[nfbcs] Computer Clock

[Steve Jacobson]

Some computers sync up their clocks with networks, but I've never found computer clocks to be 
particularly more accurate than other clocks.  Being five minutes fast over time doesn't seem like it 
means a hardware problem, and the possibility of synchronizing to a network that is fast also seems like 
a possibility.  I would think resetting the time through the operating system and observing whether the 
time stays accurate for a while or becomes inaccurate at a specific point would make sense.  I also 
don't know that a low battery always means that the time will be slow.  Lowering the voltage does not 
always mean that an oscillator's frequency will drop, they can be inversely proportional depending upon 
the circuit.  If the computer is old, like several years or more, replacing the battery is probably 
worth trying if this is a recurring problem even if the clock is fast.  There are also some programs out 
there that will synchronize time to various sources and this might be a workaround even if the clock is 
somewhat defective.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:23:16 -0600, John Heim wrote:

>Most likely this is a hardware failure and cannot be fixed by anything short 
>of buying a new computer. Its almost certainly a failure of the real time 
>clock chip (RTC).  If your clock was slow, it might be a dead RTC battery. 
>But given that its gaining time, its probably a bad RTC.

>It may be possible to configure the Windows time app to synchronize every 
>few minutes. But the automatic synchronization protocol cannot work if the 
>time is too far off. Assuming Microsoft abides by the standard protocol, if 
>the clock is off by more than a few minutes, you would have to go in and 
>manually tell it to resynchronize itself.  And it wouldn't work at all when 
>you don't have a network connection.

>If the Windows time app doesn't allow you to configure all that, you can 
>probably find some freeware that will do it. You'd have to set it up to 
>synchronize when you connect to the internet even if the clock is way off 
>and to keep on synchronizing every few minutes or hours.

>But the only real solution is probably to have the PC repaired or replaced. 
>You cannot replace the clock chip. You'd have to replace the motherboard or 
>the whole PC.

>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Sahar Husseini" <sahar at inebraska.com>
>To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 6:00 AM
>Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Computer Clock


>> No, that doesn't work.  That is the first thing I tried, and the clock 
>> still keeps going ahead five minutes in less than a day.
>>
>> Warm regards,
>> Sahar Husseini
>> For hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind jewelry, please visit my Website at
>> www.saharscreations.com
>> Find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/saharscreations
>> And remember, "Obstacles don't have to stop you.
>> If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.
>> Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
>> Michael Jordan
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Lea williams" <leanicole1988 at gmail.com>
>> To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 1:30 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Computer Clock
>>
>>
>> go to the control pannal
>> then to
>> date and time
>> and change it there.
>>
>> Hope this helps
>>
>> On 2/23/12, Sahar Husseini <sahar at inebraska.com> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I had not had this happen since the 90's when I had a Toshiba laptop.  My
>>> desktop clock is five minutes too fast.  I restarted the computer, and I
>>> even stopped the service, unregistered it, re-registered it again, and
>>> restarted it.  That didn't fix the problem.  Any ideas?  Thanks very 
>>> much.
>>>
>>> Warm regards,
>>> Sahar Husseini
>>> For hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind jewelry, please visit my Website at
>>> www.saharscreations.com
>>> Find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/saharscreations
>>> And remember, "Obstacles don't have to stop you.
>>> If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.
>>> Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
>>> Michael Jordan
>>>
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>>
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> Lea Williams
>>
>> Phone;
>> 704-732-4470
>> Skipe;
>> Lea.williams738
>> Facebook
>> http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001775297080
>> Twitter
>> http://twitter.com/LeaNicole1988
>>
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>> 


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