In just a few simple steps, your computer can easily be configured to automatically set its system clock to the correct time. Most operating systems have built-in tools to keep the time on your computer accurate. Provided you have access to the Internet or a local time server, you need never worry about system time drift.
Microsoft Windows Operating Systems (7, 10)
1. Click the system clock, in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
2. Click “Change date and time settings…”.
3. Click the “Internet Time” tab.
4. Click “Change settings…”.
5. Tick “Synchronize with an Internet time server”.
6. Enter the IP address or domain name of a NTP server. The default is “windows.time.com”
7. Click “Update now” to test availability of the server.
8. You should now see “The clock was successfully synchronized with <ntp server> on <date> at <time>.
9. Click “OK” to accept changes so that periodic synchronization will take place.
Client configuration is different when Windows domain networking is deployed.
Mac OS X
1. From the Apple menu, select “System Preferences…”.
2. Click the “Date & Time” icon.
3. Select “Set date and time automatically”
4. Enter a NTP server IP address or domain name for synchronization.
5. Your system clock should now be updated to the correct time.
For more information, see: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203413
Unix and Linux
1. The graphical tool “time-admin” is found in “System > Administration > Time and Date”.
2. Tick “Set the time: Automatically from the Internet”.
3. Enter a NTP server IP address or domain name.
4. Your system clock should now be updated to the correct time.
Internet Time Servers
There are numerous Internet based NTP servers that provide an accurate time reference for your computer. There are also third-party NTP client software providers that produce software with more extensive features than the built-in operating system time synchronization tools.
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