WinXP clock always wrong on dual-boot system

[qajaq49]

My main desktop computer is set to dual-boot Linux and Windows XP Professional. I have the Linux OS set up to sync time with an internet time service. When I boot the WinXP OS, the time consistently shows four hours late -- as though it's interpreting the system clock to be on UTC (I'm actually in the US EDT zone).

Does Windows have a function, someplace, that can be told whether the system clock is set to UTC or to local time?

Or is there some other possible explanation for this consistent error?

[Josh Connerty]

I'm not overly sure, try the regional settings in the control panel, might turn something up.

[qajaq49]

No dice, but it was worth a look.

[Josh Connerty]

Okay, just checked on my windows server 2003 box. It seems it is under Date & Time . You should be able to change the timezone and other time related settings there.

[qajaq49]

I probably wasn't clear enough. I have no trouble changing the timezone or, for that matter, the date and time. The problem is that Windows appears to misinterpret it.

I have my Linux OS set up to read an internet time server, so that it keeps the machine clock as near perfectly-set as even an obsessive like me can expect. But when I reboot to the WinXP OS, Windows tells me that it's four hours later than it actually is. If I reboot directly back to Linux, the time is again shown correctly.

From this I deduce (perhaps incorrectly) that the system clock is not changed, but that Windows, for some reason, assumes that the system clock is reporting UTC and -- since I've told Windows that I'm in the US Eastern timezone -- Windows adds four hours to the system-clock time to make up for the timezone difference between UTC and EDT.

It's not that I have any trouble telling Windows what timezone I'm in. Rather, I want to tell Windows that the system clock is set for my timezone, not for UTC.