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PCs internal clock losing time......

Posted: Wed May 22, 2002 6:57 am
by EvilHorace
I don't remember the cause (seen this question before) but one of the newer PCs at work never keeps the proper time (seems to lose about an hour a day) and I'm not sure why. It's running 24/7. Anyone?

Posted: Wed May 22, 2002 12:00 pm
by FlyingPenguin
SOMETIMES it's a BIOS issue, and sometimes it can be a weak CMOS battery. If it's always online, you can use one of the Atomic Time sync programs. I like the free one here: http://www.worldtimeserver.com/

Posted: Wed May 22, 2002 9:48 pm
by EvilHorace
I've got that program running there too and it fixes it daily whenever it's online (only when I'm there) but the work PC situation is strange to me as the older PC in the same location also had time problems.
The PC in question now is always off by 56 minutes whenever I run that timekeeping sync program and it'll be off after it's re-booted. It runs WinNT 4.0 now (soon being upgraded to Win2K) and it does show the correct time zone.
The older PC (a completely different PC) there was also always off by 1 hour whenever it showed the correct time zone but I'd fool it by selecting the next time zone. Maybe I'll try that again but I can't explain why 2 PCs in the same area would have time related problems and I've never seen this occur with other PCs elsewhere.

Posted: Thu May 23, 2002 9:05 am
by FlyingPenguin
In my career, I've occasionally run across a computer that would run slow or fast (usually slow).

I've NEVER been able to explain it. Just one of those things.

Posted: Fri May 24, 2002 12:13 am
by Absolut Talent
I had a problem similar with an older PC
it was the battery on it
I say swap it out for a new one if you cant find another cause of the problem

******BUT MAKE SURE IT IS THE CORRECT BATTERY AND YOU DO BACKUP YOUR FILES JUST IN CASE********

Posted: Fri May 24, 2002 7:04 am
by EvilHorace
The PCs at work are leased SO I will not do anything to them. The thing works OK otherwise and it's no big deal but it's a bit strange, especially being that 2 different PCs there had similar time related issues.
That atomic clock sync program keeps it inline too so that works for me.