Time inconsistently incorrect? Bios or Windows?

[Kogu]

I've been having a problem for about 3 weeks that's such a stupid, petty issue that it's aggravating I can't fix it myself.. So I've come to ask for help after searching around for other answers.

My clock is wrong. That's about all there is to it. In bios and in Windows, the clock will randomly become VASTLY incorrect. There's no rhyme or rhythm to it besides that it's inevitable. The clock will continue ticking, but somehow at some time it'll change, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, to a time that is incorrect.

My next step is possibly to clear CMOS? But as I understand it that wouldn't do anything but reset my BIOS settings which has actually been done yesterday by a BIOS update so I felt that would be redundant..

Any advice would be great, I can answer specific questions to the best of my knowledge. It's such a silly thing but it's irritating when you do work on a computer as I do and I glance at the clock for it to be anywhere from 30 minutes to 12 hours off.

Thanks!

 

[Kogu]

The time zone is correct, I have it set to sync periodically both in Windows and have tried using a 3rd party program to sync to a separate server, and have used a tool to re-register the windows time service. The CMOS battery is possible, but that's the answer I'm sort of dodging right now as the mobo is less than 2 months old.

 

[Kogu]

Right after the BIOS update it was still incorrect so I changed it once, though since changing it the time has strayed off again. It resyncs fine, it just won't resync on a set schedule. I might dig around to see if there's a way to sync more frequently so that at least it can only be off for a certain amount of time.

EDIT: I did just use the w32tm tool to re-register and restart the service, so I suppose "TIME WILL TELL" hurr hurr.. right now of course it's displaying the correct time, but 2-3 hours from now.. who knows. Usually I can expect it to be wrong within an hour of resyncing.

 

[markwp]

Try squeal''s suggestion on the cmos battery. Even though your m/b is only 2 months old, the battery may be 2 years old. They're cheap - give it a try.

Mark

 

[mikel23]

Right after the BIOS update it was still incorrect so I changed it once, though since changing it the time has strayed off again. It resyncs fine, it just won't resync on a set schedule. I might dig around to see if there's a way to sync more frequently so that at least it can only be off for a certain amount of time.

EDIT: I did just use the w32tm tool to re-register and restart the service, so I suppose "TIME WILL TELL" hurr hurr.. right now of course it's displaying the correct time, but 2-3 hours from now.. who knows. Usually I can expect it to be wrong within an hour of resyncing.

I had the same problem a few months ago and it was the CMOS battery running out of juice, suggest replacing and check if the problem goes away

 

[Kogu]

Alright, CMOS batteries don't have any "insta-kill" issues to them, do they? Something that I should be aware of to avoid horrible bricking and/or explosive combustion of my computer? They're just coin batteries I know and I don't imagine they're welded in or anything, but I figure I'd rather ask instead of risking it.. heh.

 

[markwp]

Turn off the computer. Pull the psu cord out of the back or wall. Press power on button on case to get rid of capacitor charge. Pull battery, install new. Plug in computer. Reboot.

 

[Kogu]

Turn off the computer. Pull the psu cord out of the back or wall. Press power on button on case to get rid of capacitor charge. Pull battery, install new. Plug in computer. Reboot.

Alright, so I replaced the battery, re-stabilized my OC settings, and the time is still inaccurate. The BIOS clock is actually stopped when I've gone to adjust it, and does not start to tick even after changing the time.

I'm completely stumped =/ it could be a problem with some other timing component on the board I know, but I'm trying to avoid an RMA if I can just because of the extra hassle.

 

[markwp]

Try it at stock settings - no o/c

 

[Kogu]

Try it at stock settings - no o/c

Alright, just set it back to stock rate. I'll give it a couple hours and check the BIOS clock again.

EDIT: Just read this while waiting to see if the time becomes incorrect again: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/164209-windows-8-banned-by-worlds-top-benchmarking-and-overclocking-site

This issue ONLY applies to those who overclock by altering the BLCK rate, right? My OC settings were restricted to an offset voltage and core multiplier change because I was told that just in general altering BLCK was a bad decision unless you were an extreme overclocker.

DOUBLE EDIT: I only had 2 hours to watch it but the time did remain accurate. I shut it down for about 15 minutes while I got ready for work and the BIOS clock was then wrong, as was the windows 8 clock until it sync'd with a server.

 

[Kogu]

Try it at stock settings - no o/c

At stock settings the clock still becomes desynced. It appears to always be slow.

 

[Kogu]

Anyone have any additional advice?

 

[Austin King]

Try it at stock settings - no o/c

It is actually malware. run anti-malware and it will work. all you have to do after that is fix the time and it should be good.

 

[questionsfortomshardware]

i'm struggling with incorrect time on a brand new notebook computer. Choosing any of the internet time settings allows an update to display exact time and then over time the time is progressively delayed to over one minute. Then at some point it some how resets to less than 5 seconds delay and then the progressive delay repeats. So far no fix has occurred but these are the steps that I have followed from HP support:

1) the CMOS / RTC battery was replaced
2) another operating system other than the installed OS was used to test the time. For example an external flash drive was used. A utility was installed which formatted the flash drive and then was used to copy Ubuntu onto the external flash drive. Then when the notebook was turned on clicking one of the F keys allowed booting from the external flash drive. Once Ubuntu was used the firefox browser was used and time.is was viewed for exact time, time delay or time ahead. This allowed potential windows 7 professional problems to be removed as a potential source of the time delay. For this notebook computer the time was no longer delayed and with Ubuntu the time was ahead.
3) the motherboard and Intel chip were replaced
4) the bios was reset after the CMOS / RTC replacement
5) the bios was reset again after the Motherboard and Intel chip replacement
6) the bios was updated.

All of the above did not fix the time delay.

The easiest way to track time delay is with the web site: www.time.is
It will continuously display either exact time, the amount of time delayed or the amount of time ahead.

The steps left that have not been done are to flush the bios. This cleans all data from the hardware. Then everything is installed. This step is likely to take approximately 8 + hours with saving files, reinstalling the OS from an optical drive/DVD, installing drivers from a DVD, updating drivers with reboots, updating windows with reboots, reinstalling files, and reinstalling software.

I'm nearly ready to have the manufacturer replace the computer as none of the steps so far fixed the time delay.

If its a computer that is out of warranty an alternative is to download/install software that will maintain accurate time while the computer is connected to the internet.

 

[jdevola]

Anyone have any additional advice?

Not sure if you're still monitoring. I came to this post because it had a recent date, but then I noticed the OP was quite some time ago.

I am having a similar problem: BIOS clock resets randomly, but it is always exactly 5 hours off (it always resets to GMT/UTC).

Did you find a solution? Thanks.

 

[questionsfortomshardware]

Currently I am working with both HP (telephone) and Microsoft (web) to figure out the problem.. Hp said that if they have the computer they would monitor the bios and check for time drift. They said that in the bios it only moves by minutes and not by seconds. This computer drifts most of the time up to 1 minute and 15 to 20 seconds then resets itself. How it resets itself is unknown as the windows time synchronization by default is only once per week. If I were to go into the bios and observe for drift it would be a long time to watch it not in drift (the time that it climbs from approximately 5 seconds delay to 1 minute delay). Then I may miss it resetting back to 5 seconds delay. It would then give the appearance of no time drift in the bios. So I would not know about time drift in the bios unless I was certain that I was watching in the time fram in which the time delay was over one minute and less than one minute and 15 to 20 seconds before it reset back to seconds delayed. Again it seems it would be too easy to miss the time delay with the bios time only moving in minutes and not seconds. In your case it is a 5 hour delay. When using windows how long does it take to drift to a 5 hour delay and how long does it take if it resets itself? If you have lots of time to watch it before it resets then you may benefit from monitoring for time drift in the bios. Ultimately it is likely to be one of three things: CMOS RTC battery, motherboard, or operating system and the easiest step is to replace the CMOS RTC battery. If this was not already done its worth the effort. The battery may be battery only or may be enclosed in plastic and then attached to the motherboard by wire and female/male adapter. If you wonder if the operating system is the source of the problem you can remove the OS from the picture by using an external flash drive with Ubuntu or linux. I dont remember how it was done but HP had me get a flash drive that could be formatted. A utulity was then downloaded onto the flash drive which formatted it and then allowed the installation of Ubuntu onto the external flash drive. Then the computer was rebooted to the operating system on the external hard drive. This took the os on the computer out of the picture. When I used the external flash drive Ubuntu operating system there was time drift ahead. Whereas with windows 7 professional there was time drift behind. The easiest web site to monitor for time exact, ahead or behind I found was http://time.is This computer is under warranty and the HP technician had to replace the notebook CMOS RTC battery. I asked him to check it with a voltage meter and he was not able to as it was enclosed in plastic. He punctured the plastic with a probe but was not satisfied with the read. So if you decide to change the CMOS RTC battery see if you can get a voltage meter to check both the old and new battery. This way you will have more confidence that you have successfully eliminated on thing that could be a source of the time drift. If the time drifts with windows and does not drift with Ubuntu then I would look at the operating system on you drive as a possible source of corruption. If the Ubuntu behaves in a similar fashion as windows on your internal drive then by the process of elimination it leaves the time keeping functions of the motherboard as a potential source of the time drift.