Why does the clock in my computer continually lose time?

1-03--02 | Self

[Max Monroe]

The time in the tool bar of my computer continually loses time. Right now it is about 6:32 and my computer clock says 6:14. I reset it this morning. Since the darn thing is always plugged in, why would it lose time? An inquiring mind wants to know.

[LibKill]

The planet Earth rate of spin is increasing, making the days look shorter !

The horror. The horror.

[Cold Heat]

Sice you have solved the time leak problem, perhaps you can teel me what friggin virus program on the market works with XP. I have been through Norton, McAfee, and the one with the Teddy Bear. All of them cause issues with the startup folder. I:E programs fail to boot or loose their icons. I am about to re-format and go back to W-98.

Signed..........POd!

[hattend]

First of all, the clock has an internal battery so it will keep time even when the power is off.

My laptop does the same thing (loses time)...no battery there (other than the system battery).

New computers with brand new batteries do it, too...even after battery replacement. I think it has to do with CPU/Windows usage/seepage. The harder your computer works the slower the clock runs. It's a Windoze thing.

[dglang]

I have six machines at home, and all of them show different times. Some gain time and some lose it.

I downloaded the atomic clock and set it to run once daily. Now all the clocks stay the same and are accurate.

A great advantage is now we know exactly what the time is, down to the second.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

My computer clock has lost time since the day I bought it. As long as I'm online it continually loses about 6 to 10 minutes an hour. It doesn't seem to happen if I'm working offline. Weird !!!!!!!!!!!! I just decided to live with it and reset periodically. I dare not try anything else since I have about enough computer knowledge to partially fill a very small thimble.

[wienerdog.com]

I am not as up on this stuff as I used to be, but I don't think there was been a broad-spectrum treatment developed for viruses yet -- hence no cure for AIDS or the common cold either. Your best bet in this case is to use any of the 32-bit prophylactic devices (sometimes kept behind the counter) at your neighborhood pharmacy. Of course, if you're already infected, about all you can do is keep the matter to yourself: otherwise, you are sure to be shunned in all the best chat rooms.

[CWRWinger]

RE:Post #41

Communist art.

[Senator Pardek]

A great advantage is now we know exactly what the time is, down to the second.

Especially when I had to sleep with now ex-wife.

[Cold Heat]

OK Wiener. "I appreciate it."

[OldFriend]

Thanks for the laugh about your computer changing time zones!!!!!! I needed a laugh and there it was!!!!

[GuillermoX]

Well, it worked!

[Cyber Liberty]

Probably needs winding. You do have it wound once a month, don't you?

Take your computer, put it back in the box, and take it to your dealer. He'll do it for you. If you tip him an extra sawbuck, he may even show you how....

[grumpster-dumpster]

I don't know!

My computer says Clinton is still president... But then again it's a Gateway.

[widgysoft]

I've got a great program called Xplanet.
With it comes a time sync thingy.

The time in the brackets is how much my clock had slowed down since the last update.
03/01/2002 11:45:48 ( 00:00:00.146) - tick.usask.ca:123
03/01/2002 15:01:39 ( 00:00:01.548) - tick.usask.ca:123
03/01/2002 23:02:07 ( 00:00:03.696) - tick.usask.ca:123
04/01/2002 00:01:41 ( 00:00:00.476) - tick.usask.ca:123
Only a few seconds every few hours it seems, but enough to be worried about it.

[Darth Hillary]

ALL THESE REPLIES AND THERE ARE SO MANY OF THEM,,,,THEY ARE ALL WRONG.... THE REAL ANSWER....

The 'clock' on your motherboard was never meant to be very accurate. It uses a closely approximated number to divide the counted number of 'ticks' generated from a small crystal. The output of this calculation is time.

Very tiny innacuracies in these magic numbers (which are customized for each individual crystal) can easily cause one of these clocks to gain or lose 15 minutes a day or more. Most are pretty accurate, but I've seen some really bad ones also.

It's the magic number used to divide the crystal frequency, It's close, but not close enough. There is nothing you can do about it. You can only cure the symptom with a Time Sync app like others have said.

[Dubya_gal]

Are you hooked up to a network? I think some of the computers at my work are hooked up to the network, and the computer is set up to check there for the correct date/time. Are you sure it isn't just getting the time from an incorrect network clock (instead of losing time)? If it is getting progressively worse then that probably isn't it. But if it just shows up wrong everytime you reboot or every few hours or something, maybe that is the problem.

[TC Rider]

Judging by the double posts, I'd say you have a bit echo in your flux actuator.

[Rebelbase]

Im sorry your ability for artistic appreciation is jaded by ideology.

[mark_interrupted]

Sounds like the CMOS battery is going. That combined with irregularities in the power supply might explain it.

[wienerdog.com]

My packet sniffer indicates that the second post came from an Echelon station in New Zealand. Nothing to worry about.