Microsoft KB Archive/328621

= W32Time Logs Event ID 36 Message on Windows Server 2003 RC1-Based Domain Controllers and Designated Time Servers =

Article ID: 328621

Article Last Modified on 2/28/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Datacenter Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition

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This article was previously published under Q328621



SYMPTOMS
W32Time reports itself as &quot;unsynchronized,&quot; and it stops serving time to requesting clients. In response to the unsynchronized status, an event ID 36 message is logged in the system event log:

MessageId=0x24

Severity=Warning

Facility=Core

SymbolicName=MSG_TIME_SOURCE_NONE

Language=English

The time service has not synchronized the system time for %1 seconds because none of the time service providers provided a usable time stamp. The time service is no longer synchronized and cannot provide the time to other clients or update the system clock. Monitor the system events displayed in the Event Viewer to make sure that a more serious problem does not exist.

Even though W32Time runs on all Windows Server 2003-based computers, the resolution of this event is primarily for Windows Server 2003-based domain controllers.



CAUSE
This problem occurs because there is a code bug in the Release Candidate 1 (RC1) release of Windows Server 2003. The problem is aggravated by network congestion, a high CPU load or a high network load, and synchronization from low accuracy time sources.



RESOLUTION
The problem has been resolved in post-RC1 builds of Windows Server 2003.



WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, configure the following registry settings to any Windows Server 2003 RC1-based time server or domain controller to prevent that particular computer from experiencing the problem:  Start Registry Editor. Locate and then click the following registry keys, and then add the following registry values:   

Value name:  

Value type: Reg_DWord

Value data: 6  

Value name:  

Value type: Reg_DWord

Value data: 14  

Value name:  

Value type: Reg_SZ

Value data: ,0x1  

Value name:

Value type: Reg_SZ

Value data: NTP</li>  

Value name:  

Value type: Reg_DWord

Value data: 300

If the &quot; ,0x1&quot; syntax for the   registry value is confusing, use the primary domain controller (PDC) of the forest root domain root as the root time service.</li></ul>

Microsoft recommends that you apply the registry settings to all Windows Server 2003 RC1-based servers that are hosting the time service.. Note that computers that use this configuration will be using unauthenticated time.</li> Restart the time service. To do so, type the following command from the NT CMD prompt:

c:\>net stop w32time & net start w32time

</li></ol>

<div class="status_section">

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

<div class="moreinformation_section">

MORE INFORMATION
By design, W32Time reports itself as &quot;unsynchronized&quot; when it has not received a valid time sample in 1.5 times the maximum poll interval. This threshold was appropriate when the maximum poll interval on domain controllers was set to higher defaults (2^15 seconds). However, now that the maximum poll interval has been reduced to 2^10 seconds, the following problem occurs:
 * 1) W32Time synchronizes as expected, and it reaches the maximum poll interval.
 * 2) W32Time experiences one synchronization error (either because of a loss of network connectivity, or the server is down), and then it sets itself to &quot;unsynchronized.&quot;

Typically, W32time does not set its time to &quot;unsynchronized&quot; unless it has failed several polls.

Keywords: kbbug KB328621

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