Okay, you PC geeks....

[wrapper]

Why the hell would my PC clock lose time -- while the computer is on and not while it's off? (In other words, don't say CMOS battery.)

Comments

[petermarcus]

Does it lose hours only, or just minutes -- that is, there are sometimes timezone issues -- but then you'd be off by something like an hour or two (or six), not something like one hour and thirty seven minutes.

[wrapper]

It slowly loses time over time. By midday, it's off a minute or two. By the end of the day, it's worse, sometimes ten or fifteen minutes off. It's like keeps time at a slower rate the longer the computer stays on.

[petermarcus]

Ah. Well, computer clocks...suck. Computers are horrible time keepers.

I don't know why the clock would suddenly get worse, though, if it was working before. It could indeed be the battery or the charging mechanism for it.

I use NetTime (download.com has it, I think). Several times a day, NetTime syncs my computer with the atomic clock in one of those Rocky Mountain states somewhere. Anyway, it's accurate, now, but it updates itself often.

[wrapper]

It's like keeps time? That's English, isn't it?

[dew]

If it's losing time it's your employer's way of getting you to work more hours.

[wrapper]

It's not working.

[majesticlady911]

I was going to say battery until you said don't say it. but, uhm, yea, battery!

[wrapper]

Okay, but, if it's the battery, the clock should lose time when the computer is off, not on.

[majesticlady911]

if you are on XP.....
double click on the clock, click internet time, check the box that says Automatically synchronize with an internet time server, change to time.windows.com in the drop down, and click apply then ok

[wrapper]

Not on XP, on ME at work. Hey, don't look at me, I didn't buy it....

[wrapper]

But, if my software is identical to what's on other people's machines, and theirs aren't losing time like this, then what?

And, know of a time synch program I could use, one that's free?

[fin9901]

Computer clocks are notoriously bad timekeepers. Some older Macintoshes had a problem where the clock simply wouldn't update at all when interrupts would turn off-- they'd lose a lot more time than your system is losing.

On all my Unix boxes, I run ntp, aka Network Time Protocol; your ISP (or your office setup) should have a timeserver somewhere. It's a standard internet service, like mail.