Windows 7 machines won't sync time

Question

I configured my Windows Server 2008 box as an authoritative time server using the instructions here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816042

Port 123 is open for incoming and outgoing connections on the server.

However, the other computers on the domain (which are all running Windows 7) will not sync time with it.

I get the following output from various w32tm commands (run on the Windows 7 machines):

C:\Windows\system33>w32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier /update
The command completed successfully.

C:\Windows\system32>net stop w32time
The Windows Time service is stopping.
The Windows Time service was stopped successfully.

C:\Windows\system32>net start w32time
The Windows Time service is starting.
The Windows Time service was started successfully.

C:\Windows\system32>w32tm /query /source
Local CMOS Clock

C:\Windows\system32>w32tm /query /configuration
[Configuration]

EventLogFlags: 2 (Local)
AnnounceFlags: 10 (Local)
TimeJumpAuditOffset: 28800 (Local)
MinPollInterval: 10 (Local)
MaxPollInterval: 15 (Local)
MaxNegPhaseCorrection: 4294967295 (Local)
MaxPosPhaseCorrection: 4294967295 (Local)
MaxAllowedPhaseOffset: 300 (Local)

FrequencyCorrectRate: 4 (Local)
PollAdjustFactor: 5 (Local)
LargePhaseOffset: 50000000 (Local)
SpikeWatchPeriod: 900 (Local)
LocalClockDispersion: 10 (Local)
HoldPeriod: 5 (Local)
PhaseCorrectRate: 1 (Local)
UpdateInterval: 30000 (Local)


[TimeProviders]

NtpClient (Local)
DllName: C:\Windows\system32\w32time.dll (Local)
Enabled: 1 (Local)
InputProvider: 1 (Local)
CrossSiteSyncFlags: 2 (Local)
AllowNonstandardModeCombinations: 1 (Local)
ResolvePeerBackoffMinutes: 15 (Local)
ResolvePeerBackoffMaxTimes: 7 (Local)
CompatibilityFlags: 2147483648 (Local)
EventLogFlags: 1 (Local)
LargeSampleSkew: 3 (Local)
SpecialPollInterval: 3600 (Local)
Type: NT5DS (Local)

VMICTimeProvider (Local)
DllName: C:\Windows\System32\vmictimeprovider.dll (Local)
Enabled: 1 (Local)
InputProvider: 1 (Local)
NtpServer (Local)
DllName: C:\Windows\system32\w32time.dll (Local)
Enabled: 0 (Local)
InputProvider: 0 (Local)

C:\Windows\system32>w32tm /resync /rediscover
Sending resync command to local computer
The computer did not resync because no time data was available.

I also get the following error in my event log:

NtpClient was unable to set a domain peer to use as a time source because of discovery error. NtpClient will try again in 3473457 minutes and double the reattempt interval thereafter. The error was: The entry is not found. (0x800706E1)

How can I fix this?

Answer 1

Keep in mind that Group Policy may be overriding your local registry settings.

w32tm /query /configuration in 2008 to find out, I can find no equivalent for 2003.

Answer 2

On your server, how exactly have you entered the peer servers (step 4c in the Microsoft KB article referenced)? If you just typed in the word peers as stated in the KB, that certainly won't do. The entry should be something like: us.pool.ntp.org,0x1 time.windows.com,0x1 some.other.time.server,0x1

You can verify these settings with the command 'net time /querysntp'

If the server is unable to get a usable timestamp from the upstream peer, it will not advertise itself as authoritative to your clients, and the clients may not synchronize with it. I have found that time.windows.com regularly fails to provide usable timestamps to my servers; therefore I do not use it.