Your domain controller does not locate a new time source server in Windows Server 2003

When Windows Time stops on a parent domain server that is the primary time source for your Microsoft Windows Server 2003 domain controller, your domain controller does not locate a new time source server.

The domain controller cannot locate a new time source server when the following conditions are true:

• The domain controller that is experiencing this problem uses a server from a parent domain as a time source.
• The time source domain controller on the parent domain synchronizes with an external time source.
• Windows Time stops on the time source domain controller in the parent domain.

Note This problem does not occur when the primary time source domain controller is shut down.

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To work around this problem, make sure that your domain controller locates a new time source server after the initial time source server has stopped. To do this, follow these steps to update the registry on the primary time source domain controller and on the new time source domain controller:

1. Start Registry Editor on the Windows Server 2003 primary domain controller (PDC) time source server that is experiencing the issue described in this article, and then locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters
2. Create the following DWORD values:
   • Entry: Type
     Value data: NTP
   • Entry: NtpServer
     Value data: time.example.com
     
     Note Make sure that both of the parent domain time source servers use the same external time source.
3. Start Registry Editor on the new domain controller time source server in the parent domain, and then locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters
4. Create the following DWORD values:
   • Entry: Type
     Value data: ALLSync
   • Entry: NtpServer
     Value data: time.example.com,0x2
     
     Note Make sure that the 0x2 fallback flag is appended to the external time source value.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To troubleshoot this problem, follow these steps to obtain verbose timing output:

1. Start Registry Editor.
2. Locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config
3. On the Edit menu, click New Value, and then add the following registry values:
   • Value name:
     FileLogSize
     
     Data Type: DWORD
     Value data: 10000000
     
     This registry value specifies the size of the log file in bytes.
   • Value name:
     FileLogName
     
     Data Type: String
     Value data: C:\Windows\Debug\w32time.log
     
     This registry value specifies the location of the log file. The path is not fixed. You can use a different path.
   • Value name:
     FileLogEntries
     
     Data Type: String
     Value data: 0-116
     
     This registry value specifies the level of detail of the information in the debug log. If you must have more detailed logging information, contact a Microsoft Support Professional.
     
     Note The Data Type value must be of type REG_SZ (String). You must type the value exactly as shown (that is, type 0-116). The highest possible value is 0-300 for most detailed logging. The meaning of this value is: Log all entries within the range of 0 and 116.