XP Time Server

[robhex]

Windows 2000 servers, XP clients.

Time on most clients is fine, a few however aren't synchronising properly. Is there a reason for this, they can be a few hours out?

They are in the same domain and login correctly. I have had many problems trying to synchronise everyone's time.

Thanks.

Rob.

[keeshond]

Here's a link that *may* help you, but more than likely you've already tried it.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q307897

Being an IT outcast now amidst a sea of paper MCSE's fighting for scraps, my skills are slowly degenerating. With that being said, I am now too depressed to do further research. Good luck.


*bang*

Damn.. I missed.

[robhex]

Firstly, thank you for the reply (both).

Isn't it amazing that I've seen a few microsoft Time Server documents and read them through and yet the link you sent me is one that I've never seen before! Do they publish a dozen with differing statements and hope that one of them solves your problem?

Do I use Net Time to synchronise or w32tm? If I use w32tm /resync then it comes up with the error - The computer did not resync because no time data was available -

If I try to force a computer to resynchronise then using w32tm -s [10.0.6.200] (or use the dns name and not the IP), I get the reply - RPC to server [10.0.6.200] returned 0x6ba - and nothing happens to the time.

NET TIME /SET works but I don't want to do this manually on 150 pc's...and how long will it work for...

HELP PLEASE !!!

[keeshond]

If the Windows Time service is running on all your XP clients, you shouldn't need to manually synchronize. Your observation about Microsoft's support site is why I get so aggravated with it. You know the answer or the download is available, but their search engine is so unreliable. You can try and get really specific with your search parameters, and the engine just seems to ignore them. It's almost as if they want it to be difficult, so you'll contact their support-for-pay personnel. Anyway, here is a good white paper dealing with the Windows Time service.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000...intimeserv.doc

Towards the bottom, you'll run across some guidelines and commands to help you troubleshoot the time service.

Here's another small supplemental link (this is one you've most likely seen before):

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q216734

And one more dealing with the specific error message you wrote about:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q247321

I hate to quote support articles, but it's difficult to troubleshoot via a messageboard. I'm sure you're well aware that being a good network administrator doesn't necessarily mean that one knows all the answers, but where to find them. Lastly, another thing to check would be your firewall/router (if implemented). Check that UDP port 123 is not sealed off (or that another application is using it). More specific information regarding ports/sockets is in the white paper.

As a last resort, you could always just create a login script to do the 'net time' thing automatically.

[robhex]

Thank you very much for the weblinks, I'll print them off today and read through them. I'll implement anything I can today and post my conclusions later.

A big thanks for all your help.

Rob.