Time synchronization error

[KSmith]

This is not my day.
I'm trying to synchronize my XPSP1 clock.
I've done this successfully before, but not this time.
Instead, I get this message:

"An error occurred while Windows was synchronizing with
time.windows.com. The time sample was rejected because: The
peer's stratum is less than the host's stratum."

I also get an error message when I try to sync with time.nist.gov, but I don't get the explanation.

The current time of the PC is within 2 minutes of NIST time.

What is wrong?
What is a stratum anyway?

 

[Slikkster]

Everything I've read about it suggests a general problem with the windows time server that eventually clears up on its own.

To use any other server, just type the name in the server box and click update.

time.nist.gov didn't work for me this morning, either. But, time-nw.nist.gov worked fine.

If you type a name in the server box, it won't be permanent. You do have to edit the registry to add more servers as options:

http://www.msfn.org/board/lofiversion/index.php/t23501.html

By the way, XP is set to only synce once per week. You can set it to update at almost any interval for more accurate time. Normally, this involves editing the registry, but Doug Knox has a cool little applet that you can run that makes it easy. Setting it for once per day will keep the pc pretty accurate. But, you can even do have it sync more often than that.

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_inet_time.htm