Enlisting the Knowledge of Computer Wizards

[Sidewinder]

I have a computer question for the computer savvy. My clock on the computer runs fast. Every few days, I find that the clock is ahead by like three minutes. Why is this?

[GreenMarine]

Does this happen EVERY 3 days??

[Sidewinder]

Well no, it's progressive. Like, on day one, it's ahead by say a minute. Day two, ahead by two, and day three ahead by three. Of course, that's taking into account that "day 0" is the day that I alter the clock back to proper time. Basically, it just runs fast, all the time.

[Landshark]

Mac or PC, and your operating system?

[manofmayo]

I got the same problem. Computer clock is always fast. maybe not a minute a day, but probably 2 minutes a week.

I'm running Windows 2k, Asus mommyboard, dual amd cpu's.

[Andy]

Just download a computer clock synchronising program and set it to run daily. Google will find one in your timezone.

[Sidewinder]

I am running XP on an Asus A7N8X with Athlon XP 2500+...

See, originally, I thought the computer determined the clock "speed" by the processor, like it was programed in, however that cannot be the case because when a person overclocks their system, the system time should not be affected.

Thanks for the idea Andy. Back in the day, I used to use a program that updated my time according to the atomic clock in Boulder, CO.

I will probably download something like htat, however it would still be interesting to find out why the clock runs fast.

[GreenMarine]

Yea... That is strange... I've never had that happen on any of my computers that I've worked on... However I remember it used to happen to some of my friend's computers... I used to just think it was their faults though because they were stupid

[Sidewinder]

Originally posted by GreenMarineSVX
Yea... That is strange... I've never had that happen on any of my computers that I've worked on... However I remember it used to happen to some of my friend's computers... I used to just think it was their faults though because they were stupid

Hey, I have some measurable intelligence.

[Earthworm]

It's funny that they can build CPU's to run at billions of cycles per second and yet they still can't build an accurate clock!

XP has built-in time synchronization.

Double click on the time on your screen then select the Internet Time tab to see the settings.

[Andy]

Originally posted by Earthworm
XP has built-in time synchronization.

Double click on the time on your screen then select the Internet Time tab to see the settings.

That is what I use, unfortunately it only synchronizes the clock once per week, which may not be enough in this instance.

[Sidewinder]

Originally posted by Earthworm
It's funny that they can build CPU's to run at billions of cycles per second and yet they still can't build an accurate clock!

XP has built-in time synchronization.

Double click on the time on your screen then select the Internet Time tab to see the settings.

Alright. Mine updates daily. That's kinda neat. I never knew it did that. Anyway, it was updating through Microsoft. Well, they saw an increase of attacks against them by 400% in the past year. There's a good chance they're not devoting enough time to telling the correct time (that sounds dumb, but you know).

"Set 'er to communicate with the atomic clock, Uhura!" - Capt. Kirk advises Communications Officer Uhura.

[nsm484]

Originally posted by sidewinder



Alright. Mine updates daily. That's kinda neat. I never knew it did that. Anyway, it was updating through Microsoft. Well, they saw an increase of attacks against them by 400% in the past year. There's a good chance they're not devoting enough time to telling the correct time (that sounds dumb, but you know).

"Set 'er to communicate with the atomic clock, Uhura!" - Capt. Kirk advises Communications Officer Uhura.

Keep in mind also... if your system/software sends out a time request, and you or the server is lagged, it will set it incorrectly as well... or trip out because the time took so long to update...

most software i know of, have a good/bad idea... for correcting the time it took to get a reply... and adding that value to the time it receved... if it keeps happening, your computer clock will seem fast. Turn any auto-updater off for a week and see what happens... My experence.. I mite gain a few seconds every 6 months, no auto-updater

[Knightwulf]

Originally posted by sidewinder
I have a computer question for the computer savvy. My clock on the computer runs fast. Every few days, I find that the clock is ahead by like three minutes. Why is this?

Actually, this is most often caused by an incorrect or dying BIOS battery.

Even if the motherboard is brand new, stocks and stocks and stocks of CR-2302's have been sitting around for decades.

If it's that large of an issue, I'd suggest heading down to your local Radio Shack/Batteries Plus and snagging a new CR-2302. Should cost you all of $0.80. Its very easy to identify on the motherboard, it's a flat battery about the size of a quarter.

[Tim]

Also sometimes its the real-time clock within the BIOS that goes bad. On some machines I have replaced the battery and it still did the same thing.