Activation Error: System Clock has a Very Large Error

During the Vectorworks activation process, you may encounter the following error:

Most commonly this occurs when a user has modified the default settings on the clock or if the machine is relatively new. Regardless of how it occurred it can be fixed by doing the following:

Windows XP:

Right click on the clock in the bottom right corner of your screen and choose "Adjust Date/Time".


Under the Internet Time tab, check the box for "Automatically sync with an Internet Time Server"

Select "time.nist.gov", click Apply, then reboot the machine and retry activating Vectorworks.
 

Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 10:

Right click on the clock in the bottom right corner of your screen and choose "Adjust Date/Time".


Under the Internet Time tab, select "Change Settings" Check the box for "Automatically sync with an Internet Time Server"  Select "time.nist.gov", click Apply, then reboot the machine and retry activating Vectorworks.
  

OR if on a later version of Windows, enable Set Time and Set Time Zone Automatically: 

OSX/macOS:

Click on the Date/Time at the top right of the screen and select "Date & Time Preferences"

On the Date/Time tab, check the box for "Set the date and time automatically:" then select "time.apple.com"

Restart the machine and retry activating Vectorworks.