A network time server (NTP) is a central computer on the network that controls the time of the rest of the machines. Windows XP can be set to control the time of the rest of the computers on the network as the official NTP machine. Setting the NTP configurations on a Windows XP machine involves editing the registry, so familiarity with this area of Windows helps you configure the settings more easily.
Instructions
1. Open the Windows registry by clicking the Start button and selecting "Run" from the menu. Enter "regedit" in the text box and press the "Enter" key. This opens the Windows registry application.
2. Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpServer\ folder in the Windows registry. This folder in the registry holds the values for the NTP server on the XP machine.
3. Right-click the "Enabled" key in the right window pane in the folder selected from step two. Select "Properties" from the menu options. This opens a dialog box where you change the value of the registry key. Enter "1" in the window. This sets the value to "True" making the XP computer a time server.
4. Close the registry and open the DOS command prompt. To open the prompt, click the Windows Start button and select "Run" again from the menu. Type "cmd" in the text box and press the "Enter" key.
5. Type "Net stop w32time" into the DOS command prompt and press "Enter." The time server will stop if it was previously running. Now type "net start w32time" in the DOS command prompt and press "Enter." This restarts the time server for Windows XP.
Tags: press Enter, time server, command prompt, from menu, Windows registry, command prompt press