Vista - Internet Time Synchronization Update Interval

Information

This will show you how to change the Internet Time Synchronization Update Interval as a workaround if your system clock is constantly out of sync or slow, even though it says the sync was successful. The workaround in this instance is to change the NTP client to update more often.

NOTE

Vista gets the initial time from the BIOS, check to see if the time and date is correct in it if the time is always incorrect. If the system clock loses track of the time when you shut down and reverts back to a default setting each time it's booted, then this could be the battery on your motherboard getting weak and dying. You will just need to replace the battery. This is usually a lithium button cell, type CR2032. A slow system clock while running is usually due to interference from some other program. This can sometimes be the antivirus or firewall program. You can test this by not running the suspect program for a few days to see if the time is accurate again. If it is the program, then you will either need to adjust it's settings to prevent the interference or find a different program to use instead that does not interfere. For how to do Internet Time Synchronization after you finish this tutorial, see How to Use Internet Time Synchronization in Vista.

WARNING

Do not change the Interval to less than every 14400 seconds (4 hours), or your computer might get your computer's IP address banned by the time server.

• How to Use Internet Time Synchronization in Vista
• How to See the Date and Time on the Taskbar in Vista
• How to Set the Clock to Military 24 Hour Time in Vista
• How to Add Additional Time Zone Clocks in Vista
• How to Change the Date and Time in Vista
• How to Change the Time Zone in Vista
• How to Change the Date Format in Vista

1. Open the Start Menu.

2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.

3. Click on Continue in the UAC prompt.

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\w32time\TimeProviders\NtpClient

5. In the right pane, right click on SpecialPollInterval and click on Modify.

6. Select (dot) Decimal. (See screenshot below)

7. Type in how often you want it to update in seconds and click on OK. (See screenshot below)
WARNING:Do not change the interval to less than every 14400 seconds (4 hours), or your computer's IP address might get banned by the time server.
NOTE: The default time is every 604800 seconds (7 days). For every day, use 86400 seconds. (60 seconds X 60 minutes X 24 hours X 1 day)

8. Close regedit.