Windows Time Agent
from Greyware Automation Products, Inc.

===================================================================
	FREEWARE
===================================================================

	This distribution contains the FREEWARE known as
"Windows Time Agent."

	Please read the license.txt file for information about
the grant of free license. Although Windows Time Agent is
freeware, it is not public domain software, and is still
copyrighted material. You need to be aware of and agree to the
terms and conditions under which your license is granted.

	Windows Time Agent is freeware (no limitations, no nag
screens, no obligation to purchase anything) from Greyware
Automation Products, Inc., makers of Domain Time II.

	Windows Time Agent is NOT a time service, and does NOT
replace the Windows Time service from Microsoft. It is a Control
Panel applet for configuring the Windows Time service.


  1.	This program is fully-functional freeware. The Windows
	Time control panel applet is part of the Domain Time II
	suite of software, but works either with or without
	Domain Time II.

  2.	Use the Windows Time Agent control panel applet to
	configure the Windows Time service, then check the
	graphs and statistics to see how well synchronized
	your clock stays over time. If you find that Windows
	Time isn't keeping your clocks as accurate as you'd
	like, then Domain Time II's clients and servers can
	help.

  3.	The Windows Time Agent integrates perfectly with
	Domain Time II management software to manage your
	network's time, gather performance data, and
	generate alerts from all of the machines in your
	enterprise.

  4.	On Windows XP and above, the control panel applet
	also functions as a monitor, giving you real-time
	alerts and statistics (see "AGENT" below).
	It allows Domain Time II to monitor or audit the
	time on this machine without installing any
	Domain Time II timekeeping components.

  5.	The Windows Time service is only designed to keep
	clocks loosely synchronized in a manner good
	enough for Kerberos authentication to work within a
	domain.

	a)	This component does NOT increase the accuracy
		of the Windows Time service. It does not
		interfere with, enhance, replace, or
		otherwise affect the operation of the Windows
		Time service.

	b)	This component does NOT take over managing
		the system clock.

	c)	This component DOES give you a graphical
		interface exposing most of the common Windows
		Time options.

	d)	This component DOES allow Domain Time II
		components to interrogate this machine's
		time synchronization status over the
		network (unless you disable the monitor
		portion of the program).

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	WHY THIS IS FREE
===================================================================

	The Windows Time service from Microsoft doesn't have a
graphical configuration program. Each version of Windows Time
(starting with Windows 2000) has a slightly different
configuration procedure, stores its values in different places
in the registry, but uses the same w32tm.exe program with
different command-line parameters and options.

	The Windows Time Agent's Control Panel applet hides all
of that complexity and provides a single, easy to find, easy to
use interface for configuring the Windows Time service. We made
it a Control Panel applet because that's how most other
Microsoft services are configured.

	You may use the Control Panel applet however you'd like,
on as many machines as you want. We hope you find it useful. We're
also pretty sure that once you see the graphs of how Windows Time
manages your clock over a period of time, you'll be interested
in our Domain Time II suite of time synchronization products.

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	CONTROL PANEL APPLET
===================================================================

  1.	The Control Panel applet portion of Windows Time Agent
	is just a Control Panel applet. It doesn't do anything
	unless you run it by double-clicking its icon in Control
	Panel. It stops running when you close it, and doesn't
	interfere with the Windows Time service or consume any
	system resources at all.

  2.	The Control Panel applet portion of Windows Time Agent
	lets you:

        a)	Set the Windows Time built-in NTP client's
		syncronization mode

        b) 	Set the Windows Time built-in NTP client's
		selection of servers

        c)	See in real-time how well-synchronized the
		built-in NTP client is

        d) 	Control the Windows Time built-in NTP server's
		configuration
 
        e)	Test the Windows Time built-in NTP server
 
        f)	Set the Windows Time built-in NTP server's
		reliability flag

        g)	Stop or start the Windows Time service, and
		set its startup mode

        h)	Configure and view the Windows Time services
		debug log

        i)	Trigger a synchronization request

===================================================================
	AGENT
===================================================================

	Starting with Windows XP, the Windows Time service
provides an extensible mechanism to manage the w32time service.
This allows third parties to write their own "time providers"
to replace or suppliment the built-in NTP time provider
from Microsoft.

  1.	Windows Time Agent registers itself as a time provider
	in order to be loaded into the w32time process space, but
	it is not a time provider. Instead, it monitors the
	existing NTP time provider and collects statistics and
	other run-time information. Much of this information is
	not available any other way. For example, Windows Time
	Agent can tell you what time server Windows Time chose
	to use, when it used it, what the variance was at the
	time, and what time source the time source used. It
	also keeps a history of the machine's drift over time,
	calculates how often the machine's time was within
	tolerance, and shows the information as either a graph
	or a text table.

  2.	This information is a subset of the information Domain
	Time II collects for auditing purposes, and the
	information is therefore stored in a compatible format.
	Domain Time II Audit Server can query the information,
	so that (if you're using Domain Time II) you may audit
	your Windows Time machines along with your Domain Time
	II machines.

  3.	Domain Time II Manager can also query this information,
	and you can include your Windows Time machines in
	variance reports.

  4.	The agent portion of Windows Time Agent resides in the
	same dynamic link library (DLL) used by the Control
	Panel applet. Unlike the Control Panel applet code,
	the agent portion does not need you to double-click
	anything in order to run. It loads when the system
	starts (Windows Time loads it), and runs as long as
	the Windows Time service is running.

  5.	Since the agent portion of the program uses the XP or
	newer method of running, it only works on those versions
	of the operating system. You may use the Control Panel
	portion on Windows 2000, but the Agent tab won't be
	present, and no agent functions will be available.

  6.	We recognize that some people might want to use the
	Control Panel applet without having our agent code
	running, so on the Agent tab of the Control Panel
	applet, there's a checkbox you may uncheck. If the
	agent portion isn't enabled, then the agent doesn't run
	at all, and the Control Panel applet is just a Control
	Panel applet.

  7.	The agent portion of Windows Time Agent lets you:

	a)	Enable or disable the agent portion of
		Windows Time Agent

	b)	Select a reference NTP server for Agent to
		use when calculating variances (by default,
		Agent uses the last NTP-source used by the
		Windows time built-in NTP client)

	c)	Select how often Agent should verify the
		accuracy of the system time (use zero to
		mean "never" or any other value to mean how
		many minutes between verification checks)

	d)	Log a warning in Event Viewer if Agent is
		unable to verify the time

	e)	Log an error in Event Viewer if the verified
		time is off by more than ____ seconds
		(defaults to 2 seconds, but you may configure
		 a different value)

	f)	See the recent synchronization history for
		the Windows Time built-in NTP client,
		including what servers it has used and when

	g)	See a graph plotting the variances over time,
		including visual representations of how far
		off the machine varied from the reference
		server and whether a variance was the first
		one after startup, and also get a text list
		of all recent synchronizations, their sources,
		variances, and a statistical summary of how
		well Windows Time is doing (this is the same
		information we provide for Domain Time II
		components)

	h)	Query the Agent from another machine to find
		out its status

	i)	Trigger a synchronization remotely

===================================================================
	SETUP AND REMOVAL
===================================================================

	You may run the setup.exe program to install Windows
Time Agent, or just copy the w32tmdt.cpl file to your
%systemroot%\system32 folder. If you don't run the setup.exe
program, then Windows Time Agent won't be installed until the
first time you double-click its icon in Control Panel.

	Note that there are TWO versions of Windows Time
Agent: One for 32-bit Windows and one for 64-bit Windows. The
setup.exe program automatically chooses the correct version
for your computer. If you are copying the files manually,
be sure to match the software version with the operating
system version.

  1.	Installation is automatic the first time you
	double-click the icon in Control Panel.

  2.	You install by double-clicking w32tmdt.cpl itself.
	Since .cpl files are associated with Control Panel
	by default, double-clicking w32tmdt.cpl invokes
	Control Panel and runs Windows Time Agent. When
	Windows Time Agent starts, it will notice it's not
	living in the system32 folder and copy itself there.

  3.	Upgrade is the same as installation. If there's a
	new version of Windows Time Agent available, run
	the setup.exe program, or double-click the new
	w32tmdt.cpl. When Windows Time Agent runs, it will
	notice that it is newer than the installed version
	and upgrade the copy in the system32 folder (it
	will never overwrite an older version).

  4.	To remove Windows Time Agent, use Control Panel's
	Add/Remove Programs. If you want to remove it
	programmatically, you may manually run this command
	instead:

	rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\w32tmdt.cpl,RunDll -remove

  5.	You may do a brute-force removal by simply deleting
	w32tmdt.cpl. The only drawback to this method is that
	the agent won't be deregistered with Windows Time, and
	you'll see an error message in the Event Viewer. You
	may safely ignore the error message, but it's annoying.

  6.	NOTE: Since there isn't a separate program to handle
	the uninstall process, the w32tmdt.cpl program must
	uninstall itself while it's still running. It cannot,
	therefore, actually delete the w32tmdt.cpl file from
	the system32 directory. Instead, after it finishes
	the uninstall procedure, it renames itself to
	w32tmdt.old. You may safely delete w32tmdt.old at any
	time.

===================================================================
	DOMAIN TIME II INTEGRATION
===================================================================

	Although you may use Windows Time Agent without using
Domain Time II, it's a bit harder to use Domain Time II without
also using Windows Time Agent. When you install any Domain Time
II time-keeping component (server, full client, thin client, or
ultra-thin client), it also automatically installs and
configures Windows Time Agent.

  1.	Windows Time Agent and Domain Time II know about each
	other and interoperate to keep your computer's time
	correct without both Window Time and Domain Time II
	trying to manage the clock or serve NTP. For example,
	if you try to enable the NTP protocol in Domain Time
	Server, it will check to make sure Windows Time isn't
	already serving NTP. You may then choose which
	service should serve NTP.

  2.	Domain Time II disables some of the functionality of
	Windows Time, and the Windows Time Agent will reflect
	this. For example, if you install any Domain Time II
	client, the NTP client of Windows Time will be disabled,
	and you won't be able to reenable it using the Windows
	Time Agent Control Panel applet.

  3.	If Windows Time Agent is installed before you add Domain
	Time II, and then you remove Domain Time II, Windows
	Time Agent will be left behind, configured exactly as
	it was before you installed Domain Time II.

  4.	If Windows Time Agent isn't installed when you add
	Domain Time II, then both Windows Time Agent and Domain
	Time II will be removed when you remove Domain Time II.

  5.	You may add Windows Time Agent to an existing Domain
	Time II machine (for example, if you already have an
	earlier version of Domain Time II installed). Versions
	of Domain Time II earlier than 4.1 don't know anything
	about Windows Time Agent, and will ignore it.

  6.	You may remove Windows Time Agent at any time, even if
	Domain Time II is installed.

  7.	Domain Time II Manager can install, remove, upgrade,
	or interrogate Windows Time Agent on any machine in
	your network.

  8.	Domain Time II Update Service can install or upgrade
	Windows Time Agent on your network's machines
	automatically in the background.

  9.	DTCheck (the command-line tool) can interrogate Windows
	Time Agent.

 10.	Windows Time Agent will automatically detect when a
	Domain Time II component on the same machine is
	answering on port 9909/UDP (as long as Agent is enabled
	on the Agent tab of the Windows Time Agent Control Panel
	applet). If the Domain Time II component is removed or
	stopped, Windows Time Agent will start answering on
	port 9909/UDP. It will stop answering on port 9909/UDP
	as soon as the Domain Time II component is restarted.

 11.	Upgrading a Domain Time II component will automatically
	upgrade Windows Time Agent at the same time.

 12.	The Control Panel applets for Domain Time Server and
	Domain Time Client let you pull up the Control Panel
	applet for Windows Time Agent, and also let you specify
	an override to force the Windows Time service to use a
	specific sync mode (or be disabled entirely) every time
	the Domain Time II component starts.

===================================================================
	SUPPORT, SALES, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
===================================================================

For support, sales, or other information, please contact
Greyware Automation Products, Inc., as indicated below:

  Greyware Automation Products, Inc.
  308 Oriole Ct
  Murphy, TX 75094

  Voice Phone:   	972-867-2794
  Fax Line:     	972-208-1479

  Tech Support:  	techsupport@greyware.com
  Sales Email:   	sales@greyware.com
  General Info:  	info@greyware.com

  Documentation:  	http://www.greyware.com/
  Online Store: 	https://www.greyware.com/store/
  Price Calculator:  	http://www.greyware.com/software/domaintime/product/calc.asp

