Incorrect time on servers

I have 3 domain controllers - NYDC1 NYDC2 and NYDC3. NYDC3 is the PDC
Emulator, a role that it took over from a now decommissioned machine.

When I type NET TIME on the servers, they show "Current time at \\NYDC2
is...." even though NYDC2 is not, and never has been the PDC Emulator.

This would not be a major problem to me if it were not for the fact that
NYDC2 is 4 minutes fast. I set it back to the correct time, and within 15
minutes it has set itself back to 4 minutes ahead...which means all the
other servers and then the PCs do the same thing.

All 3 DCs are set in the registry to use NT5DS as their Type in the
W32Time\Parameters section of the registry. I have removed the NTPServer key
altogether from NYDC2 thinking maybe that it was getting the wrong time from
time.windows.com, but it hasn't made any difference.

I have also tried telling NYDC2 it is not reliable (w32tm /config
/isreliable:no) and restarting the w32time service, but this has had no
effect.

I guess at the root of all this is the fact that my PDC Emulator is not
considered the reliable time source, but dcdiag and netdiag all come up OK
so I am not sure where to go from here. I have been through all the articles
on Technet and other sites but still no joy.

Any help would be most appreciated.

What do you get on your servers with you type net time /querysntp.
Typically, you go to your PDC emulator and type net time
/setsntp:time.nist.gov (or your preferred time server). On your non-PDC
servers when you type net time /querysntp you would make sure you get:

------------------------
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

U:\>net time /querysntp
This computer is not currently configured to use a specific SNTP server.

The command completed successfully.

U:\>
-------------------------

This means that this machine will automatically sync with the PDC emulator
domain controller.

If you get an actual server listed, you can type net time /setsntp: <enter>
to remove any preconfigured time server.

I personally have never had to tweak any registry settings manually to
accomplish this. The command line has worked fine for me.

-Frank


"Chris Herbert" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%23$8NIKy$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have 3 domain controllers - NYDC1 NYDC2 and NYDC3. NYDC3 is the PDC
>Emulator, a role that it took over from a now decommissioned machine.
>
> When I type NET TIME on the servers, they show "Current time at \\NYDC2
> is...." even though NYDC2 is not, and never has been the PDC Emulator.
>
> This would not be a major problem to me if it were not for the fact that
> NYDC2 is 4 minutes fast. I set it back to the correct time, and within 15
> minutes it has set itself back to 4 minutes ahead...which means all the
> other servers and then the PCs do the same thing.
>
> All 3 DCs are set in the registry to use NT5DS as their Type in the
> W32Time\Parameters section of the registry. I have removed the NTPServer
> key altogether from NYDC2 thinking maybe that it was getting the wrong
> time from time.windows.com, but it hasn't made any difference.
>
> I have also tried telling NYDC2 it is not reliable (w32tm /config
> /isreliable:no) and restarting the w32time service, but this has had no
> effect.
>
> I guess at the root of all this is the fact that my PDC Emulator is not
> considered the reliable time source, but dcdiag and netdiag all come up OK
> so I am not sure where to go from here. I have been through all the
> articles on Technet and other sites but still no joy.
>
> Any help would be most appreciated.
>
>