In active directory, the PDC emulator at the root of the forest becomes the authoritative time reference for the entire organization.
If the PDC emulator is not set to reference a reliable time source, you will see W32time events in the system log every few hours.
Correcting this error requires that you configure an authoritative active directory time source.
-There are a number of reliable external NTP servers you can sync from. An easy one for me to remember is north-america.pool.ntp.org. You can find host names for some others at support.ntp.org.
After you’ve selected an external time reference, open regedit and modifiy to the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\Type
Right-click Type, click Modify, Edit Value, enter NTP in the Value data box, click OK
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\AnnounceFlags
Right-click AnnounceFlags, click Modify, Edit DWORD Value, enter 5 in the Value data box, click OK
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpServer
Right-click Enabled, click Modify, Edit DWORD Value, enter 1 in the Value data box, click OK.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters
In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, click Modify, Edit Value, enter north-america.pool.ntp.org,0×1 in the Value data box, click OK. (make sure to append ,0×1 to the end of the string)
The following are optional. I usually set the polling interval to 3600 seconds and leave the phase correction at the defaults unless I have a large offset I need to correct for.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient\SpecialPollInterval
Right-click SpecialPollInterval, click Modify. In Edit DWORD Value, type 3600 in the Value data box, click OK.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\MaxPosPhaseCorrection
In the right pane, right-click MaxPosPhaseCorrection, click Modify. In Edit DWORD Value, click to select Decimal in the Base box.
In Edit DWORD Value, enter a reasonable value in seconds in the Value data box, click OK.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\MaxNegPhaseCorrection
In the right pane, right-click MaxNegPhaseCorrection, click Modify, Edit DWORD Value, click to select Decimal in the Base box.
In Edit DWORD Value, enter a reasonable value in seconds in the Value data box, click OK.
Restart the windows time sevice by typing net stop w32time && net start w32time at a command prompt.
When your PDC emulator has successfully synchronized time with the external source you will see this in the system log.
