.

Click on the clock in the System Tray (or Notification Area, whatever
you like to call it). This brings up the clock/calendar. Click on the
obvious blue text at the bottom of the calendar that says Change Date
& Time Settings. Then click on the tab that says Internet Time, and
finally Change Settings.

 

[James Silverton]

Click on the clock at the right side of the taskbar, in the clock that
appears, click on Modify parameters for Date and Time, in the window that
appears choose the Internet Time tab and click on the Change parameters
button.

My Windows is in French so it's approximate translation, the text might be
different than what I've written above.

That's a good way to go but you can also go via Control Panel.
Incidentally, I have used pool.ntp.org as my time server since I bought
my computer nine months ago.

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not* (e-mail address removed)

 

[Cameo]

Click on the clock in the System Tray (or Notification Area, whatever
you like to call it). This brings up the clock/calendar. Click on the
obvious blue text at the bottom of the calendar that says Change Date
& Time Settings. Then click on the tab that says Internet Time, and
finally Change Settings.

Thanks guys; that was easier than I thought. I changed to
time-nw.nist.gov, as I live in the Pacific Northwest, and the time
immediately was fixed on the PC.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

Thanks guys; that was easier than I thought. I changed to
time-nw.nist.gov, as I live in the Pacific Northwest, and the time
immediately was fixed on the PC.

That's good, but don't be too sure that fixed the problem permanently.
Getting Windows to automatically sync the time periodically can be
problematic. Keep an eye on it, regardless of the server you use.

 

[Char Jackson]

That's good, but don't be too sure that fixed the problem permanently.
Getting Windows to automatically sync the time periodically can be
problematic. Keep an eye on it, regardless of the server you use.

On my XP systems, rather than accept the default of weekly time syncs,
I always change the interval to 60 minutes. Overkill, perhaps, but it
makes me feel better.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

When I installed W7, I selected Microsoft's time server to set my PC's
time. Yet my PC keeps displaying time that is about 2-3 minutes ahead of
the real time. Anybody else has this problem?

This is really an addition to Crash's post...

The default update interval is a week. If your computer clock isn't
accurate, that's possibly too infrequent.

Time for a registry change...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient\SpecialPollInterval

gives the interval in seconds. In hexadecimal But when you change
it you can select the decimal radio button - which might be easier.

It should be more than four hours, I am told, or the time server might
get annoyed at you. I used 18000 decimal.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

On Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:40:53 -0400, "Dave \"Crash\" Dummy"


On my XP systems, rather than accept the default of weekly time syncs,
I always change the interval to 60 minutes. Overkill, perhaps, but it
makes me feel better.

The internet suite I have (Turnpike) tells you how much it's correcting
by, and won't if the correction is over a certain amount (I can't
remember if it's settable; if not, it's around an hour), which is handy
for when the selected server goes off on a wander.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Everything you've learned in school as `obvious' becomes less and less obvious
as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the
universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute
continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.
-R. Buckminster Fuller, engineer, designer, and architect (1895-1983)

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Char - and Crash - and Cameo.

In Win7, there's no option to change the update frequency. After Change
Settings, all we can do is change the time server - or accept the default -
and then click Update now. (As Gene said, it can be changed in the
Registry, but that should not be necessary.)

Of course, we can Update now every 60 minutes if we insist. ;^{

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"Char Jackson" wrote in message

That's good, but don't be too sure that fixed the problem permanently.
Getting Windows to automatically sync the time periodically can be
problematic. Keep an eye on it, regardless of the server you use.

On my XP systems, rather than accept the default of weekly time syncs,
I always change the interval to 60 minutes. Overkill, perhaps, but it
makes me feel better.

 

[Paul]

This is really an addition to Crash's post...

The default update interval is a week. If your computer clock isn't
accurate, that's possibly too infrequent.

Time for a registry change...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient\SpecialPollInterval

gives the interval in seconds. In hexadecimal But when you change
it you can select the decimal radio button - which might be easier.

It should be more than four hours, I am told, or the time server might
get annoyed at you. I used 18000 decimal.

If you use pool.ntp.org , it's supposed to load share across hundreds
of time server machines. I don't know though, at what interval, the
address is evaluated and a random machine is assigned. One negative
of such an approach, is if any of those machines is de-tuned, you could
get bad time synchronization info. I haven't had a problem while using
it, so they seem to have decent quality control.

I tried that interval changing stuff in the past (interval in seconds),
and I couldn't really tell it was working right. On my current machine,
there is a w32time.log file, but there doesn't seem to be one by that name on
my Windows 7 laptop. And even if you have that log file to look at,
it's full of garbage (software activity unrelated to actually polling
a host).

Paul

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

This is really an addition to Crash's post...

The default update interval is a week. If your computer clock isn't
accurate, that's possibly too infrequent.

Time for a registry change...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient\SpecialPollInterval



gives the interval in seconds. In hexadecimal But when you
change it you can select the decimal radio button - which might be
easier.

It should be more than four hours, I am told, or the time server
might get annoyed at you. I used 18000 decimal.

I got tired of messing with it and went back to my old faithful
Abouttime utility, which I run with the Task Scheduler. I need to keep my
computer within a second of the rest of the universe, so I sync every
two hours.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

If you use pool.ntp.org , it's supposed to load share across hundreds
of time server machines. I don't know though, at what interval, the
address is evaluated and a random machine is assigned. One negative
of such an approach, is if any of those machines is de-tuned, you could
get bad time synchronization info. I haven't had a problem while using
it, so they seem to have decent quality control.

I tried that interval changing stuff in the past (interval in seconds),
and I couldn't really tell it was working right. On my current machine,
there is a w32time.log file, but there doesn't seem to be one by that name on
my Windows 7 laptop. And even if you have that log file to look at,
it's full of garbage (software activity unrelated to actually polling
a host).

Paul

I don't really know

A week or two ago I noticed that my computer time was off by 30 or 40
sec, so I changed the polling interval to 5 hours. Every time I checked
after that (by going to the set-time screen and looking at the seconds),
it was within a second or two of my radio-controlled watch - except just
now, when the error is 4 or 5 seconds.

Maybe I'll change the Notification Area display to show seconds and
start watching it like a hawk

I'm too lazy to fetch a short-wave radio and check against WWV.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I don't really know

A week or two ago I noticed that my computer time was off by 30 or 40
sec, so I changed the polling interval to 5 hours. Every time I checked
after that (by going to the set-time screen and looking at the seconds),
it was within a second or two of my radio-controlled watch - except just
now, when the error is 4 or 5 seconds.

Maybe I'll change the Notification Area display to show seconds and
start watching it like a hawk

I'm too lazy to fetch a short-wave radio and check against WWV.

Can't find a way to change the System Tray time to show seconds, so I'll
turn on seconds in my clock gadget

 

[Char Jackson]

I got tired of messing with it and went back to my old faithful
Abouttime utility, which I run with the Task Scheduler. I need to keep my
computer within a second of the rest of the universe, so I sync every
two hours.

Does "tired of messing with it" mean you had trouble with the built in
functionality? Under the hood, it's a pretty simple feature and in my
experience it works well in both XP and 7.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

Can't find a way to change the System Tray time to show seconds, so
I'll turn on seconds in my clock gadget

You need a third party utility. There are several, but I use Stoic
Joker's TClock, which is available in a 64 bit version.
http://www.stoicjoker.com/TClock/

 

[Zaidy036]

You need a third party utility. There are several, but I use Stoic
Joker's TClock, which is available in a 64 bit version.
http://www.stoicjoker.com/TClock/

Talking Clock is a free Win7 gadget that will show seconds.
And talking can be shut off.

See: http://www.homecookedgadgets.com/gadgets.php?id=5