Question : W32Time

I would like W32Time to run once per day but not during boot up. Can this be done if the W32Time service is configured to start up automatically?

More generally, if one specifies a 'Period=1' in W32IME.INI, does the time get set when the service starts up and once every 24 hours thereafter? Is there a way to explicitly specify when (e.g., 2:00am) W32Time should set the time?

Here's why I ask ...

I've configured a Scheduled Task to run at the start of each month. This task sets the RunOnce registry setting and reboots the PC (don't ask). Occasionally, the Scheduled Task runs twice at the beginning of the month. After the reboot I suspect that W32Time is setting the time back a few seconds before Midnight and the Scheduled Task dutifully executes again.

Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer : W32Time

Sounds like you're using this on NT4, correct? The "net time /setsntp" won't work :-( It's for W2k upwards

I've been using w32time here to keep our NT4 boxes sync'ed over a LAN/WAN for about 2 years, and it works pretty well for us. The DC's on our main site all set their time from one Internet host, and our local servers randomly chose one of those DCs to sync with. Our remote DCs also choose a random DC from the main site, and remote servers will then sync from their local DC. I have left the period at the default 2/3 times daily (default PERIOD=0 in w32time.ini) on all machines.

Even with this (complicated?!) setup, remote servers are within 2 seconds of my PC when I use PC Anywhere.

Unless you're using some really old/unreliable hardware, I can't believe your machine is gaining 2 or 3 minutes (time taken for a re-boot?) per day. Try disabling w32time on that PC and check it over a few days, if possible.

Either way, I would suggest setting the time *more* often than once a day, at least the default period. If the hardware RTC clock is really bad, then maybe more often than that. (

Have you checked the Event Log for w32time messages? Are you sure that the w32time is actually setting the time? Maybe it isn't actually getting the time off your time server. What are you using as the NTP server, w32time or something else? Are you using a local NTP server or one off the Internet?

Let us know...