Windows Vista: Time Servers, Synchronisation and Time Zone Advice

It can be really annoying. You have just got off the plane, booted up your lap top and set the clock to local time. Yet all your appointments suddenly move, not just the ones on that side of the ocean either, when you return home and reset the clock the appointments refuse to go back.

This problem occurs because of the way a computer handles time. In general computers ignore time zones and base their time on UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) the international time standard.

Time can cause havoc with computers, not just with lap tops either. Computers all over the world need to be telling the same time particularly if they have to perform time sensitive transactions or need to keep their networks secure.

Most computer networks use NTP servers (Network Time Protocol) to keep synchronized.NTP time servers use an UTC timing reference either from the Internet or from a radio or GPS transmission. A UTC timing reference originally comes from an atomic clock and is as accurate as humanely possible.

When travelling abroad it is good advice NOT to adjust the system clock as your computer (and its associated programs such as Outlook) stores all time in UTC form and only offsets for a particular time zone (So in France the time is UTC+1 while in the US (EST) it becomes UTC-6.

However there are several features on Windows Vista that can make keeping track of the time a lot easier for travelers.

To keep track of the time zone you are travelling to, windows Vista can display more than one clock in the task bar (up to three).

To enable multiple clocks to be displayed simply double click on the time display in the system tray (bottom-right corner), click the’ change date and time settings tab’ to bring up a date and time” dialog box, click Additional Clocks tab, tick the check-box of Show this clock, select the time-zone of the clock, enter the display name and click OK button.

Next time your mouse pointer goes over the system tray your new clock should be displayed besides the original (which should be larger).

The clocks can also be placed on the Windows sidebar although this can use precious processing power.

Another useful application in Windows Vista is being able to synchronise the system clock with a UTC time source.

Vista already comes equipped with a NTP service called Windows Time Service (w32tm.exe) which can synchronise to a UTC time source over the Internet. To do this merely double click on the clock in the system tray and await the Internet Time tab. Click it an enter the name of the UTC server you wish to connect to (such as windows.time or nist.gov).

Vista can handle daylight savings time too. If the system clock (the main one not additional ones) is set to adjust for daylight saving then the computer should automatically do it. However it must be noted that some countries in the same time zone do not practice daylight saving hours so the correct time should always be double checked.