best option for time sync

[John A Grandy]

XP Pro SP2

What's the best utility to ensure the system clock is nearly always in sync
?

 

[Mark F.]

XP Pro SP2

What's the best utility to ensure the system clock is nearly always in sync
?

If your system's clock is slipping, check the battery on the mainboard for
proper voltage. But before you do, note that you will have to reset your CMOS
settings. Removing the battery is one method of clearing the CMOS. Lithium
batteries generally last about 5 years (IME). Some system boards are notorious
for inaccurate clocks.

If you want software (free/share) do a Google for "atomic clock PC synchronizer"
with no quotes. There are a lot of them. I have tried a few of the freeware apps
such as this one,
http://www.itoolpad.com/products/timesync/download.php
with no problems.

HTH
Mark

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

XP Pro SP2

What's the best utility to ensure the system clock is nearly always
in sync ?

Sync it to an internet clock often. Do it once an hour, if you require that
much accuracy. There are several utilities that do this. I like the freeware
tclock (*not* the similarly-named, but inferior, in my view, tclockex),
which does this and several other useful things.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

If your system's clock is slipping, check the battery on the
mainboard for proper voltage.

Before anyone whose clock is running slow rushes out to buy a new battery,
he should first take note of whether he is losing time while the computer is
running or while it's powered off. If it's while powered off, the problem
*is* very likely the battery. But if it's while running, it can *not* be the
battery, because the battery isn't used while the computer is running.

 

[Mark F.]

Mark F. wrote:





Before anyone whose clock is running slow rushes out to buy a new battery,
he should first take note of whether he is losing time while the computer is
running or while it's powered off. If it's while powered off, the problem
*is* very likely the battery. But if it's while running, it can *not* be the
battery, because the battery isn't used while the computer is running.

That's correct. I should have made the distinction.

 

[John A Grandy]

I don't see why MS didn't include an option for auto-sync'ing in the
"Internet Time" tab of "Date and Time Properties"

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I don't see why MS didn't include an option for auto-sync'ing in the
"Internet Time" tab of "Date and Time Properties"

They do. It's automatically synched once a week I recommended a third-party
program only for its ability to synch as often as you want, since doing it
weekly didn't appear to be often enough for you.