Time flies when I use Windows XP®

[Rick]

I have another one of those non system-critical problems I've mentioned having with Windows XP again - This time I find it humorous though.

Whenever I start the "Windows Time" service that enables automatic time updates with a time server, my clock moves at twice the speed. I can actually watch the seconds go by twice as fast as usual...

And I know that the servers are not wrong, mainly because the time update only happens every 14 days.. not every second.

Anyone care to take a stab at this one? It is annoying, although I find it particularly amusing.

 

[TS | Thomas]

No luck on the Microsoft Knowledge Based with it I'm afraid, only this one;
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307897

 

[Phantasm66]

Maybe time flies when you use it because its such a good operating system....

 

[Rick]

Originally posted by Phantasm66
Maybe time flies when you use it because its such a good operating system....

LoL! And I'm sure Microsoft's next operating system will make time go even FASTER.

 

[Phantasm66]

Maybe when Blackcomb (next gen windows) comes out your life will be even better....

 

[PHATMAN5050]

LoL, i would've loved to see your reaction when you first looked down and saw it was 3:00am instead of 1.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Why do you use that service then?

From http://www.dillobits.com/w32time.html:
The Windows Time (W32Time) service for Windows 2000 and Windows XP is an improvement over TimeServ or NET TIME, but it is difficult to configure, time-consuming to administer, and has severe limitations. Windows Time is perhaps accurate enough to keep Kerberos working, but is insufficient for any other synchronization purpose. Here are some of the issues:

* Two-second accuracy target. Windows Time only attempts to keep the time on each machine synchronized within two seconds of its source. The two-second target is not configurable, and would normally lead to a 2-4 second deviation from the timing source. This can have serious implications for some distributed systems.
* Limited SNTP timeserver. You can set Windows Time to function as an SNTP time source for operation with other programs by changing a registry setting. The time served will only be accurate to the level of accuracy on that machine, which is targeted to two seconds, but can often fail to achieve this.
* No default time source. By default, the Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) PDC does not use a trusted source at all. It just assumes its own time is correct! You must set the SNTP source by using the NET TIME command in a command window on the PDC to get it to synchronize to an outside source.
* No support for non-Windows 2000 or non-Windows XP machines in the time hierarchy. Each machine, at boot time, determines its time source. For BDCs, this is the PDC. For member servers and workstations, this is the BDC that authenticated the machine onto the domain. This behavior is not configurable, and means that machines that aren't part of a Windows 2000 domain or a Windows XP domain (all Win95/Win98 machines, NT machines in a workgroup, and NT machines in a domain without a PDC running Active Directory) cannot participate in domain-wide time synchronization. They must use the NET TIME command, usually in a logon batch file.

If I was you, I'd use some NTP client like Tardis.

 

[Rick]

Phatman > Funnily enough, my clock read 9am and I was about to go to bed, but in fact, it was REALLY 7am, so I had a couple of good hours left. I wasn't too surprised, but my girlfriend was when she asked the time.

Originally posted by Mictlantecuhtli
Why do you use that service then?

If I was you, I'd use some NTP client like Tardis.

Dude, if I needed mission critical time accuracy to plot planetary linear alignments, then I'd use something else.

Computer times aren't very accurate anyhow. I just like having something to verify that the computer is ineed correct. This is just so I know I am not late for work, early for an appointment or on-time for a familiy reunion.. Two to four seconds I can live with.

I do appreciate the heads up though. I didn't realize it sucked that much.

Of course, now I will no longer use it after the recent discovery of this bug.