Configuring Windows 2000 and Windows XP to use NIST Time Servers

Short Description
Configuring Windows 2000 & Windows XP Professional to Use ITS …. to the correct time-perhaps because your system administrator has already adopted an …

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Content
Configuring Windows 2000 and Windows XP to use NIST Time Servers
Table of Contents:
?Purpose
?Background Information
?Choose a NIST Internet Time Service (ITS) Server
?Configuring Windows 2000 & Windows XP Professional to Use ITS
?Configuring Windows XP Home Edition to Use ITS
?Troubleshooting Hints
Section 1: Purpose
?This document provides step-by-step instructions on how to use the NIST Internet Time Service (ITS) for computers running the Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating systems. These operating systems have a built-in capability to use the NIST time servers to set and maintain the correct time on their computers’ time-of-day clock.
?This document also provides background information and pointers that may be helpful for installing and running time synchronization software, in general, on a wider variety of computers.
?Comments and feedback on this document may be sent to timeinfo@boulder.nist.gov.Section 2: Background Information
?Almost all modern computers contain a time-of-day clock. This clock also keeps track of the day, month, and year. (A separate “clock” governs the speed of the computer and is commonly quoted in megahertz or gigahertz.)
?The time clock in the computer is used to keep track of when documents (files) are created and last changed, when electronic mail messages are sent and received, and when other time-sensitive events and transactions happen. In order to accurately compare files, messages, and other records residing on different computers, their time clocks must be set from a common standard. It is particularly important that computers that are networked together use a common standard of time.
?In Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional, a common time standard is also a critical element for secure network communication between computers within a “Domain.” Therefore, these versions of Windows include a “service” (a program that runs in the background, that you usually do not have to interact with) to synchronize a computer’s clock to the clocks of the other computers within the Domain. (Computers running Windows XP Home Edition cannot…