Solved CMOS Battery & Internet Time Sync (and USB HDD): Are they related?

[MrMii Win 7]

So I'm absolutely sure I have an almost dead CMOS battery, as I frequently get the error "CMOS Date/Time Not Set, F1 to load default values, F2 to run Setup" before the Boot Manager is displayed, although this isn't always. As a result inside Windows, I've seen tray icons missing and errors while syncing with the Windows Time server. The error doesn't specify a reason, it simply says it cannot sync with the server. The twist is that only Windows 10 Pro is unable to sync with time.windows or any other available option, and that 7 Pro can do it perfectly fine. Is there some sort of relationship between a dead CMOS and syncing with Internet Time? (And does that battery being almost dead have anything to do with USB hard drives occasionally not being detected at start or asking about autoplay every time? Just thought I'd throw that out there while I was here)

Regards,

~MrMii Win 7

 

[Ranger4]

Just replace the CMOS battery & see if the other problems disappear. Which ever way you go you will have to replace the CMOS battery, so you may as well do that as a start.

 

[MrMii Win 7]

I planned on replacing it first to see if that fixes it before I attempt to reset 10. I'll update you again once I have the battery and replace it.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi and yes,
Some mother boards will completely reset to original date if the battery is dead so this will effect time and date for obvious reason
As far as I know sync with internet time is not done at first startup.

 

[GokAy]

Hmm, a dead battery (date from years ago) does result in certificate errors if you try to browse the Internet (on some sites at least), not sure if it causes time sync issues.

 

[ThrashZone]

Me either but a weird reset would not have a region setup yet to sync with ?

 

[MrMii Win 7]

The board was created last year, but I have no idea when the battery was made, or if they put fresh CMOSes on new boards. But I do know they're expected to last at least 4-5 years. If this battery was supposed to be new, then it hardly lasted a year. I've been getting certificate errors with OneDrive, Chrome, and Edge with Windows 10 since the clock can't update. Browsing on 10 is unbelievably difficult. :/ I'm happy to have updated my TP of 10 and kept 7, because I couldn't browse on my own PC otherwise.

 

[GokAy]

It could have been defective. My board is 5 years old, no battery issues so far.

You can try:

w32tm /resync

Tell a computer that it should resynchronize its clock as soon as possible, throwing out all accumulated error statistics.

 

[MrMii Win 7]

I'm back from Windows 10 and tried that command in the Command Prompt. Apparently, even though I set the Windows Time service to automatic yesterday, when I turned on 10 just now, it reset back to "Manual (Triggered)". So I set it back to auto. Anyway, here's the command prompt making a fuss... Could it be because the year 10 is displaying is beyond the range of 2099? (2410 to be exact)

 

[LMiller7]

Typically a new motherboard would have a new CMOS battery but I am sure that is not always the case. Even new batteries can fail in a short time.

Be sure that the time zone and date are correct and that the time is close. If the time is off by too much time sync will not occur.

 

[MrMii Win 7]

Yep. It was because the date was over 400 years off... (I'm serious, it was) Changed it to today's date and then I got a successful sync. To me it doesn't make sense as why it won't sync the time if it's too far off. I thought the point was to correct it...? Regardless, that solved the issue, I appreciate the help! (This doesn't mean I won't be getting a new CMOS still)