How to force Windows XP Pro. SP3 to retry another NTP server if itfails?

Hello.

I noticed sometimes my old, updated Windows XP Pro. SP3's internet time
synchronizations with a time server, fail for whatever reasons. Is there
a way to have it automatically try a different NTP server automatically
if the current one failed?

The reason why I ask is because my Windows/PC's time/clock seems to
drift slowly a lot when I use DVI and watch videos. You can read
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?p=1336503761 ,
http://forums.amd.com/game/messagevi...hreadid=146947 ,
and
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.c...95263549e7bfea
.... So far, we're all stomped.

Thank you in advance.
--
"He who cannot pick up an ant, and wants to pick up an elephant will
some day see his folly." --African
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
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| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

Ant wrote:

Hello.

I noticed sometimes my old, updated Windows XP Pro. SP3's internet time
synchronizations with a time server, fail for whatever reasons. Is there
a way to have it automatically try a different NTP server automatically
if the current one failed?

The reason why I ask is because my Windows/PC's time/clock seems to
drift slowly a lot when I use DVI and watch videos. You can read
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?p=1336503761 ,
http://forums.amd.com/game/messagevi...hreadid=146947 ,
and
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.c...95263549e7bfea
... So far, we're all stomped.

Thank you in advance.

The only registry entry that I noticed for NTP is to provide a list of
NTP servers. That is, you can increase the list of NTP servers from
which you can pick one for Windows time sync service. So you'll need to
start looking at 3rd party NTP utilities that can try several different
NTP servers. I use Socke****ch (not free) which has a long list of NTP
servers (although I had to edit its list to get rid of the dead ones and
add a few that I knew about since this list hasn't been updated in
years). It tests the NTP servers to find the top 5 best performers and
picks the fastest one from that list, but which one gets used can vary
over time and depends on response from the server, delays in the hosts
in the route, etc. There are several "atomic clock" time sync utilities
available that are free.

On 2/20/2011 6:57 PM PT, VanguardLH typed:

The only registry entry that I noticed for NTP is to provide a list of
NTP servers. That is, you can increase the list of NTP servers from
which you can pick one for Windows time sync service. So you'll need to
start looking at 3rd party NTP utilities that can try several different
NTP servers. I use Socke****ch (not free) which has a long list of NTP
servers (although I had to edit its list to get rid of the dead ones and
add a few that I knew about since this list hasn't been updated in
years). It tests the NTP servers to find the top 5 best performers and
picks the fastest one from that list, but which one gets used can vary
over time and depends on response from the server, delays in the hosts
in the route, etc. There are several "atomic clock" time sync utilities
available that are free.

Thanks. What do you think of Tardis since it is free?
http://www.kaska.demon.co.uk/tardis.htm for it. I used to use it in
Windows 9x before XP, but it's old.
--
"It is certain that there may be extraordinary mental activity with an
extremely small absolute mass of nervous matter: thus the wonderfully
diversified instincts, mental powers, and affections of ants are
notorious, yet their cerebral ganglia are not so large as the quarter of
a small pin's head. Under this point of view, the brain of an ant is one
of the most marvelous atoms of matter in the world, perhaps more so than
the brain of a man." --Charles Darwin (from The Origin of Species, 1859)
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

Ant wrote:

On 2/20/2011 6:57 PM PT, VanguardLH typed:

The only registry entry that I noticed for NTP is to provide a list of
NTP servers. That is, you can increase the list of NTP servers from
which you can pick one for Windows time sync service. So you'll need to
start looking at 3rd party NTP utilities that can try several different
NTP servers. I use Socke****ch (not free) which has a long list of NTP
servers (although I had to edit its list to get rid of the dead ones and
add a few that I knew about since this list hasn't been updated in
years). It tests the NTP servers to find the top 5 best performers and
picks the fastest one from that list, but which one gets used can vary
over time and depends on response from the server, delays in the hosts
in the route, etc. There are several "atomic clock" time sync utilities
available that are free.

Thanks. What do you think of Tardis since it is free?
http://www.kaska.demon.co.uk/tardis.htm for it. I used to use it in
Windows 9x before XP, but it's old.

I've never used Tardis. It's been maybe over a decade since I trialed a
few time sync utilities. I settled on Socke****ch but it isn't free.
It hasn't been updated in a long time but then neither has NTP changed
for even longer; however, I had to decipher the text file used to list
the NTP servers to get rid of the old and dead NTP servers and add in
some new ones.

On 20/02/2011 10:49 PM, Ant wrote:
Thanks. What do you think of Tardis since it is free?
http://www.kaska.demon.co.uk/tardis.htm for it. I used to use it in
Windows 9x before XP, but it's old.

I use AboutTime on my XP box. I go with just the default time sync on
the Win 7 box.

Yousuf Khan

On 2/20/2011 11:35 PM PT, Yousuf Khan typed:

Thanks. What do you think of Tardis since it is free?
http://www.kaska.demon.co.uk/tardis.htm for it. I used to use it in
Windows 9x before XP, but it's old.

I use AboutTime on my XP box. I go with just the default time sync on
the Win 7 box.

Hmm, http://www.arachnoid.com/abouttime/ is pretty old too from 1999.
Heh. Do I assume this program will retry and with different NTP servers
if the current one fails?
--
"Maybe it's like an ant hive..." "Bees man, bees have hives." "You know
what I mean. It's like one female that runs the whole show." "Yes, the
queen." "Yeah the mamma. She is bad*ss, man. I mean big." "These things
ain't ants estupido." "I know that." --Aliens movie
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On 2/20/2011 10:11 PM PT, VanguardLH typed:

The only registry entry that I noticed for NTP is to provide a list of
NTP servers. That is, you can increase the list of NTP servers from
which you can pick one for Windows time sync service. So you'll need to
start looking at 3rd party NTP utilities that can try several different
NTP servers. I use Socke****ch (not free) which has a long list of NTP
servers (although I had to edit its list to get rid of the dead ones and
add a few that I knew about since this list hasn't been updated in
years). It tests the NTP servers to find the top 5 best performers and
picks the fastest one from that list, but which one gets used can vary
over time and depends on response from the server, delays in the hosts
in the route, etc. There are several "atomic clock" time sync utilities
available that are free.

Thanks. What do you think of Tardis since it is free?
http://www.kaska.demon.co.uk/tardis.htm for it. I used to use it in
Windows 9x before XP, but it's old.

I've never used Tardis. It's been maybe over a decade since I trialed a
few time sync utilities. I settled on Socke****ch but it isn't free.
It hasn't been updated in a long time but then neither has NTP changed
for even longer; however, I had to decipher the text file used to list
the NTP servers to get rid of the old and dead NTP servers and add in
some new ones.

Thanks.
--
"At high tide the fish eat ants; at low tide the ants eat fish." --Thai
Proverb
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On 21/02/2011 10:12 AM, Ant wrote:
On 2/20/2011 11:35 PM PT, Yousuf Khan typed:

Thanks. What do you think of Tardis since it is free?
http://www.kaska.demon.co.uk/tardis.htm for it. I used to use it in
Windows 9x before XP, but it's old.

I use AboutTime on my XP box. I go with just the default time sync on
the Win 7 box.

Hmm, http://www.arachnoid.com/abouttime/ is pretty old too from 1999.
Heh. Do I assume this program will retry and with different NTP servers
if the current one fails?

Yup, you can put as many servers into its list as you can find, and
it'll try each one in sequence. If it doesn't connect with any of them,
then there's something wrong with your network. It can also be set to
retry after a certain period of time.

Yousuf Khan

On 2/21/2011 10:03 AM PT, Yousuf Khan typed:

Thanks. What do you think of Tardis since it is free?
http://www.kaska.demon.co.uk/tardis.htm for it. I used to use it in
Windows 9x before XP, but it's old.

I use AboutTime on my XP box. I go with just the default time sync on
the Win 7 box.

Hmm, http://www.arachnoid.com/abouttime/ is pretty old too from 1999.
Heh. Do I assume this program will retry and with different NTP servers
if the current one fails?

Yup, you can put as many servers into its list as you can find, and
it'll try each one in sequence. If it doesn't connect with any of them,
then there's something wrong with your network. It can also be set to
retry after a certain period of time.

Thanks.
--
"He who storms in like a whirlwind returns like an ant." --Borneo
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

"Ant" wrote in message
m...
Hello.

I noticed sometimes my old, updated Windows XP Pro. SP3's internet
time synchronizations with a time server, fail for whatever reasons.
Is there a way to have it automatically try a different NTP server
automatically if the current one failed?

The reason why I ask is because my Windows/PC's time/clock seems to
drift slowly a lot when I use DVI and watch videos. You can read
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?p=1336503761 ,
http://forums.amd.com/game/messagevi...hreadid=146947 ,
and
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.c...95263549e7bfea
... So far, we're all stomped.


Looks like you've gotten some good 3rd-party tools from the other
replies, which is likely the best way to handle your issue since they
can be set for more frequent adjustments.

If you are seeing time sync failures in the Event Viewer, and manual
sync fails from Date and Time Internet Time Update Now, try making
time.nist.gov the primary sync site, instead of time.windows.com (which
has been unreliable).
http://www.windows-help-central.com/...-internet.html

--
Glen Ventura
MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
CompTIA A+
http://dts-l.net/

On 2/22/2011 10:46 AM PT, glee typed:

Looks like you've gotten some good 3rd-party tools from the other
replies, which is likely the best way to handle your issue since they
can be set for more frequent adjustments.

If you are seeing time sync failures in the Event Viewer, and manual
sync fails from Date and Time Internet Time Update Now, try making
time.nist.gov the primary sync site, instead of time.windows.com (which
has been unreliable).
http://www.windows-help-central.com/...-internet.html

All the default ones seem unreliable to me. 1.us.pool.ntp.org seems
reliable though. I have not use dthe third party ones yet. So far, so
good!
--
"When I am at my lowest, that is when I see things the clearest. It's
hard to care about ants when you're soaring with eagles." --unknown
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.