Many PC clocks do a poor job of keeping time and your computer may lose seconds every day. Not a big problem in itself, but let it go on for long enough and those seconds quickly add up to minutes. That's enough to miss an important call, be late for appointments, or to just be an annoyance.

However, there is an easy way to keep good time: Windows can be set to automatically synchronise the clock in your PC to several highly accurate atomic clocks via the internet.

You don't need any extra software to stay on time, but we'll also explain how a free tool can make the process easier.

IN WINDOWS, THE TIME is typically displayed in the bottom right-hand comer - the Notification Area. Unless you have customised the clock, the time will be displayed in a digital format. If you're using Windows XP or Vista, right-click on the clock and select Adjust Date/Time. In the dialogue box that appears, click on the Internet Time tab. By default, the 'synchronise time' feature is not enabled. To switch it on in XP, tick the box labelled 'Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server'. In Vista, you'll need to click the Change settings button first. Click on the Update Now button to synchronise the clock straightaway.

WITH THE DATE AND Time Properties dialogue box still open, click on the down-pointing arrow to the right of the Server box. In the menu that appears, you'll have the option of two or three time servers. This isjust the default list. There are a number of other time servers you can use. For a longer list use your web browser to visit www.snipurl.com/g39xt. Type a server address directly into the box, and click on Update Now. This is worth trying if your computer fails to access the default time servers.

THE SYNCHRONISATION FEATURE IS not present in older versions of Windows, while XP users may want more features than those provided by Windows. In either case,
you'll need additional software. We're going to use a free tool called Dimension 4, which can be downloaded from Click on the Dimension 4 button, then on the Download link, and finally on the d4time50.msi link. Save the file to your hard disk - the Windows Desktop is a good place - then locate the program file and double-click on it. Follow the displayed instructions to install Dimension.

THE PROGRAM PLACES A small icon in the Notification Area, near the clock. Hover the mouse pointer over the icon and to see a summary showing the last update and any
changes made. To customize the program, right-click on the icon and select Open. Note that it is also possible to manually synchronies’ your computer's time from this pop-up menu.

DIALOGUE BOX THAT appears has a rather nifty •• feature: there is a clock also in the title bar. You can choose from a larger list of time servers than Windows XP and
Vista provide. Use the various options to set the frequency ofsynchronisations (every 15 minutes is the default), as well as the maximum correction (in other words, if your PC's clock is more than, say, an hour out, Dimension 4 won't attempt to correct it). To add or remove servers use the relevant buttons under the Server menu. •

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