Unable to sync time with domain using Windows 7
Hi, we have a handful of Windows 7 desktops. Some of them sync time with the domain without requiring any configuration. Others seem to be stuck and will not sync with the domain. I have tried to manually configure the time service as described here but it does not work I've unregistered and re-registered the w32tm.exe, I've tried to sync to an external time source too. Here are the commands and some of the outputs from one of these workstations. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks Alex w32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier /update net stop w32time net start w32time w32tm /query /source Local CMOS Clock 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)
August 10th, 2010 11:48am

Hi, I noticed that this issue only occurred with some specific computers. I am assuming that it is related to the computer BIOS. I would like to share the following KB: The BIOS Real Time Clock is set back one hour after you deploy a Windows XP, a Windows Vista, or a Windows 7 image to a computer Best Regards DalePlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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August 12th, 2010 4:41am

Interesting article. However, these machines were clean installs and not sysprep images. Any other ideas? Thanks A
August 12th, 2010 7:15pm

If you haven't already, you could try setting the time provider in the local group policy: Open a command a command prompt and type gpedit.msc. Navigate to Computer Configuration->System->Windows Time Service->Time Providers. In the right pane double-click the Configure Windows NTP Client setting. Set it to Enabled and enter your time provider information. Also set the Enable Windows NTP Client to Enabled. Alternately you can set all of this as a global policy on your domain.
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August 13th, 2010 8:11am

Thanks for the reply. I have set the local group policy as follows: Computer Configuration->System->Windows Time Service -> Enable Windows NTP Client = Enabled Computer Configuration->System->Windows Time Service -> Configure Windows NTP Client = Enabled NtpServer = domain.com,0x09 Keep in mind that I just want the system to sync to the domain, like the rest do. Ran gpupdate and I see that the policy was applied. However, when I query the source, it returns Local CMOS Clock. w32tm /query /source Local CMOS Clock Any other ideas? Thanks! A
August 13th, 2010 8:53am

Only one other idea, and it's a long shot. You don't have anything blocking/using UDP port 123 on those machines, do you? What do your event logs show? Any errors for the w32time service syncing to your server?
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August 13th, 2010 9:33am

Nothing in the logs. Nothing blocking 123. The frustrating part is that I can't even point the time service to use another source. It seems to be stuck at "Local CMOS Clock"... Thanks again. Alex Any others? :)
August 13th, 2010 12:08pm

Well, you could always change the registry setting at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\W32Time\Parameters->NtpServer to your time server. The issue is that if, for whatever reason, it can't establish a connection to the time server on UDP port 123 it's still going to fall back to "Local CMOS Clock" to get the time. I'd start by looking at what all the machines that can't get the time from the Domain have in common. Are they all connected to the same switch? Are they connected through a secondary router/firewall that might be blocking the traffic? Is there some Group Policy in place that's blocking certain addresses? Is there any special software that's installed on just these machines? I'm not saying it's any of these, but it may give you an idea of where to begin.
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August 13th, 2010 1:02pm

Thanks for the suggestions, but I set the registry as you described without success... I am now going to try to narrow down the list of applications that may be causing the conflict. Thanks. Alex
August 25th, 2010 11:54am

I have been experiencing the same problem in my environment. Windows XP machines will sync time with the domain just fine. Windows 7 PCs will not and UDP port 123 is not blocked. I setup port monitoring and can see the request and answer for the XP machine but monitoring the windows 7 machine I don't even see a request being sent out to the domain controller. Here is output from the windows 7 PC (should be all default settings). Type is set to NT5DS (domain) but status shows it is getting time from CMOS. C:\>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) FileLogName: c:\w32tm_debug.txt (Local) FileLogEntries: 0-300 (Local) FileLogSize: 1000000 (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:\>w32tm /query /status Leap Indicator: 3(last minute has 61 seconds) Stratum: 0 (unspecified) Precision: -6 (15.625ms per tick) Root Delay: 0.0000000s Root Dispersion: 0.0000000s ReferenceId: 0x00000000 (unspecified) Last Successful Sync Time: unspecified Source: Local CMOS Clock Poll Interval: 10 (1024s)
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November 3rd, 2010 7:18pm

We are also experiencing this problem with a handful of machines. Have tried all of the above commands but yet the source remains on "Local CMOS Clock". Has anyone managed to solve this problem yet? If so I'd really appreciate some insight. Thanks, Neil
November 11th, 2010 7:06am

The issue for my environment turned out to be a 3rd party application that was causing UDP 123 to not listen. After uninstalling Sprint Smartview software my windows 7 PCs were able to sync with the domain time.
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January 10th, 2011 11:43am

Same issue on my local windows 7 domain client PC. Ive run netstat /a and port 123 is not listed as listening (not listed at all). How would I find out if an app is blocking port 123 and which app it would be?
March 9th, 2012 5:13am

Is your W32Time service running?Here is my Win 7 domain PC:C:\Windows\system32>netstat -ano | findstr PID Proto Local Address Foreign Address State PIDC:\Windows\system32>netstat -ano | findstr 123 UDP 0.0.0.0:123 *:* 332 UDP [::]:123 *:* 332The process that owns the PID (process identifier) of 332 can be found in the task manager In the "Processes" tab, it is listed as svchost.exe and then in "Services" tab as W32Time service.
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May 1st, 2012 6:07am

having same exact issue at a client's Win7 PC that despite all efforts won't point to the domain time source - the w32time service is running and listening **still searching for a substantive explanation and solution to why it is stuck on 'local cmos clock'** w32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier w32tm /config /update net stop w32time && net start w32time w32tm /resync /nowait /rediscover ...then after a moment w32tm /query /sourceDale Unroe
May 24th, 2012 9:23am

**solved in my case** on the problematic client NIC interface the DNS server was not set to Automatic and instead only pointed to an external DNS Server - without the LAN DNS many things including and beyond the Time Server are now working properly with access to the Domain ControllerDale Unroe
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May 24th, 2012 10:27am

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