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Microsoft > Forums Home > Microsoft Genuine Advantage Forums > Windows XP Genuine Advantage Validation Issues (Windows XP) > Clock Sync Error - Issue resolved

Answered Clock Sync Error - Issue resolved

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  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 6:42 PM
     
     
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    Thanks for the help since none of the MS guys here will acknowledge the issue :)
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 6:46 PM
     
     
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    There has been a sudden rash of problems with Clock Sync errors today - all
    originating in the Central and Eastern Standard Time zones.
     
    I have pinged MS about this - hopefully they will come back either to me or
    to the forum.
     
    It does seem as if it's likely that the problem is at the server end, rather
    than the client end - and I suspect that somewhere a proxy or DNS is
    misdirecting the communications.
     
    If/When I hear back, I'll update this note
     
    --
     
     
     
    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
    Thanks for the update.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 6:49 PM
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    "natbusfurn" wrote in message news:4ccb4bfc-5217-41f3-84d3-c6b0cc8d0f41...
    Thanks for the help since none of the MS guys here will acknowledge the issue :)

    There is only one MS guy here - and he works office hours:)
     

    --

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:02 PM
     
     
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    This happened to me, too.  Machines set to Mountain time.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:03 PM
     
     
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    Happening to me as well with my machines in the Pacific Time Zone.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:06 PM
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    "N Rotz" wrote in message news:a7b95ad5-2b1c-4f36-88eb-1e386deb60e4...
    Happening to me as well with my machines in the Pacific Time Zone.

    Heck - I was hoping it'd be restricted.
    I'll pass it up the line. Thanks for letting us know.

    --

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:17 PM
     
     
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    terrible timing as Im trying to install a POS system with Xp pro and if I cant validate it the POS company wont touch it and meanwhile the bar has to do all hand sales and call in every credit card because their POS system is down...

     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:18 PM
     
     
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    Thanks for the note. You saved my day. I have the same problem here. My timezone is with gmt+1.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:20 PM
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    "Mike Tech" wrote in message news:8a740904-d327-406a-84ca-0124547f22ab...

    terrible timing as Im trying to install a POS system with Xp pro and if I cant validate it the POS company wont touch it and meanwhile the bar has to do all hand sales and call in every credit card because their POS system is down...


    Backdate the system 1 day.
     install a couple of updates.
    set it back to the correct date.
    see if that work
     

    --

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:21 PM
     
     
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    same issue here too.  I thought I was going mad.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:22 PM
     
     
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    I'm about to kill myself... calling the WGA support line and the tech just agress with everythng I say but then says my key is valid but can't activate cause their tool is not responding.  I just got transfered to the volume license department.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:28 PM
     
     
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    Changing the date back seems to be fixing the issue for me. Had 3 machines failing validation on fresh installs.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:30 PM
     
     
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    I set my clock back by one day as instructed and the validation then worked.  Thanks for the tip.  I had been able to install all updates even though the validation wasn't working.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:35 PM
     
     
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    This worked for me as well.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:36 PM
     
     
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    Setting the date back one day worked for me. Thank god for this thread
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:40 PM
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    Nothing back from my MS contact yet, I'm afraid.

    Just a few things to note

    1) The initial reports of this problem came from the Central and Eastern Time Zones in the US - then Pacific and Mountain joined in - the latest repost have come from GMT and GMT+1 zones - so it seems to be spreading :(

    2) there is an apparent workaround available if you want to try it - AT YOUR OWN RISK!

    <quote NotTheRedBaron>

    I set the date back 1 day, June 6 2011.  Did not modify the time.  Double-click the super groovy Windows Genuine Validation notification area icon, and it went away.  After, I set the date back to June 7 2011.  [I sure hope this isn't the long-term solution.]  

     </quote>

    3) I'll be going to bed in a couple of hours - I'll update this before I do

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:55 PM
     
     
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    Same issue here. Anyone know what caused the issue? Im in the Eastern zone as well.
    Patrick Clark
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:56 PM
     
     
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    Thanks for this guys - I was having the same problem re-imaging a PC in the UK this evening, setting the date back a day has enabled the validation to go through for me too.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:59 PM
     
     
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    I did manage to get all the updates installed manually earlier but the Validation error still appears
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 8:01 PM
     
     
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    Setting date back fixed validation error
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 8:13 PM
     
     
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    Noticed this on 3 machines today here in California. Haven't tried to set back the date yet, but I will update when I do.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 8:26 PM
     
     
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    i have put date back and managed to resolve the notification, did a windows update but there was nothing to update so closed & rebooted, put todays date back but when trying to validate again with todays date it goes back to saying not passed validation, so using the work around is just a temp fix, but my lappy with same OS & liscense is fine & have rebooted it 5 times to see if i get the same on it, but nothing, just my desktop has this issue, wierd! will just leave it & see in a few days if this is resolved, seems we are all having this prob! 
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 8:43 PM
     
     
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    This worked thanks.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 8:51 PM
     
     
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    Can report this issue in Alaska as well. Two machines re-installed XP today, this same problem with validation.

    Setting the clocks back a day allowed Windows Update to work.

     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 8:55 PM
     
     
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    I wonder if I can charge Microsoft for the last three hours spent banging my head against the wall trying to figure out why original CD's that worked on this same computer before would not validate? 
    Dave Taylor
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 9:00 PM
     
     
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    Same problem here. Timezone = Amsterdam

    Machine is installed with VLK edition of Windows XP, Dutch language.
    Validation Says: this machine is already activated; but genuine advantage tool says "Clock Sync Err." and thus not validating.

    regards,
    Frans.

    Update: Setting back the clock 24 hours; ran the WGA Diag utility again. It's now resolved and the machine is genuine again.

    thank you guys for the tip, now, let's hope it's not the long-term solution. We have another 400 xp desktops to deploy....

     


    • Edited by Frans K. _ Tuesday, June 07, 2011 9:18 PM
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  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 9:17 PM
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    Hello all,

     

      We believe we have identified the root cause of this issue and are currently working on a fix. I don't yet know a firm Time to Resolution but I don't foresee it taking too long.

     

      I will update this thread when I have more information.

     

    Thank you,

    Darin MS
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 9:20 PM
     
     
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    I am also having the same problem, backdating it seemed to fix it.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 9:39 PM
     
     
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    Darin, thanks for the update.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 9:53 PM
     
     
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    Same problem. mountain time.

    I set date back 1 day. I didn't change the time.

    reran the Genuine Advantage Tool

    worked!

    then set the date back to correct date.

    I then had no problem installing Microsoft Security Essentials

    I spent 3 hours on this. The fustration part is when you try to run the Genuine advantage tool it goes to a blank IE page instead of telling you what went wrong. The first time today when I ran the tool the power went off in the middle of it. So I thought I had a corupt installation.

    Thanks for the help is this forum!

     

     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:12 PM
     
     
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    "are currently working on a fix"  I hope we get a notification.  14,000 Computers started to get WGA Errors today :( Hate to run around to each of those.....  Glad no functionality is lost.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:16 PM
     
     
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    I don't envy you, fastthief.  Only 10 of mine that are deployed are having this issue and we were running around like maniacs.
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:20 PM
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    OK, issue is resolved.

     

    Note: this issue should have only effected Windows XP and only users that attempted online Validation. 

     

    For those that are currently affected by the issue, all you need to do is re-run Online Validation http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/validate.  You may need to reboot after Validation completes. 

    Darin MS
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:22 PM
     
     
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    Same problems here in UK. PCs are activated but coming up with validation error and just go to blank page when trying Windows updates. We are due to deploy 500 PCs next week and are now at work 6 hours after we should have gone home, thinking we had to start again with all our images! Odly some of our hardware isn't affected, I would be interested to know why this is. Hope a 'fix' is found soon. Thank god for Dominos pizza!
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:28 PM
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    Same problems here in UK. PCs are activated but coming up with validation error and just go to blank page when trying Windows updates. We are due to deploy 500 PCs next week and are now at work 6 hours after we should have gone home, thinking we had to start again with all our images! Odly some of our hardware isn't affected, I would be interested to know why this is. Hope a 'fix' is found soon. Thank god for Dominos pizza!


    Should already be fixed.

    Tell me if you still have problems after re-running Validation

     

    Darin MS
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:36 PM
     
     
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    Will try tomorrow.  Changed product keys and reset WGA with Microsoft scripts and it still popped up. When tried validation using the tool it went to a blank web page.

    Thanks

     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:46 PM
     
     
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    all seems fine now, rebooted poota, everythg normal! looks like they have resolved this issue, thanks for everybodys help!
     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:54 PM
     
     
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    I had started again so now going back to a previous image to try that. Windows updates does now progress without a validation stage!

    I'm puzzled though as this image was activated last week and I didn't attempt a validation or run Windows updates (its disabled), but I had a 'Validation Failed' taskbar notification and blue star icon in the system tray?

    These images originally came from a Dell OEM SLP build and the product key has been changed to the COA OEM system builder type for non-Dell hardware. I though this was was causing the validation issue. If Windows XP is activated successfully, then surely validation should never be a problem?

    Thank you for you updates.

     

     

     
  • Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:58 PM
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    OK - Seems that MS have ixed the problem (fingers crossed!)

     

    Thanks, Darin, for coming back direct to the forum.

     

    I'll be able to sleep tonight, now :)

     

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
     
  • Wednesday, June 08, 2011 7:02 AM
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    "muizelaar" wrote in message news:d3834379-9cde-42a5-8cf9-26a1910171bc...

    I had started again so now going back to a previous image to try that. Windows updates does now progress without a validation stage!

    I'm puzzled though as this image was activated last week and I didn't attempt a validation or run Windows updates (its disabled), but I had a 'Validation Failed' taskbar notification and blue star icon in the system tray?

    These images originally came from a Dell OEM SLP build and the product key has been changed to the COA OEM system builder type for non-Dell hardware. I though this was was causing the validation issue. If Windows XP is activated successfully, then surely validation should never be a problem?

    Thank you for you updates.

     

     


    WGA Validation rechecks the hardware every so often to ensure that the install hasn't moved across machines, and is still in use according to the rules.

    --

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
     
  • Wednesday, June 08, 2011 12:47 PM
     
     
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    Good morning,

    Thank you all for your help, I did manage to fix it by changing my time zone to Atlantic Canada (1 hour behind QC), all updates completed and installed including the WGA, changed my time zone pack to ET and all is well.    I have been installing systems for many years here and yesterday was the first time I came across this problem.  However usually I use an original setup that I have integrated SP2, this installation I used was the original with SP1. 

    Thank you everyone for all the help and the tip on the time zone problem.

    Have a great day.

    Linda

    LB
     
  • Wednesday, June 08, 2011 1:14 PM
     
     
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    does anyone at MS know what caused the issue?
    Patrick Clark
     
  • Wednesday, June 08, 2011 1:30 PM
     
     
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    OK, issue is resolved.

     

    Note: this issue should have only effected Windows XP and only users that attempted online Validation. 

     

    For those that are currently affected by the issue, all you need to do is re-run Online Validation http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/validate.  You may need to reboot after Validation completes. 

    Darin MS


    We saw this on newly built machines using our corporate XP image.  The GA star appeared in the tray.  When you click the star you go to the validation website.  Our users don't have rights to install the ActiveX control on the validation site.  Without having to log in with admin creds, is there another way we can cause the validation to succeed?

    Thanks!
    -Adam

     
  • Wednesday, June 08, 2011 2:19 PM
     
     
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    This has indeed been resolved.

     

    Thanks Darin!

     
  • Wednesday, June 08, 2011 7:20 PM
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    "theclarks1" wrote in message news:a2e27845-1fc9-48dd-a3ea-9bcdc79ac8af...
    does anyone at MS know what caused the issue?
    Patrick Clark

    Obviously, they do  -- whether they deign to tell us mere mortals is another matter :)
     

    --

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
     
  • Thursday, June 09, 2011 5:14 PM
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    On June 7, 2011 one of the security certificates used by Windows XP validation servers expired, this briefly resulted in an error message when some users attempted to validate Windows XP online.  The issue was quickly identified and the expiration date of the certificate was extended.

    Windows XP customers who received this error can perform validation again at http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/validate

     

    Thank you,

    Darin MS
     
  • Wednesday, June 15, 2011 3:26 PM
     
     
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    I agree this has been fixed.

    However, it would be nice if Windows had some type of alert that informed them when their date, time, timezone did not match up with the expected world time. 

    I still find that technicians can simply overlook something as simple as the month being set to July when it is really June. 

    Obviously since SSL certificates rely on the date and time being correct to encrypt data.

    Maybe windows update should first check and alert the user if the date on their computer is correct before trying to get to a SSL encrypted site.


    It seems that would stop a lot of issues before they began.

     

    Regards,

    Tray

     

     
  • Wednesday, June 15, 2011 3:52 PM
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    "DBS_Tray" wrote in message news:fabcc939-28e7-4c49-88cb-e6aef600caba...

    I agree this has been fixed.

    However, it would be nice if Windows had some type of alert that informed them when their date, time, timezone did not match up with the expected world time. 

    I still find that technicians can simply overlook something as simple as the month being set to July when it is really June. 

    Obviously since SSL certificates rely on the date and time being correct to encrypt data.

    Maybe windows update should first check and alert the user if the date on their computer is correct before trying to get to a SSL encrypted site.


    It seems that would stop a lot of issues before they began.

     

    Regards,

    Tray

     


    The fact that the certificates were out of date means that this was totally a server-sire error - nothing at all wrong with the client PC's.
    What *should* have happened was that the server operators/management should have installed a new certificate before the old one ran out.
    Seems that someone needs a new To-Do/Reminders list :)
    The fact that the client machines could work around this by backdating is actually a flaw in the system - which needs to be patched - rather than a workaround.

    --

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
     
  • Monday, October 24, 2011 10:18 PM
     
     
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    Have you ever tried accessing an SSL site with the date and time wrong on the computer. 

    It doesn't work, regardless of the date on the server.

     
  • Tuesday, October 25, 2011 6:57 AM
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    Well, it woked for hundreds of people for the period of this problem.#
    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
     
  • Tuesday, October 25, 2011 11:15 AM
     
     
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    this post was more about the WGA error, this had popped up as soon as the certs expired. Normally you can set this via policy (time and date) to sync either local computer with world time, or on the domain with group policy. I know that in our domain, we sync that via policy, if the machine is not getting policy it will have various issues.
    Patrick Clark