How to work up a new notebook with incorrect time

[questionsfortomshardware]

This is a brand new notebook (HP Z book 17 G2). The operating system is windows 7 professional x64.

For approximately one and half months I have updated and reset the time using time.windows.com, nist.gov, nw.nist.gov, a.nist.gov, and b.nist.gov. All of the settings lead to delayed time. The web site: http://time.is displays the time and the delay with each refresh. For approximately 24 hours the delay was approximately 50 seconds and the current delay is over one minute.

When I contacted HP they did not offer to replace the brand new notebook computer with a new computer. Instead they offered to replace the motherboard and CMOS battery with a refurbished motherboard and new battery.



So far I have updated the BIOS. In device manager there are no icons indicating any malfunctioning hardware/software. The HP Support Assistant has been used regularly and all HP drivers are up to date. All windows software is up to date.

What methods are available to check the notebook CMOS battery with software?
I had downloaded speedfan but did not find a voltage for the CMOS battery.
What methods are available to check the time keeping functions of the motherboard?

 

[NerdIT]

That is definitely indicative of a bad/dying CMOS battery.
Heres a tool:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/cmossavecmosrest.html

Easy and cheap (under $5) to replace, I imagine it takes a 3V Lithium battery, standard part number CR2032.. Common "watch battery"

I would boot into BIOS and try setting/checking the system time there.. If the time is correct there, then the problem is with Windows.

Fresh install of Windows?

 

[questionsfortomshardware]

That is definitely indicative of a bad/dying CMOS battery.
Heres a tool:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/cmossavecmosrest.html

Easy and cheap (under $5) to replace, I imagine it takes a 3V Lithium battery, standard part number CR2032.. Common "watch battery"

I would boot into BIOS and try setting/checking the system time there.. If the time is correct there, then the problem is with Windows.

Fresh install of Windows?

This notebook computer is under warranty. I don't know how to take apart and put back together the notebook. HP commented that this could be a CMOS battery and or the motherboard. They did not offer to replace the computer with a new one. And they did not offer to replace the motherboard with a new one. They offered a new CMOS battery and a refurbished motherboard. At this time I don't know how to check the motherboard. The link that you posted for the CMOS battery indicates standalone utility. I no longer have burnable cd's but do have a brand new USB flash drive. Can this software be used on a USB flash drive to check the notebook CMOS?

From majorgeeks.com I saved the download on my notebook internal flash drive but did not find a file with *.exe. How do you use this software if it does not automatically run?

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/cmossavecmosrest.html

There was no *.exe file but when I clicked on cmosrest.com with type MS DOS application a pop up appeared:

The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program and then contact the software publisher.

What are the steps to get it to run with windows 7 professional x64?

For windows 7 professional I used administrative command prompt and then SFC /SCANNOW and it did not find any integrity violations. Are there other steps to check the OS for problems related to the incorrect time?

 

[NerdIT]

If you look in the cmossave folder, there is a .html file called manual..click on this and your browser will open with instructions on how to use it and put it on bootable media.

Although honestly I do not think you will figure much out this way. CMOS battery is either dying or not. If it IS dying -then settings in BIOS will not stick and/or will change.

Have you tried a fresh installation of Windows?

 

[NerdIT]

If you do not feel comfortable opening up your machine -you are smart in not doing so because I have seen a lot of people just "wing it" and then they get in over their heads.

A local computer shop or Geek Squad can replace the CMOS battery for you. (should be inexpensive -as it does not take long).

 

[questionsfortomshardware]

The time on the brand new notebook varies between 2 seconds and a little over one minute delayed by using the web site time.is. Today HP contacted me to let me know that they will schedule a technician to replace the RTC. Apparently this part is easy to expose by removing the back of the notebook but HP has it as a flagged part not to send while it is under warranty. They said that it is taped to the motherboard and that the system board could be damaged while it is removed. So a technician will come with a voltage checker and two new batteries. They will replace the battery and then they want me to check the time.is web site to see whether the time delay problems are fixed. They think it could also be the time crystal in the motherboard. If replacing the CMOS battery does not fix the varied time delay they they offered to replace the motherboard with a refurbished board.

 

[NerdIT]

The time on the brand new notebook varies between 2 seconds and a little over one minute delayed by using the web site time.is. Today HP contacted me to let me know that they will schedule a technician to replace the RTC. Apparently this part is easy to expose by removing the back of the notebook but HP has it as a flagged part not to send while it is under warranty. They said that it is taped to the motherboard and that the system board could be damaged while it is removed. So a technician will come with a voltage checker and two new batteries. They will replace the battery and then they want me to check the time.is web site to see whether the time delay problems are fixed. They think it could also be the time crystal in the motherboard. If replacing the CMOS battery does not fix the varied time delay they they offered to replace the motherboard with a refurbished board.

Good, glad you were able to get pointed in the right direction. Let us know how it goes.!

 

[questionsfortomshardware]

follow up:
A HP technician replaced the CMOS battery in the ZBook 17 notebook or mobile workstation. It was not a pop in pop out. The battery was enclosed in plastic. There was a wire that ran from the plastic enclosure to the motherboard and attached with a female connector. The technician attempted to piercethe plastic enclosure to make a voltage reading but this did not appear to get a good read. So it is unclear what the voltage was in the new computer battery and what is is now in the replacement new battery.

With the battery change the time delay fluctuation has not changed. Most often it has been less than one minute delayed. And it at time is will be over one minute delay. This is using the website: http://time.is The HP support is waiting for me to provide feedback. I have used the snipping tool and recorded the delays both prior to and after the battery replacement.

Is there any method to test the time keeping functions of the motherboard?

Is there a time crystal or any other part that can be tested?

They offered to replace the motherboard with a refurbished motherboard. The notebook or mobile workstation is under 3 year warranty and was placed into use on 9/20/2015. They claim that refurbished parts are better tested than new parts.

 

[NerdIT]

It sounds like you have a bad motherboard - I would get the replacement.

Also, just curious if you don't mind me asking -what software/applications or work are you doing that makes time such a sensitive issue -or is just an annoyance? (it would drive me OCD insane so I understand that, lol)

 

[questionsfortomshardware]

update:

The time is not that critical unless you attempt to make a trade in the markets and can't because the market closed on time with the computer displaying a minute or more time left before the close.

The computer had its first blue screen over the weekend.

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

DRIVER-IRQL-NOT-LESS-OR-EQUAL

NVLDDMKM.SYS FFFFF880055cc8CB base at FFFFF8800541C000

Date Stamp 562FE3C1

Collecting data for crash dump.

Initializing disk for crash dump.

Windows has recovered from an unexpected shut down.

Problem event: Blue screen

OS version 6.1.7601.2.1.0.2.56.48

Local ID 1033

Using google search and then downloading whocrashed the blue screen appears to be problems with the NVidia video card driver.

HP made a remote session, viewed the event viewer and then had me replace the NVidia card drivers and other drivers.

They had me run UEFI diagnostics. I ran them in loop until error and after approximately 6 hours there were no problems found.

Using speedfan over the past few weeks the motherboard temperatures in 4 areas were routinely 85 degrees C. The video is hybrid with a Nvidia Quadro K4100M card and integrated Intel i7 4810MQ. . The left side of the notebook is noticeably warm but not so hot where you cannot rest your hand on the surface. Sometimes the notebook seems to be sluggish and frequently the fan runs for long periods.

The latest HP tech said that he wanted to escalate it to level 2 support but before this he wanted to check for problems with the windows 7 professional operating system. He had me use an external flash drive that could be formatted. He then had me download a utility that would allow booting of a new operating system from the external flash drive. He had me make an iso image of Ubuntu. The computer was then turned off and restarted with one of the F keys. Then the computer opened with Ubuntu.

With the Ubuntu OS he then had me use mozilla firefox and open www.time.is. The time for the next hour displayed exact time. Then over the next few hours it never displayed time delay. Instead it displayed time ahead. So far the most time ahead has been 0.6 seconds and the time ahead has varied from 0.2 to 0.6. Just checked again and it is now 0.7 seconds ahead.

So the two operating systems have displayed different results for time. The windows 7 professional OS always displayed delayed time. Most of the time it varied to a little over one minute delayed. The Ubuntu OS has only been used for less than twelve hours and has displayed exact time to 0.7 seconds ahead.

If the Ubuntu time test produced the same result as the windows 7 professional with its varied time delay they planned to replace the motherboard. If the Ubuntu time test produced exact time they planned to replace the windows 7 professional OS via the bios with secure erase of the internal flash drive.

Replacing the OS is likely a 6 - 8 hour chore with file recovery followed by the bios secure erase followed by re-installation of the windows 7 professional OS from DVD, drivers from DVD, then using the HP support assistant to update drivers and then HP support assistant to update windows.

Replacing the motherboard is likely a 1 - 2 hour chore for the HP technician for this notebook.

Later today HP is scheduled to call to get the results of the Ubuntu time.is test. They plan to escalate to their level 2 support.

This computer has 2 drives, one is the flash drive with the windows 7 professional os and files that had been transferred from another computer with a failed video card. The flash drive has most of the files on it and the 1 TB had drive is nearly empty. So recovery may be copy and paste or drag and drop from the internal flash drive to the 1 tb hard drive. The flash drive would then have only the windows 7 os and the internal hard drive would have all of the files.

Are the motherboard temperatures of 85 degrees C ok or too high?

Once it is escalated to HP level 2 support they may ask me to replace the OS first and then see what happens with the time or replace both the OS and motherboard.

 

[questionsfortomshardware]

An HP technician replaced:
1) motherboard
2) Intel chip
3) CMOS RTC battery
After replacement and bios date/time update time was exact time. Then as the notebook was used the time was progressively delayed.......now its 2 minutes and 22.8 seconds behind.

Any ideas on how to troubleshoot and fix?