Windows 7 clock keeps changing

Q-BZ

Fully [H]
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
19,789
It sounds like an April Fools doesn't it? It just showed up today. The clock keeps "losing time" on me.

I almost could have posted this in the motherboard forum but for now maybe I'll get lucky on the software side:



OS: Win 7 60 Pro

Motherboard: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_GENE/

Hardware will be 5 years old in November 2018.


Problem just showed up today. No issues on the machine except this thankfully.


So far I've done all of these things more than once:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...-my-time/6c01463d-a557-4964-a106-60232391a1cd

https://www.lostwindowspassword.com/windows-7/windows-7-time-keeps-changing-randomly.html



I just did this a couple of times:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...changing/9f902524-95f0-474f-bf72-211458355c54 ...they match but while I was doing this the time in the taskbar suddenly went backwards an hour on me...times still match...

Power situation seems fine.

I would suggest you to update the BIOS of your computer with the latest available from the manufacturer of your computer and also update the drivers for the video card along with the chipset drivers.

I'm fairly certain I'm current on all of these things but I'll doublecheck.


Clock is affected, not date.


As of now I have manually set the clock and disabled Internet time sync.





I don't want to get ahead of myself but just in case:

If all else fails the final issue that keeps coming up is called "CMOS Battery Failure" I know my MB wants a CR2032 Lithium. I don't want to jump the gun on that unless I'm absolutely sure so I'd like help here to rule things out and also what to expect IF this ends up being a battery failure.

Changing that battery looks pretty direct and easy if it ends up being that. I'm assuming I'm going to lose BIOS settings with the battery change if this is the way it goes? That's bad luck. In 30 some odd years of computing I've never seen that before but I guess there's a first time for everything.

Let me know what you all think... questions, ideas, troublehshooting...anything I've missed? Thanks all!
 
Replace the battery, they can die after a few years if you are unlucky.
I bought around 30 Panasonic batteries off Amazon for a few quid.
Simples.

Remove the battery and check its voltage, it should be above 3V.
But an old battery might drop lower when in the circuit and you cant easily measure it then.
 
Yup, replace the CMOS battery. If you have made a lot of BIOS configuration changes, make sure you back up your EFI profile onto a USB drive. After you replace the battery, but before you boot back into Windows, restore the saved profile.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Q-BZ
like this
Yup, CMOS battery sounds like the culprit. I get people all the time who put a machine in storage for 6+ months, bust it back out and the date/time are toast. First thing I tell them: CMOS battery. I keep a crapload of them in stock.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Q-BZ
like this
Dumb question: I have a new PNY USB 3.0 Thumbdrive. The only two choices to format that Windows 7 gives me are exFAT and NTFS. I need FAT32 (or even 16 but better 32) and I don't see the choice. What do I do?
 
Dumb question: I have a new PNY USB 3.0 Thumbdrive. The only two choices to format that Windows 7 gives me are exFAT and NTFS. I need FAT32 (or even 16 but better 32) and I don't see the choice. What do I do?
Try exFAT, it should still be compatible.
 
Try exFAT, it should still be compatible.

It's not. I tried. I'll doublecheck yet again...

Unless there's yet another dumb detail I'm missing. (probably)

You go in to the OC Profile area and below the area where you create the BIOS profile is the option to save on the thumbdrive. You hit that and it will read it but if go to save and it gives me the option to name it, I do so, hit save, wait a bit...nothing happens.
 
Ditto CMOS battery....also use NTP. Wont fix it if the clock gets too far off but in general its nicer than letting your clock rule the day (esp if its got inherent error).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Q-BZ
like this
Uh... I think Windows is a contemporary OS (but feel free to flame on that)... so the clock is software based, as with most all OS's (thus it can lose interrupts on load, etc). It might load the clock from HW (the evil CMOS clock) on boot, but that's just can just be (a potentially bad) starting point. Contemporary OS's use an Internet time source (sources, cuz you need at least 3 really). Apart from that there are "true time sources" you can buy that directly connect to your PC (expensive). which is the ultimate in local reliability, but the Internet time sources approach is also very reliable... one of the lowest on the list is depending just on the software system clock (which will float) and the CMOS based HW clock.
 
how much is the clock off by?...a few minutes?...hours?
It just showed up yesterday. It will just start "losing time"... minutes and then suddenly it's two hour and change behind.
I'm all set to do CMOS battery replacement but physically the layout of the hardware is making it way more difficult to get to it than it should be. (Long story) I'm probably going to have to get some help for it.
difficult to get to I'm probably going to have to get some help for this. (Long story)




Uh... I think Windows is a contemporary OS (but feel free to flame on that)... so the clock is software based, as with most all OS's (thus it can lose interrupts on load, etc). It might load the clock from HW (the evil CMOS clock) on boot, but that's just can just be (a potentially bad) starting point. Contemporary OS's use an Internet time source (sources, cuz you need at least 3 really). Apart from that there are "true time sources" you can buy that directly connect to your PC (expensive). which is the ultimate in local reliability, but the Internet time sources approach is also very reliable... one of the lowest on the list is depending just on the software system clock (which will float) and the CMOS based HW clock.



Honestly? If it's "just the clock" I really don't care. If it's "something else" then I have to care.

I did have my keyboard suddenly stop working on me the other day and I had to reset the machine. Something like that is typically (from what I gather and what people are seeing around here) a symptom that, along with the clock, would take me to CMOS battery presumably.
 
Last edited:
hopefully it's just the CMOS and not the motherboard itself...good luck
 
  • Like
Reactions: Q-BZ
like this
Question: Are you using Internet Time on this rig?

If not, I'd suggest turning it on. NTP, and it's frequent refresh tends to be a better long-term solution than relying on the onboard hardware.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Q-BZ
like this
i agree check/replace your battery. dollar stores usually have em cheap if you dont have an extra.
my win10 system just started doing this, again, on thurs/fri. the time just stops at random and I have to turn off/on auto-update. it was 4.5hrs behind when i noticed this thread. last time it happened it fixed itself in an update or something, it did it for a few days and went back to normal. my battery tests good, so its something in windows in my case.

edited for speeling
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Q-BZ
like this
Honestly? If it's "just the clock" I really don't care. If it's "something else" then I have to care.

I did have my keyboard suddenly stop working on me the other day and I had to reset the machine. Something like that is typically (from what I gather and what people are seeing around here) a symptom that, along with the clock, would take me to CMOS battery presumably.

Sadly (and I mean that), security protocols depend upon everyone having the same understanding of time. Not of the same timezone, but of time.

So, it does matter. Most OS's won't install (btw) if your time is skewed too far. Just the way it is. And little things like SSL, Kerberos, etc.,etc...

So... not saying having a working CMOS battery isn't important, especially if you lose NVRAM settings that are important, but there is an importance to time and keeping the (always errant) system time synchronized with what we've all agreed to is "time". And this is becoming more and more of a requirement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Q-BZ
like this
It's not. I tried. I'll doublecheck yet again...

Unless there's yet another dumb detail I'm missing. (probably)

You go in to the OC Profile area and below the area where you create the BIOS profile is the option to save on the thumbdrive. You hit that and it will read it but if go to save and it gives me the option to name it, I do so, hit save, wait a bit...nothing happens.
Sorry, I was wrong. I checked mine that I use for backups and it's FAT32.

Go into Disk Manager and delete the volume on the drive. Then create a simple volume that is 500MB. Then go to format. The volume was probably too large for FAT32 so it didn't show up as an option.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Q-BZ
like this
Sorry, I was wrong. I checked mine that I use for backups and it's FAT32.

Go into Disk Manager and delete the volume on the drive. Then create a simple volume that is 500MB. Then go to format. The volume was probably too large for FAT32 so it didn't show up as an option.

Skulking around earlier today I was able to figure this out but thanks! :)
 
my win10 system just started doing this, again, on thurs/fri. the time just stops at random and I have to turn off/on auto-update. it was 4.5hrs behind when i noticed this thread. last time it happened it fixed itself in an update or something, it did it for a few days and went back to normal. my battery tests good, so its something in windows in my case.

edited for speeling


I changed my time/date update server and it seems to be fine now.
 
I was using Mac. The time kept changing, even when I was trying to edit it. It happens again. In Mac, it happens when you try to install windows. Keep changing from IOS and windows OS will lead to this. I got this info from Apple Support USA there might be same kinds of problem in Windows and Mac.
 
Back
Top