Erratic Time on PC - [FIXED]

[roadster]

Just recently the date/time on my PC has been slow. If I set it to the correct time, within an hour it is minutes slow.

Is this a sign of impending failure of something?

Thanks

[bhxtyrant]

The first thing that comes to mind would be your CMOS battery.If it is dead or dieing it could cause problems with the clock settings for your PC.

Another thing which actually happened to me before was the time settings allow you to sync your time from a server and the server i choose could not connect which caused my Pc to have incorrect time zones an hour behind the current time.

I dont think it's a sign of failure but what i said above are my guesses.Someone else here might have more idea's :)

[phishhead]

well if your pc is on and its losing time I dont think its the CMOS battery since the battery is there to keep the date/time and other things correct while the pc is powered off.

[FastGame]

Someone else here might have more idea's
Your's were fine ;)

[bhxtyrant]

well if your pc is on and its losing time I dont think its the CMOS battery since the battery is there to keep the date/time and other things correct while the pc is powered off.

Thats true but if you are on your PC when the time is incorrect it would update the CMOS time to match.So once you restart the PC it would still be incorrect until you correct it again.

[georgejr05]

the Cmos battery only operate at the time your pc is turn off and it is unplug or your AVR is turn-off..try to correct the time then turn-off your pc unplug-it or turn-off AVR (UPS if any), then turn on again your pc..if the time resets again then the problem is your cmos battery.if it does not reset,then your battery don't have a problem...but in your case i understand that if you are using the pc without shuting down your time going slower or the time became delay..in this case I can't help you.I dont have any experience like that.

[cash_site]

i reckon the idea about the windows time update is pretty good. How do you know you're setting the correct time?? He might be setting it 4 mins fast... then windows connects to NTP and updates the time correctly (but 4 mins slower relative to the User) ? Einstein :p

[roadster]

Thanks for the replies. The cmos battery seems OK as all the settings are retained when the power is off. The option to sync with an internet time server is definately off.

I set the time quite accurately and then within a relatively short time the clock is way out. It drives my backup software crazy! The backup is scheduled for 11:30 and does kick in but the clock seems to get to somewhere near 12 and then goes back to 11:00 ish. Weird or what:eek: :eek: so the backup kicks in again. Its difficult to see what is happening exactly as I can't sit here and clock watch all the time........

[Conan]

Thanks for the replies. The cmos battery seems OK as all the settings are retained when the power is off. The option to sync with an internet time server is definately off.

I set the time quite accurately and then within a relatively short time the clock is way out. It drives my backup software crazy! The backup is scheduled for 11:30 and does kick in but the clock seems to get to somewhere near 12 and then goes back to 11:00 ish. Weird or what:eek: :eek: so the backup kicks in again. Its difficult to see what is happening exactly as I can't sit here and clock watch all the time........

What happens if you Sync the time with a time server?

[rik]

I have seen Norton AV cause this also.

[roadster]

What happens if you Sync the time with a time server?



"An error occurred while Windows was synchronising with time.windows.com."

The time on the task bar doesn't seem to be able to get past 12:00 approx so I've set the clock to GMT (14:24)

I'll sit and watch it.................

[roadster]

I have seen Norton AV cause this also.

Nope, don't have Norton.

[roadster]

Hmmmmm...............

Sat in front of PC and watched it click over to 15:00 still in sync with ntp.greenwichmeantime.com . Switched off, made a cuppa, switched back on and hey presto time now 1hr 2mins slow. Got to be the cmos battery???

I think the time went back to the last manual adjustment. Does this make any sense at all??

[phishhead]

thats what gets me if your pc is LEFT ON it does not use the battery at all. so something else is causing it.

[roadster]

thats what gets me if your pc is LEFT ON it does not use the battery at all. so something else is causing it.

And I get no errors during POST. It does check the battery level doesn't it?

[roadster]

thats what gets me if your pc is LEFT ON it does not use the battery at all. so something else is causing it.


Well, I've ordered a battery (a whopping 98p including postage!) There are reports of short battery life, so who knows........I need to open up the PC as I have a noisy fan somewhere anyway.

It's now 2hrs 2mins slow!!!

[bhxtyrant]

Although i have never expierienced this myself i have read about some programs running in the backround causing the clock to lose time usually norton and other AV software.I would try temporarily disabling any unnecesary programs in the backround and leave the PC on a few hours and see what happens.

[roadster]

Although i have never expierienced this myself i have read about some programs running in the backround causing the clock to lose time usually norton and other AV software.I would try temporarily disabling any unnecesary programs in the backround and leave the PC on a few hours and see what happens.

Yes, tried that just now..........lost 34 mins

[roadster]

Well I don't know what happened to cure it but the time is correct after setting it yesterday. How weird is that:eek: :eek:

I never got a chance to change the battery but a few days ago I decided to see which fan was making a noise (its the heat sink fan) and at the same time hoovered out the dust BUT.....it didn't work for a few days after that.

Off on holiday for a week so it'll be switched off , see what happens when I get back.

[cash_site]

perhaps faulty motherboard, leaking current from BIOS chip? just more brainstorming ideas ;)

[roadster]

Back from holiday and changed the battery. It didn't seem, at first, to have made any difference but then I went into the bios settings to have a look what time was set, corrected the time and lo and behold it has been correct for the last hour..............

Did I say that when it is not working correctly the next re boot sets the time back to the last time the time was set (That sounds like rubbish speak but you get my drift) Its almost like when the PC is switched off the clock isn't running.

We shall see what happens over the next few days.

I may have to save my pennies for a new motherboard but when we got back from holiday the hot water cylinder had sprung a leak so the plumber wants all my money to replace it. :( :eek:

[cash_site]

Yeah, i think ur assumption of when the BIOS battery is flat, and PC turned off, the BIOS clock doesnt have enough power to work and hence keep ticking.

It must have been a coincidence that each time you restarted the computer each day, was the nearly the same time ;)

I think the new battery will serve you well... obviously depending how long you keep the computer on/off for. Keep us updated if anymore probs occur.

[roadster]

Yes, the new battery has solved the problem. How strange that it didn't affect the bios settings at all, just the clock :confused: :confused: Anyway been running for over a week with no problems:)

Cheers