First hop timeout problem

Just upgraded from W2k to XP SP2 IE7
I was troubleshooting a problem with with the Windows time service
not
syncing with any public internet time server. Whenever I would try to
update
the time I would get a message telling me an error had occurred. I
tried to
determine if the server was active by pinging it and it responded OK
indicating the the problem probably wasn't a dead server. However,
further
checking with Tracert indicated the the first hop timed out but all
the
other hops worked as expected. Turns out this happens on any tracert,
not
just the time servers. I'm far from being a network expert but this
tells me
that the reason the time update isn'tworking is because Windows Time
isn't
able to make connection because of the timeout problem.

So, my real problem appears to be this timeout of the first hop...can
anyone
think of a reason this is happening. I am not experiencing any
problems with
browsing the internet, sending/receiving mail, or any other issues
that I am
aware of. Am I totally out in left field?

I would be most appreciateve for any help getting this problem
resolved.

The tracert timeout message is not relevant as long as the tracert completes
and I have seen similar behavior before even on my own computers. Possibly
you have a software/host firewall or internet security program not allowing
access to/from the time server. Temporarily disable any that you know you
have to see if that solves the problem or not. I believe the time service
used port 123 UDP.

Steve



<jim.wray@lmit.com> wrote in message
news:1194274949.783325.143850@z24g2000prh.googlegr oups.com...
> Just upgraded from W2k to XP SP2 IE7
> I was troubleshooting a problem with with the Windows time service
> not
> syncing with any public internet time server. Whenever I would try to
> update
> the time I would get a message telling me an error had occurred. I
> tried to
> determine if the server was active by pinging it and it responded OK
> indicating the the problem probably wasn't a dead server. However,
> further
> checking with Tracert indicated the the first hop timed out but all
> the
> other hops worked as expected. Turns out this happens on any tracert,
> not
> just the time servers. I'm far from being a network expert but this
> tells me
> that the reason the time update isn'tworking is because Windows Time
> isn't
> able to make connection because of the timeout problem.
>
> So, my real problem appears to be this timeout of the first hop...can
> anyone
> think of a reason this is happening. I am not experiencing any
> problems with
> browsing the internet, sending/receiving mail, or any other issues
> that I am
> aware of. Am I totally out in left field?
>
> I would be most appreciateve for any help getting this problem
> resolved.
>

On Nov 5, 7:11 pm, "Steven L Umbach" <n9...@n0-spam-for-me-
comcast.net> wrote:
> The tracert timeout message is not relevant as long as the tracert completes
> and I have seen similar behavior before even on my own computers. Possibly
> you have a software/host firewall or internet security program not allowing
> access to/from the time server. Temporarily disable any that you know you
> have to see if that solves the problem or not. I believe the time service
> used port 123 UDP.
>
> Steve
>
>

Thanks for the reply. I did disable the XP firewall so that shouldn't
have been a factor. I have a Pix Firewall but since windows 2k wasn't
having any time sync problems I don't think that is a factor either. I
did notice another "peculiarity" that might be a clue. Sometimes, when
I first visit a web site, it seems like on the first attempt ie just
sits there with no activity...when I hit enter the second time it goes
right to the web site. If I have been using the network a lot, this
delay never happens. It's almost like the network has to "wake up". I
have never seen this kind of behaviour and don't have a clue what's
causing it. Could it be something going on with my cable
connection...my ISP is earthlink and I connect through Comcast cable.