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Event ID 51 — Local Time Synchronization

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008

The Windows Time service (W32time) synchronizes local time with a time source. The Windows Time service on a domain controller can be configured as either a reliable or an unreliable time source. The Windows Time service running on a client will attempt to synchronize its time source with servers that are indicated as being reliable. The Windows Time service can configure a domain controller within its domain as a reliable time source, and it synchronizes itself periodically with this source.

Event Details

Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 51
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Time-Service
Version: 6.0
Symbolic Name: MSG_SAMPLE_HAS_LARGE_SKEW
Message: Time Provider NtpClient: The time sample received from peer %1 differs from the local time by %2 seconds. The observed transmission delay from the server was %3 milliseconds.

Resolve

Resolve time source inconsistencies

The Windows Time service received inconsistent time data, which resulted in a large time change. This event can indicate an unreliable time source, network connectivity issues, latency with the time source clock, or a hardware malfunction.

Possible solutions include:

  • Checking to see if the system has any time source software other than Microsoft time source software. If so, remove that software, and then see if the issue is resolved.
  • Verifying network connectivity to the time source.
  • Checking the time source for malfunctions.

For more information, see How the Windows Time Service Works (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=109275).

Verify

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in Administrators, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To verify that the Windows Time service is synchronizing correctly:

  1. Open a command prompt as an administrator. To open a command prompt as an administrator, click Start. In Start Search, type Command Prompt. At the top of the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
  2. At the command prompt, type W32TM /resync, and then press ENTER.
  3. At the command prompt, type W32TM /query /status, and then press ENTER. The command displays the status of the Windows Time service synchronization. The Last Successful Sync Time line of the output displays the date and time that you ran the W32TM /resync command in the previous step. Also, check the computer name that is shown as the Source. This should be the name of a domain controller (or administrator-configured time server).

To confirm that the Windows Time service was synchronized successfully with its time source when you ran the W32TM /resync command, verify that Event ID 35 appears in the Event Viewer.

For more information about the Windows Time service, see Windows Time Service Technical Reference (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=25393).

Local Time Synchronization

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