Troubleshooting Common Problems

Continuum says it cannot connect to a specific timeserver. Now what?

Timeservers are usually a free or subsidized service, but are not necessarily forever. The outage could be temporary or permanent. If the problem persists, edit Continuum's list of known time servers by deleting the unavailable server and adding one or two off the list. The timeserver links are here.

Continuum says it cannot set the system clock. What do I do?

The problem is almost certain that you are on a Windows NT or 2000 system and do not have the proper security privileges to set the system clock. Ask your system administrator to give you the proper privileges.

Continuum makes fun of the way I dress. How do I make it stop?*

You don't. You deserve it.

*Just kidding. Continuum can't tell what you are wearing. Really.

Continuum says it cannot connect to the server. What is the problem?

This could one of any number of things. We'll go in order from easiest to fix to most difficult:

1. Go to the options dialog (under Tools / Options from the main menu) and check the addresses listed in the server list. Make sure these IP addresses and/or hostnames are correct. If you need a timeserver address, links are here.
2. For each address in the server list check the port number. Make sure this is the port the server is actually listening on. For NIST servers, this should always be 37. For Continuum/server this may be any number between 1 and 4999 - you'll have to check your local Continuum/server to make sure.
3. Make sure the server is up and active. The best way to be really sure of this is to walk up to the server and make sure Continuum/server is running.
4. Make sure you have an active Internet connection. If you have a ping program, try to ping the server address/hostname to make sure that you can connect to it. (Most versions of Windows came with a ping program, just go the DOS prompt (or command prompt if you're using NT) and type 'ping <servername>', i.e. 'ping 129.6.16.35' or 'ping time-a.nist.gov' for example.)