nt4 vs xp timestamps 2 seconds off

[kaizer]

hello
we use alchemy - a doc/image database
every month we do an import of docs from various dirs in nt4 server into our alchemy db (on an xp pc - was upgraded from w98)

due to the way in which alchemy works, we had to change the time on w98 (now xp) time zone to indiana to avoid the 1 hr difference caused by daylight savings. without that setting, alchemy just checks timestamps and if the time stamp is different it will bring in some docs as duplicates - which can basically use up our HD space needlessly.

We noticed that even with the indiana setting, some files have a 2 second difference - which is causing duplicates in the import
Can someone tell me what may be happening?
Thanks

 

[ppabel1]

does your xp machine not sync with a time server, namely your nt4 PDC

Paul

 

[kaizer]

hello ppabel1
it does not sync with the nt4 server. I thought about that however, when the DB was on a 98 pc, the import worked fine after changing it's zone to Indiana.
now, with XP, the 2 second issue exists.
that is, if a file being imported has a time stamp (for the modified date) which for example can be 9/1/2005 10:30:04 the imported file in Alchemy will show 9/1/2005 10:30:02
and so, i'll have both files in the DB thereby having duplicates

 

[SimonDavies]

It definitely sounds like a time server issue, you can have zones setup but you should still use a time sync server namely your PDC. Is the XP machine actually part of the domain? where does it get it's timesync from?
Usually what happens with a network client (in NT4 and 200*) is that they will get their time synchronised with the PDC or PDC Emulator however if the pc isn't actually part of the domain then it won't sync correctly.



SimonD.

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[SimonDavies]

Also just to add that I found this.. which would also explain your 2 second lapse.

W32Time is based on the Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) as specified in RFC RFC 1769 (now superceded by RFC 2030). SNTP is designed to ensure loose synchronization only, which in the W32Time implementation means the clocks of all Windows 2000/XP/2003 machines in a forest will agree within 20 seconds of one another (or 2 seconds difference within a particular site). W32Time expresses clock times in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), an atomic time scale previously known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). W32Time is started by default on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 machines regardless of whether they belong to a workgroup or a domain. On Windows 2000 however, W32Time must be manually started on machines belonging to a workgroup.



SimonD.

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[kaizer]

thx simonDavies for your imput
all xp pc's are part of the nt4 domain - it's a small environment (32 pc's)
i have never set up time synch - it's never been a problem
however we replace (slowly) all w98 pc's with xp (we no longer have w9x
how do i set up the time synch in the domain - maybe it is the culprit

thx