Poor Time Sync in Windows 11


Steve C

Steve C

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My Windows 11 PCs are set to sync automatically with time.nist,gov. I use Your world on time to synch my watches. I've noticed a few times the Windows time can be out by over a minute but shows the same correct time as the web link when I do a manual sync. Why isn't Windows 11 keeping the time more accurately synchronised?
 

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Just a thought but can't you change the frequency windows syncs the time? Once a day to say every 6 hours, etc. Also it's possible your RTC(clock) is drifting too much causing the time to be off.
 

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I'm a computer enthusiast so have quite a few systems that I run. More like an advanced hobby.
Try this. Can set a scheduled task to run it at intervals too

www.sordum.org

Update Time v1.3

When your Windows time is wrong or keeps changing there is an easy way to fix it "Update Time" is a Portable freeware by Sordum which is the best solution.
www.sordum.org www.sordum.org
 

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I'd blame the motherboard for that, once it's synced to a time server the machine should keep accurate time.
 

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Rollback_Jockey said:
I'd blame the motherboard for that, once it's synced to a time server the machine should keep accurate time.
Click to expand...
no it is def a windows 11 issue. i've run win 11 machines that are domain joined and the time is still somehow off. various makes/models. one day it'll just be off by a minute or so. can't rely on microsht to do the basics correctly these days. they're too worried about making things look pretty... who cares about functionality anymore
 

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Rollback_Jockey said:
I'd blame the motherboard for that, once it's synced to a time server the machine should keep accurate time.
Click to expand...
I have an Asus Z790 board only 1 year old. Other reports suggests Windows 11 has a bug causing it to fail to sync the time until a manual sync is done.
 

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An example of what the BIOS on a motherboard can have happen. If I boot to a Linux LiveUSB or LiveDVD it automatically sets the default time to a zone 1 hour East of UTC/GMT [Greenwich] and 24-hour format. When I reboot into Windows that time doesn't automatically change until the next auto check but it can be reset manually. I've not had any issues with the CMOS battery but have read where others have. [The CMOS holds the BIOS settings but has to have power to it.]
 

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I've been curious about this since your topic. Apparently Windows default time sync is like once every 604, 800 seconds...1 week. I had thought it was once a day. As I mentioned above you can adjust the polling number to change the frequency of when it syncs. Even create a Task for it to sync on system bootup if you boot it every day.
 

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I'm a computer enthusiast so have quite a few systems that I run. More like an advanced hobby.
Steve C said:
I have an Asus Z790 board only 1 year old. Other reports suggests Windows 11 has a bug causing it to fail to sync the time until a manual sync is done.
Click to expand...
I have Asus z790-v no issue here
 

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I would have a look at the W32Time in services (it actually displays itself as Windows Time). On mine it was set to manual and I've found that changing that to automatic (delayed start) has fixed the issue, and the time is now being synced every 24 hours.
 

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I would agree that the cmos battery has a lot to do with it. Here's something I learned about the CR2032 that changed the way I do things.
For the first six months of owning my Dell, time tended to fluctuate by about a minute. The day I opened the case to install a secondary drive I noticed the cmos battery was a brand I had never heard of. Once I changed it, time showed .2 seconds ahead. It remains that way today 3 years and 2 more cmos batteries later. (I change batteries on all 4 of my computers every year) Why .2 seconds every time, who knows.

I think the battery one uses really matters. I think it more important that most people don't change their CMOS until their bios throws up a warning. We all know CMOS can cause some weird stuff.

I saw an independent load test about CR2032 where Duracell topped the list but Toshiba was only slightly behind. Surprisingly, Energizer didn't make the top 5.
Until recently, I used a lot of CR2032 as it was my practice to clean inside the case and change the CMOS on the PCs and laptops I worked on. (unless I had to completely disasemble the laptop to get to it) My customers never knew I did it because I didn't charge for it. I bought my batteries in bulk from Amazon. Duracells are about $1.50, Toshibas are $.50, so I bought Toshiba.

Now that I'm down to servicing only my own systems, I'll buy a 4 pack of Duracells and call it a day.
 

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I just looked at a recent Win11 build and my time polling is set for 16, 384 seconds. That's roughly 4 1/2 hours.
 

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I'm a computer enthusiast so have quite a few systems that I run. More like an advanced hobby.
The Real Time Clock on any PC is on the Motherboard, not in Windows. You can reset it from a DOS Prompt.
For many years I have not trusted the Windows Time program, so I downloaded and run a program called "Chronograph".
Even though my 12 year old motherboard keeps really good time, (as good as a Timex) I run "Chronograph" about once a week to keep the RTC right on the fraction of a second. Then, I can use my PC as the Master Real Time Clock, when I need to reset the other clocks in my house, after a power failure.
So, if you're a real Time Freak, give "Chronograph" a try.

Cheers Mates,
TM :cool:
 
As @dacrone noted, there are third-party utilities out there that can help.

Many of you who know me know that I hate to use third-party tools for things that I can do natively in Windows. However, this is one of the few exceptions for me. I too use a third-party tool on ALL of my systems. In my case, I use a utility called "Net Time".

 

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Update - I just checked my laptops which were also a minute out requiring a manual synch. This confirms on some PCs Windows 11 is not automatically doing a time synch.
 

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TechnoMage2021 said:
The Real Time Clock on any PC is on the Motherboard, not in Windows. You can reset it from a DOS Prompt.
For many years I have not trusted the Windows Time program, so I downloaded and run a program called "Chronograph".
Even though my 12 year old motherboard keeps really good time, (as good as a Timex) I run "Chronograph" about once a week to keep the RTC right on the fraction of a second. Then, I can use my PC as the Master Real Time Clock, when I need to reset the other clocks in my house, after a power failure.
So, if you're a real Time Freak, give "Chronograph" a try.

Cheers Mates,
TM :cool:
Click to expand...
Thanks - do you have a link for Chronograph?
 

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Core i7-13700K
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Asus TUF Gaming Plus WiFi Z790
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64 GB Kingston Fury Beast DDR5
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Sound Card
Realtek S1200A
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Viewsonic VP2770 & Dell (secondary)
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2560 x 1440
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Kingston KC3000 2TB NVME SSD & SATA HDDs & SSD
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EVGA SuperNova G2 850W
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Nanoxia Deep Silence 1
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Noctua NH-D14
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Microsoft Digital Media Pro
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80 Mb / s
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Chrome
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Defender, Malwarebytes Free & AdwCleaner
just had this again, Bitwarden 2FA not working. checked, and my machine was 35s adrift. This has only happened sinice Win 11. i installed thins

took it off after a few weeks to see if the previous desync was a one-offl it wasn't, so i've put it back on.
 

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homemade
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Intel Core i7-10700K 3.8GHz (Comet Lake) Socket LGA1200
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Cooler Master CM-690 III - USB 3.0 ATX Case
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Also noticed that my clock seems to run fast by about 15-30 seconds, which throws off 2FA codes!

Will take a look at NetTime
 

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