Microsoft Genius: An error occurred while Windows was synchronizing with time.windows.com

.. or time.nist.gov, etc.

To see the error, double the clock in the systray, select the third tab which is labeled 'Internet Time', and try the 'Update Now' tab.

You will get the "An error occurred while Windows was synchronizing with time.windows.com" message. Try a different server, then 'update now'. Still get the error?

I did a little research, and found this long forum post about how this is broken everywhere --

FYI To Microsoft: Windows Time Synchronization Completely Broken (Vista, 2003, XP are all broken), which contained these instructions, which worked for me:

We simply instruct them "to click on the time icon on the desktop,

then click the Internet Time tab,

and then copy the following blue text only - tick.usno.navy.mil -

and next paste it in the Server: Field,

then click on Apply,

then Update Now

and finally OK. Done, no more error messages.

Ok, isn't that what I did? No. (blogger fonts are whack when you paste text in from a webkit browser... I'm going with it).

What's missing? What did I do differently?

APPLY.

This is genius!

After you change the value, you have to click apply to tell microsoft windows you changed it. What should be a obvious intuitive interface is subtly subverted. You change the value to X, and click update now. Doesn't it use that value? It says, "error connecting to X" but it doesn't use that value? Not til you click Apply!

Why don't that have another button that says "ok, I clicked that button" ?

This is a cash cow for microsoft! How many people have called and been charged $59 for this? Whoever thought it up surely got a lot of stock options and probably a promotion to VP, or a special position where they can apply this feature to other parts of the system (send in your examples). An MBA student could do a thesis on this...

Well, I tested on 3 2003 Servers which had this problem,

but the XP system actually worked [but that was probably a bug].

I couldn't test on Vista, because the police took that computer.

... I guess I only read about a third of that post -- it looks like there could be multiple issues, or there are different types of voodoo that can cure it...

I only read about halfway, but I'm tired.

Good thing I have a Mac now.