I recently installed an updated BIOS and 1GB of memory to my Gateway
Performance 1300 (Pentium 4, 400mHz) running Windows ME, as well as
installing Macromedia Studio MX (Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks,
Freehand).

Sometime since then (I did not notice it immediately, although it may
have started immediately), my system clock started losing time. I was
late to class a couple of weeks ago because I was relying on my system
clock, and it was more than 1 hour behind.

So I immediately replaced the CR2032 system battery on the motherboard
with a brand-new battery. However, this does not appear to have solved
the problem. Just now, I reset the system clock, and 2 hours later, it
is 9 minutes slow already.

Has anyone else had a problem with this? Does anyone have any
suggestions, other than buying a new CR2032 at a different store and
trying again, or attaching a small digital clock to my monitor frame?

Any help would be much appreciated. 

Thanks!

Hi, Ace! Thanks for asking for me.

In light of the fact that the problem seems to have come about after a
BIOS update, the following Knowledge Base article on the Microsoft
support site may be of interest (the part about APM settings enabled
in the BIOS is of particular concern, as it is possible that a change
in that area came about as a consequence of the BIOS changes.)

This article talks about problems possibly as severe as an hour per
day, and also mentions Windows ME as one of the affected versions of
Windows.

Microsoft Knowledge Base: Windows Clock on Taskbar and in Date/Time
Tool Loses Time
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q189706

To keep my computer's clock accurate, I use a neat little program
called "About Time":
 
Arachnoid.com: About Time Home Page
http://www.arachnoid.com/abouttime/ 

Here are three similar programs:

Itoolpad.com: Time Synchronizer For Accurate System Clock
http://www.itoolpad.com/common/products/timesync/

RocketSoftware.com: Rocket Time
http://www.rocketsoftware.com/rockettime/

MrNFL.com: Time and Date Program
http://mrnfl.com/tstime/

Or, for $380 (!) you can purchase a clock that is accurate to
one-millionth of a second, which can be connected to your computer's
serial port:

GPSclock.com: GPS Synchronization Clock
http://www.gpsclock.com/specs.html

In addition to searching the Microsoft Knowledge base, here is my
Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "computer" + "clock" + "accurate"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=computer+clock+accurate

I hope this will help. Clarification is available upon request.
Obfuscation, likewise. ;-)

~Pink

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 12 Feb 2003 21:25 PST

Ace,

A techie friend has advised me that when your CMOS battery is about to
die, a common symptom is that the clock will become very inaccurate
(it can be either fast or slow.)

Here's some info on replacing the CMOS battery:

http://howto.lycos.com/lycos/step/1,,139+24350+17374,00.html

(Looks really scary to me, but I'm a bit of a hardware wimp.)

~Pink

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 12 Feb 2003 21:34 PST

I found something interesting that might be worth trying:

"Remove and reinstall Realtime clock by starting the system in Safe
mode.

Turn the computer On or Restart. 

When the blue HP logo screen opens, press the F8 key repeatedly. 

From the Windows Start-Up menu, select the Safe Mode option and then
press Enter.

Wait till Safe mode is displayed on all corners and a central
explanatory applet shows up on the screen.

Click OK to access the Desktop 

click Start, right-click My Computer> Properties> Hardware tab and
click Device Manager button.

Click the + (plus sign) near System devices 

Click System CMOS/realtime clock to highlight it, and then click the
Remove button

Restart the system and the Realtime clock will reinstall
automatically.

If this does not solve the problem , replace the CMOS battery." 

http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:7mxEnF_HuT4C:ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/comphelp/msg121609261164.html+reset+%22computer+clock%22&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8

Again, this sounds awfully scary to me. Maybe I need to join a support
group for Compuwussies. ;-)

~Pink

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Request for Answer Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 12 Feb 2003 22:31 PST

Pink,

Thanks for your speedy response. I had already replaced the battery
(really, it's not scary at all!), but that did not fix the problem.
However, About Time has been working well for me the past few days. I
am also going to try the reinstall of the CMOS/realtime clock software
as well, since I am probably going to be spending a lot of time
working on my computer with the Internet connection shut off.

Thanks,

ace

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 13 Feb 2003 12:50 PST

Thank you very much for the five star rating and the lavish tip!

I hope a solution to your computer timewarp can be found. But if not,
perhaps things will get to the point where you find yourself in the
middle of next week, where you'll have access to future stock market
data, sports scores, and horse racing results, leading to the
acquisition of untold riches. ;-)

~Pink

Fast, accurate, and professional, as always!

"Sometime since then" -- How long is that time since you last set the
clock?
To accurately set your computer clock, use a digital watch as your
reference. A computer's system clock is configured as hh:mm:ss and you
have to get the exact time of your digital reference for your computer
to follow the exact time (based on the time on the digital watch you
preferred). Why should you do it this way? The critical part of it are
the seconds. When the seconds are not set properly, sooner or later,
the time you set will either be advance or late as against the time of
your digital clock reference. So if the time of your digital watch is
10:31:54, you have to set your computer clock as is -- exactly. This
is the reason why the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) is so keen about being accurate up to the last nanosecond.

Regards,
Feilong