Laptop Clock Not Keeping Time

I was curious why my laptop clock is not keeping time? When I turn it off at night and then turn it on later the next morning the time is still the same as when I had turned it off. As long as its powered on and doesn't hibernate (which seems to stop the time as well) everything is fine.

I seem to have to resynch the time quite frequently. Any suggestions anyone might have would be greatly appreciated

 

i dunno, i have never heard of a computer doin that. The time should be stored in the BIOS. Check your BIOS and set the correct time there and see if that fixes the problem.

 

I had a computer that lost time even when it was on. It would lose about 5 mins a day. I ended up getting atomic time clock or something like that, a free program that connected to a time server somewhere and corrected my computer clock. It was a sucky workaround, but it's worth a try until you figure out what's wrong.

Malia

 

could it be the small battery inside the laptop thats come loose?

 

In a desktop that usually means that the battery for the motherboard is dying, but i dont know if the same applies to notebooks.

 

CMOS batteries cost like 20c, you can get one shipped for around $3 if not cheaper if you get it on eBay. If it's easily accessible, why not give it a try? Just make sure you get the right one for your laptop.

Malia

 

A lot of laptops have a CMOS battery that is located in a separate compartment below the main battery. Replace this, update your time in Windows, and you should be good to go.

 

yea. internal battery, it runs the minute functions of the computer while the main power source is un available.]

happens on desktops too.

 

yeah bios battery

 

Weird. If the internal battery had died, I'd expect the clock to be reset entirely, not just "frozen" at its current time. Anyone else experienced that before?

 

its probably not all the way dead so it just runs slowly.

 

thanks for all the great help i never thought about some of the options. Thanks again and I will get to work on it immeidately

 

Um, it isn't a BIOS battery, if that dies it resets back to default time, my Compal is having the same exact problem, checked with Powernotebooks tech support who checked with Compal who thinks it is a bad mobo so it is in their repair facility atm. I beleive it is the time clock on the mobo itself but will find out as soon as they let me know.

 

again, it might just be close to dying

yes?

 

Not sure, been repairing desktops for 6 years professionally and never seen this type of problem, ususally when the battery dies or is going out it resets the CMOS completely, every tech I know has never encounted this exact problem including the tech support guys at powernotebook, I would contact Acer tech support and check with them, see if they maybe have some ideas it is just a bizarre thing in all honesty.

 

The BIOS which stands for Basic IN Out System is a small operating system that has control until windows/other OS loads. All settings for the BIOS are stored on the CMOS, "a small battery" which is usually located on the motherboard. The CMOS provides a small electrical current to maintain these settings while the comuter is unplugged or turned off. These batteries usually last about 5 years under the right conditions. If your computer is not keeping correct time it is most likely because the CMOS is running out of power. Laptops and desktops will both have this and fotunately the CMOS is usually cheap and easy to replace. it looks a lot like a large watch battery if you look at a few pictures of motherboards on the net you should be able to identify it fairly quickly. The best way to go about changing it is to look instructions on the manufacturers website. Peace and good luck

 

If the laptop was losing time, IE resetting then yes the battery would be the most likely culprit. However as I now have been without a laptop for getting close to two weeks while the manufacter is replacing the motherboard for this problem can say, it is probably the motherboard that is not tracking (losing time completely different) and Acer would have to repair that unit.

 

While it is true that certain problems with the motherboard can make you loose a couple of minutes here and there it is very rare to come across this. It is easy to check your CMOS just try this Start>Run type cmd and when you get the command prompt type time. Compare this time to your system clock in the bottom left corner of your screen if there is a difference then your CMOS is going bad. If there is no difference then your CMOS is ok. There is another possibility. When Windows starts it checks the time from CMOS after that it keeps its own time if your computer is running a lot OR you are using a lot of processor intensive programs and system resources then that will also make your system loose time. This is the reason you have the time synchronization tab "Internet time" on the adjust time and date menu. You might try rebooting your computer more if you tend to leave it on a lot now. Or just remember to synchronize your clock more often. If you are running a lot of processor intensive programs try cutting back a little and see if that helps.

 

I use a program called "Chameleon Clock" that checks the official time regularly day with several Atomic Time Servers. It keeps my computer right up to the second and also shows times around the world (download from www.softshape.com/cham)

 

This topic is over a year old. I doubt the OP still needs help with this question.

 

Some older laptops use small NiMH battery packs for the clock, but I think all the newer ones use the main battery along with a capacitor.