My PC is losing time... bad battery or something?

[Angrist]

As posted (http://canyarion.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!CFB5C9AABAE03C6B!375.entry) on my blog (http://canyarion.spaces.live.com/):

My PC 'lost' 1 day and 6 hours in time... I've been away for a week and when I got back, I discovered that the date/time was off. I wonder if the internal battery ran low or something.
The night after that, it lost 10 more hours. Very strange. Tips are welcome!

Could it be a malfunctioning battery?

[Yoda9864]

Wow, I've never heard of this happening before. It could be a virus? Subtracting a couple minutes every hour?

I've never heard of a battery failing. I thought that those lasted like 50years.

[Angrist]

It only happens when the PC is turned off. Or maybe when it boots up or shuts down, but not when it's just on, because the time has been right since I corrected it earlier today.

Like I said: weird.

[Angrist]

Does anyone else have an idea? I keep having to adjust the time every time I boot up. :(

[thatmariolover]

I'd replace the CMOS battery first off. Though there is a rudimentary way of checking if that's the problem before doing so.

I assume you're on some sort of Windows OS, which one? 98 and ME had a problem I think if it's an older PC. If not, it's probably the battery. Regardless, try this:

1. Open a DOS box (windows key-r, type 'cmd', hit enter).
2. When the box opens type 'time' and hit enter.
3. Check if there's any difference between the DOS time and the time in your Windows system tray.

If there's a discrepancy, you know for sure your battery needs replacing. If there's no difference, there's still a good chance your battery needs replacing.

[Angrist]

Hehe. Thanks. :) DOS time was the same as the delayed Windows system tray time.

I was saving for a new PC anyway, so I guess I'll hold out, unless you tell me now that it could damage my PC or cause it to lose my data...

[thatmariolover]

Naw, it's purely cosmetic so you won't lose data. You could always go into your date/time control panel and sync it to an internet time source, see if that helps?

[Angrist]

I hate my PC. :( Now one of the fans is making the worst sound ever. So far the best thing that helps is hitting on it. :unsure:

I have no idea what's going on, yesterday it worked like it should, this morning after 1 minute it began making noise. Suggestions?

[thatmariolover]

I hate my PC. :( Now one of the fans is making the worst sound ever. So far the best thing that helps is hitting on it. :unsure:

I have no idea what's going on, yesterday it worked like it should, this morning after 1 minute it began making noise. Suggestions?

Could just be loose and getting out of alignment. Tighten up the screws and see if that helps.

[gekko]

I'd bet it's the CMOS. Every time you lose power, or turn off your PC, there is a dead battery, so the time is going bad.

[Null]

such a long discussion on this.

its the battery. this is exactly what happens when the batteries die in the computer. yes it is rare for the battery to die so quickly. but its the battery :P

[Angrist]

Could just be loose and getting out of alignment. Tighten up the screws and see if that helps.Hm I'll try it, but the fan is within a metal box... I'll see what I can do. Thanks.

[thatmariolover]

Hm I'll try it, but the fan is within a metal box... I'll see what I can do. Thanks.

Oh it's your power supply fan? Be careful and unplug your system first!

[Happydude]

heehee, yeah...i went into my powerbox without unplugging it first...that was a shocking experience :D

[Angrist]

Oh it's your power supply fan?Hm yeah I guess. And don't worry, I've taken lots of things apart, always unplugged. :D

[Angrist]

Ok I took apart the metal case around the power supply. Cleaned the fan and checked if anything was wrong with it. Couldn't find anything special. Maybe it's the ball bearings, but I can't replace/clean those because it's a cheap plastic mold fan.

Was pretty fun by the way to take that thing apart. :)

Edit: haha! I fixed it by putting a small piece of toilet paper between 2 vibrating parts. :doh:

Edit2: Well, it seems the noise isn't completely gone yet, but at least it's much better now.

[Angrist]

This is great. The time now completely resets every time I cut the power from the PC. And this morning, it somehow thought it was November 2017. :D

[Happydude]

too lazy to read the rest of the thread....have you replaced the battery yet?

[Angrist]

No, I don't plan to. My pc's been having troubles for months now, so I'm planning on getting a new one. Till then I'll just adjust the time every time I boot up.

Oh, another problem, related to this: my BIOS asks me to set the Mhz of the 'newly installed' processor. I guess he forgets that too.

[Happydude]

lmao...