System Time not kept correctly after having manually changed BIOS time

[dell1545]

Dear all,

I spilt some water on my laptop a few days ago but fortunately it's completely dried out and working perfectly.... apart from this minor (but important) issue. I would appreciate your help.

Problem: the system time does not stay correct. Even after manually updating the BIOS time and also even after manually syncing it with the various servers available under the time options.

Fix: set the internet time sync interval to every minute rather than its default setting? How do I do this?

Much appreciated.

P.S. This couldn't be a CMOS battery issue surely because even when the system is on and plugged in the system time still deviates from correct. (I assume the CMOS battery is only used when the system is powered off.) If I need it replaced, how does that sit with my Dell hardware warranty?

 

[windude99]

Dear all,

I spilt some water on my laptop a few days ago but fortunately it's completely dried out and working perfectly.... apart from this minor (but important) issue. I would appreciate your help.

Problem: the system time does not stay correct. Even after manually updating the BIOS time and also even after manually syncing it with the various servers available under the time options.

Fix: set the internet time sync interval to every minute rather than its default setting? How do I do this?

Much appreciated.

P.S. This couldn't be a CMOS battery issue surely because even when the system is on and plugged in the system time still deviates from correct. (I assume the CMOS battery is only used when the system is powered off.) If I need it replaced, how does that sit with my Dell hardware warranty?

For right now, lets just try to update your time. To do this, click on the clock in the bottom right. Then, click on change date and time settings. In the window that comes up, go to the top and click on the tab titled Internet Time. Then, click on change settings. Click on update now in the windows that pops up.

 

[dell1545]

Yes thanks; I've tried this and although initially working for a couple of hours, after a while I notice the time is wrong once again. (I.e. it's not moving on fast enough to keep accurate time). Has been the case for the past few days.

Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[nick003]

I'm having the same problem but it has suddenly popped up. Nothing spilled on the keyboard or anything.

Its as if DST gets reversed for no apparent reason.

Is your maching an HP?

 

[windude99]

Yes thanks; I've tried this and although initially working for a couple of hours, after a while I notice the time is wrong once again. (I.e. it's not moving on fast enough to keep accurate time). Has been the case for the past few days.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Does your bios clock stay accurate or is it getting off also?

 

[slurp812]

I'm thinking maybe it isn't all the way dry. I would take it apart myself, but that can get very involved. I dont know what Dell would do warranty wise...

 

[dell1545]

BIOS is off too.

I've updated it numerous times. It corrects the system time but only for an hour or less. It soon deviates from the correct time.

Question: does the system time still run off the CMOS battery even when the system is powered on? If so, a simple (I hope) replacement may fix things?

 

[windude99]

BIOS is off too.

I've updated it numerous times. It corrects the system time but only for an hour or less. It soon deviates from the correct time.

Question: does the system time still run off the CMOS battery even when the system is powered on? If so, a simple (I hope) replacement may fix things?

Have you checked for Bios updates from Dell's support page: http://support.dell.com/

 

[nick003]

Does your bios clock stay accurate or is it getting off also?[/QUOTE]

Yes, the time in the BIOS clock remains accurate. It is only within Windows 7 Ultimate that the problem happens.

 

[windude99]

BIOS is off too.

I've updated it numerous times. It corrects the system time but only for an hour or less. It soon deviates from the correct time.

Question: does the system time still run off the CMOS battery even when the system is powered on? If so, a simple (I hope) replacement may fix things?

Yes. I think it does. Either that or it only runs when your system is powered down.

 

[windude99]

Does your bios clock stay accurate or is it getting off also?

Yes, the time in the BIOS clock remains accurate. It is only within Windows 7 Ultimate that the problem happens.[/QUOTE]
Are you having the same problem also?

 

[dell1545]

So Dell have agreed to resolve the problem. However, they can't just replace the £4 battery; the whole motherboard must be replaced.

Oh well.. it's up to them.

 

[EzioAuditore]

So Dell have agreed to resolve the problem. However, they can't just replace the £4 battery; the whole motherboard must be replaced.

Oh well.. it's up to them.

If the bios too is losing time, then its most likely a failing battery.
Just for a second opinion, Can you create a new account and see if it happens in that account too? We had an OP having similar problem few days back and creating new account fixed it.

 

[3D Jed]

I had a pc in for repair recently, and as an afterthought the owner mentioned it also wouldn't keep time. After the repair was done I tried changing the time. Turned out it was set to wrong time zone. I guess when Windows checked with the time server, it was jumping the clock by a few hours.

Just a thought . . .

 

[nick003]

System Time Falls Back 1 Hour

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate on an HP 580T with 12 Gigs of RAM.

For about a week now, I'm noticing the system time keeps falling back one hour.

When it was time to "spring ahead" one hour, the clock updated as it should. But Im noticing during the last week or so that the time has fallen back one hour.

I've gone to the change date and time settings and corrected the time but within a few hours, it falls back again.

When I go to the BIOS, the system clock has the correct time so I'm guessing it is something in Windows.

The steps I've taken are:

Virus scan in safe mode: negative results.
Malware scan in safe mode: negative results.

Windows updates are current.
I've disabled synchronization with a network time server.

You don't realize how important the correct time is on you computer until it is wrong!

Any suggestions?

 

[F5ing]

nick003, I'm interested in how this turns out. I think Windows always stores and uses the time in UTC. When it displays it (ie, clock in the taskbar, timestamps for files in explorer, etc.) it applies the registry stored adjustment for timezone (and DST). When it synchronizes time over the internet it's using a UTC source; there's no regard for location. I think that's why you'll find, when booting from some external OS (bootable CD/DVD/USB), that the timestamps for all the files on your internal hard disk are off. The difference being the number of hours between UTC and your particular time zone and DST.

So it seems that even though you've stopped sync with internet time, you still may experience another time shift if it was due to a problem with what was stored in your registry (DST and timezone).

 

[Pandaman12]

This worked for me

Hi. I have Vista Home but I was having the same problem with my system time. I would turn on my PC and the date would be behind by about one day and the time would display a time early in the morning. I could try syncronizing with the time server, but most of the time that wouldn't work. Even when it did work, the time would be okay for only a short time and then slip back by about a day and a half. This would happen while the computer was on so I know it's not my motherboard battery.

I tried setting the clock in BIOS, but when I started Vista, the time would be wrong again. Then if I went back to the BIOS, the time would be wrong there too.

I also manually set the clock in Vista and disabled syncronization, but the same thing kept happening.

This started about a week ago. So today I finally got fed up and tried a system restore from about two weeks ago. Rebooted and now the time is correct upon boot and stays correct in Vista. I've turned my PC on and off several times to verify it works now.

So this was some sort of software problem, probably caused by some update that was installed within the last two weeks. From now on I'll do my updates one at a time and watch for this problem to come back.