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Can W32time be disabled ?

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by sleyba

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Our network is running off a WNT server and most of the computers are either NT or W98. I recently added a box with some newer production software that came preloaded with W2000. I am getting many W32time error messages in the event viewer and it seems to cause a dump into the minidump. I do not use the server to sync the time across the network. Can I just disable the W32time on the W2000 box or will that have ill effects since W2000 use the Kerberos to authenticate using a time stamp? All opinions welcome!

10 replies

by johnnyextreme

If you'd just like to stop the errors you can do the following:
At a command prompt enter
C:\>net time /setsntp:time-b.nist.gov
then
C:\>net stop w32time
then
C:\>net start w32time
see http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/service/time-servers.html for a list of public time servers.
(SNTP) uses UDP port 123, so you need to ensure that proxy servers or firewalls don?t block this port.
To synchronize all client computers use a batch file that runs when they log on to the network. It is saved in WINNT\System32\Repl\Import\Scripts of your DC as logon.bat and has just two lines:
Echo Off
net time \\servername /set /yes
where "servername" is the name of your Win2K machine. For their systems to update their time at logon you need to add this file name to their user profile. Go to User Manager on the PDC, select a user, select Properties, click on the Profile button, type in logon.bat in the Logon Script Name box. Next time they log on their computer time is updated.

by johnnyextreme

I'm sorry, is this Win2k Server or Win2k Professional? If it's Win2k Professional just go to Services and set the startup to disable.

by johnnyextreme

Actually, I found out that even Win2K Professional machines can act as a local NTP server using the same procedure I outlined above.

by sleyba

Thanks for the info from both of you. I like the extra info from johnny, I can probably use it in the future. Right now I am talking about W2000 Pro, and I don't need it to talk to the internet (actually don't want it to). The only reason I even have it networked is to write out files. I am going to leave the question open a little longer to see if anyone has experienced problems from disabling the W32time, which is what I opted to do. Thanks, Susan..........

by timwalsh

Susan,

When disabling services, problems usually arise because other services have a dependency on the disabled service in order to operate correctly. No other sevices depend on the w32time service.

You are correct that Kerberos uses a time stamp as part of the authentication process. However, Win2K only uses Kerberos when authenticating to an AD domain. NT4 doesn't use Kerberos for authentication.

I have only had to connect Win2K computers to NT4 domains on a couple of occasions and have not experienced any ill effects by disabling the Windows Time service.

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