Computer clock losing time (1 Viewer)

[Oscar W]

My computer clock has consistently been losing 15-45 minutes a day for the past few weeks. Before I noticed this it usually ran a few seconds fast. Any ideas why???
My computer is on 24/7, with a DSL connection. When I am not active on it the only programs running are: SETI, Outlook and AIM.
Stats:
Asus A7V-133 motherboard with 1.2G AMD T-Bird
512Mg PC133 memory
60G HD and 4G back-up HD
Been running this configuration for about a year, sans DSL & SETI, and have only recently noticed time loss. I know there is a 'watch-type' battery on the motherboard, but don't recall what it is for. Guess I outta go dig the manual out. Could this be an indicator that this battery is about to die?
Thanks.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Maybe the CMOS Lithium Battery is going dead?

Might wanna try it..

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

I don't think the clock runs off the battery while the power is on, the battery is used when the power is off.

My guess is the continuous processing of SETI is responsible. Maybe you can stop it for a day to see if it makes a difference.

If you're running Windows XP it can synchronize the clock to Internet sources and can automatically determine by the slippage how frequently it needs to do so, double-click on the time in the corner and use the Internet Time tab to set it up. Windows 2000 can do the same, but there's no GUI to set it up. For other operating systems, there are numerous time sync clients such as Dimension4 and Tardis.

 

[AndyVX]

This is a known issue with most flavours of the Windows OS. If I could remember where I read the article about it, I would post a link, but it was just so long ago that I can't remember.

I don't think there is a fix for the problem either.

 

[Christian Behrens]

Not a real solution to the problem, but for Windows you can use Dimension 4 to synchronize your PC's clock. It's free and works just fine, I've used it for years.
-Christian

 

[Oscar W]

Well in the past 24-hours it only lost 1 second. I am currently running Win ME, haven't splurged for XP yet, though I need to. I've been running SETI since January, problem only came up about 2-3 weeks ago. Until that time it usually ran a little fast.
I check my time with a program from Link Removed. Though I don't run it continuously. I used to sync my clock about once a month. Now I do it daily.
Checked the ASUS manual. It makes no mention of the CMOS battery, other than telling me that it's a CMOS battery on a picture.
What is the purpose of the CMOS Battery? How do I know when it is about to die or when to change it?

 

[Brett DiMichele]

The CMOS Battery should be a round lithium ion button cell

on the mother board (replaceable). Some have said this is

not the cause but I would still check it anyway. The cost

of the battery is negligable and you never know, a dead

battery could cause the problem even if the system is booted.

I have never lost time on my PC's (I never ran ME though)

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I'm reviving this thread, because my computer has been losing time for the past two weeks. Also, I'm beginning to notice that my computer "slows down" majorly and this seems to be the cause of the problem as well. Confused? I need help!!!

 

[Glenn Overholt]

The battery keeps your CMOS settings in place when you turn your PC off. If you boot up and discover that everything has gone whacky, then it is time to change your battery.

As for losing time, it must be a program, or else everybody would be complaining, and I mean Everybody! A few years back I found out that some HP printer software would cause your time to lose an hour. You could end up updating a file with an older time on it!

I'd watch the time carefully and close a few programs up. Then go to their site and scream!

Glenn

 

[Andy Hardin]

I just want to chime in that I had a Micron 200 mhz machine I bought in 96 that did this for *years*. Windows 95 and then an upgrade to 98. Never could figure out what caused it but it would end up being days off. Frustrating, but not worth my time to fool around with for that reason either.

Sometimes I would send emails and they would come delivered to the other person's machine with my date tag, so it would be days in the future. I got some strange responses because of that (this was early in the internet learning curve for many users).

 

[Chris Bardon]

I had the same problem for a while there. Got a little program called Tardis though that fixed everything. It synchs the clock every few hours to different time servers, nice idea.

 

[JJR512]

Despite a few allusions to the contrary, it has nothing to do with Windows or the OS. Not unless you mean the fault with Windows is that (prior to XP) it didn't have a way of synching its time. The fault is entirely with the hardware, with the clock itself. I don't know the full technical details well enough to try to explain why, but PC clocks have been notoriously inaccurate for longer than I've been paying any attention to computers. If you don't have XP, just get a time synching program (like AtomTime) and run it as often as needed.

 

[Oscar W]

Well my problem has come and gone and come again, though not as bad as before. It fixed itself, I did nothing, for a few weeks and it is back to losing about 2-3 minutes a day. I check it with AtomTime regularly.

The battery keeps your CMOS settings in place when you turn your PC off. If you boot up and discover that everything has gone whacky, then it is time to change your battery.

Wacky in what way. Sometimes when I restart my computer it hangs up at the "Starting MS Windows" statement or something to that effect. It will not start up unless I shut the computer off for about 5 minutes then restart it.

 

[Bill Kane]

I use the free Atomic Clock utility program HERE that now comes w/ an automatic daily ping. My Dell puter is just 2 1/2 yrs old so I dont think I have battery issues, yet.
My new ZoneLabs Firewall may be blocking, tho. It was off 2 minutes yesterday when I checked why it didnt match the HTF time standard! Here's an excerpt from AtomicClock's "Read Me"

This program has an option to run in AUTOMATIC MODE. When this option is selected, it will connect to the atomic clock 1 time per day and will not try to attempt another 24 hours. If your system is not currently connected to the Internet, it will attempt to make a connection at regular intervals until a successful result is achieved, at which time it will not make any further attempts until the next day.
The overall uncertainty in the time comparison should be no worse than +/- 0.5 seconds under all circumstances, and will be substantially less than this value in most cases.
For users behind firewalls, you may find it useful to know that Port 13 is used to connect to the NIST Atomic Clock servers. If this port is blocked, it may prevent Atomic Clock Sync from receiving time information.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

The CMOS has standard 'default' settings. If you have anything in your PC that isn't standard and the battery goes out and you power off, when it boots up it will go into default mode, because it can't remember anything else.

Having your PC time reset itself to Jan 1, 1910 is a good hint, but it might want to boot with your floppy, or disconnect a lan. It varies greatly depending on the PC.

Glenn

 

[McPaul]

HEY!! MINE DOES THIS TOO!!!

WinME

about 4 yeyars old

not running that STIE thing

has ranged from 5 minutes late to 45 minutes late

has caused me to miss a shift or two at wor too! BLARGH!