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PC Clock

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The clock on my PC keeps dropping time. Sometimes when I shut down my PC and turn it on two days after, the date is the same as when i turned it off. I have changed the cmos battery, and it continues to do the same thing. This has been an ongoingproblem since I bought the PC at an auction 2 years ago. Can anyone tell what might be the problem.

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PC Clock

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If the problem were one of CMOS battery voltage, you would expect that it would reset to the default (often something like 01/01/80) date and time rather than just not updating while the power is off.

The time is kept by a clock chip on the motherboard (except the really old XT computers that had a separate clock/calendar card) so if it isn’t working properly the cure is motherboard replacement and that is likely why this computer was consigned to an auction.

As a workaround, if the computer is used on a network or has Internet connectivity, there are several freeware time programs you can run to automatically update the date and time when you boot up the computer. My favorite is AboutTime (find it at http://www.arachnoid.com) but there are others.

regards…

paul

Paul M. Wright,Jr.
McKay Technologies

PC Clock

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PC Clock

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Thank you Paul, your answer gave me a better understanding of the problem.

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