Pimp my computer clock
Windows has a feature to sync your clock with internet time servers.
I know this because I’ve done it at home and now I’m trying to set
that up on some of my computers at work but I’m having trouble. When
I double-click the clock in my system tray, there’s no tab for syncing
with Internet Time, but sc query w32time tells me the service
is running. What’s going on?
provides a document explaining the time service and how it is
administered inside domains, linking to
Microsoft whitepaper on the Windows Time Service. Computers joined
to a domain will typically have their clocks synchronized by the
domain controller (all the computers will be within 2 seconds of each
other or, on a larger domain within 20 seconds of each other). Had I
run net time instead of querying the service with
sc, I would see that indeed my computer clock is, indeed,
syncing to a local domain controller. If I wanted to use some NIST
server it appears I would run net time
/setsnp:time-nw.nist.gov to update the time server and then
restart the service with net stop w32time and net start
w32time. But I can also check the accuracy of my clock by calling
WWV at 303-499-7111. WWV ticks at one second intervals, reads other
weather data, and chimes when the time is exactly now. It
turns out my clocks are exactly precise already, so I’ll run net
time /setsntp with no server setting and restart my w32time
service to restore the default settings.
Oh - and the “Internet Time” tab available on my “Date and Time
Properties” dialog that appears when I double click the clock on my
computer at home shows up there because that computer isn’t part of a
domain.