RE: Using the built-in Win2K/WinXP NTP client
Posted: 4/13/2004 6:53:05 AM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 2,459
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: Windows Administration
Parent Message
Unfortuntaly this DOES NOT work with WinXP Service Pack 1 with all critical windows updates (April 13, 2004).  The problem is that w32tm does not recognize any of the command line parameters.  I looked to see if there were newer parameters that would match the ones given in the article and there does not seem to be.  This utility seems to be for a server, with functions for updating other computers.

W32tm.exe Info -
File Version: 5.1.2600.0 (xpclient.010817-1148)
File Date (Created): Wednesday, August 28, 2002, 9:00:00 PM
File Size: 49,664 bytes

w32tm /? output:

w32tm [/? | /register | /unregister ]
  ? - this help screen.
  register - register to run as a service and add default
    configuration to the registry.
  unregister - unregister service and remove all configuration
    information from the registry.

w32tm /monitor [/domain:]
               [/computers:[,[,...]]]
               [/threads:]
  domain - specifies which domain to monitor. If no domain name
    is given, or neither the domain nor computers option is
    specified, the default domain is used. This option may be
    used more than once.
  computers - monitors the given list of computers. Computer
    names are separated by commas, with no spaces. If a name is
    prefixed with a '*', it is treated as a PDC. This option
    may be used more than once.
  threads - how many computers to analyze simultaneously. The
    default value is 3. Allowed range is 1-50.

w32tm /ntte
  Convert a NT system time, in (10^-7)s intervals from 0h 1-Jan 1601,
  into a readable format.

w32tm /ntpte
  Convert an NTP time, in (2^-32)s intervals from 0h 1-Jan 1900, into
  a readable format.

w32tm /resync [/computer:] [/nowait] [/rediscover] [/soft]
  Tell a computer that it should resynchronize its clock as soon
  as possible, throwing out all accumulated error statistics.
  computer: - computer that should resync. If not
    specified, the local computer will resync.
  nowait - do not wait for the resync to occur;
    return immediately. Otherwise, wait for the resync to
    complete before returning.
  rediscover - redetect the network configuration and rediscover
    network sources, then resynchronize.
  soft - resync utilizing existing error statistics. Not useful,
    provided for compatibility.

w32tm /stripchart /computer: [/period:]
    [/dataonly] [/samples:]
  Display a strip chart of the offset between this computer and
  another computer.
  computer: - the computer to measure the offset against.
  period: - the time between samples, in seconds. The
    default is 2s
  dataonly - display only the data, no graphics.
  samples: - collect samples, then stop. If not
    specified, samples will be collected until Ctrl-C is pressed.

w32tm /config [/computer:] [/update]
    [/manualpeerlist:] [/syncfromflags:]
    [/LocalClockDispersion:]
  computer: - adjusts the configuration of . If not
    specified, the default is the local computer.
  update - notifies the time service that the configuration has
    changed, causing the changes to take effect.
  manualpeerlist: - sets the manual peer list to ,
    which is a space-delimited list of DNS and/or IP addresses.
    When specifying multiple peers, this switch must be enclosed in
    quotes.
  syncfromflags: - sets what sources the NTP client should
    sync from. should be a comma separated list of
    these keywords (not case sensitive):
      MANUAL - include peers from the manual peer list
      DOMHIER - sync from a DC in the domain hierarchy

w32tm /tz
  Display the current time zone settings.

w32tm /dumpreg [/subkey:] [/computer:]
  Display the values associated with a given registry key.
  The default key is HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time
    (the root key for the time service).
  subkey: - displays the values associated with subkey of the default key.
  computer: - queries registry settings for computer
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RE: Using the built-in Win2K/WinXP NTP client
Posted: 4/13/2004 6:53:05 AM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 2,459
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: Windows Administration
Yipe, wow... Just freaking great. When I get some time, I'll have to check into it and see if there is a way to do it.

If you are on an Active Directory Domain with your XP Pro box, you only need to have the domain controller set to synch with NTP, as the XP Pro box by default (when joined to AD) will fetch its time from the domain controller. (Or whatever they call domain controllers these days...)

But if you are standalone, hmmm...  You can go to http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/service/its.htm for freeware NTP clients for all versions of Windows.

I'll check into the new w32tm later, I'm at work right now.
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