Would that be *exactly* three hours, or approximately 3 hours? One possibility is that your time zone may be set incorrectly. Some computer clocks keep time in UTC (Universal Coordinated Time, formerely Greenwich Mean Time) and expect the software to do time zone calculations. Will it go *more* than 3 hours off if you just leave it?
Does it lose time when it's on, or only when it's off? Your CMOS battery may be going bad, which sometimes happens when the computer becomes 3-5 years old. Losing time is the first symptom.
Then, there are some other possibilities, but those are the most common.
Thanks- I wasn't even expecting a real answer: I just htought it was funny.
But it seems to consistently (every few days, I guess- I haven't really kept count) go exactly 3 hours off. I've left it for a while, and it doesn't seem to go farther off. THese have all happened when it's on, as far as I know.
Err- I'm not exactly knowledgeable about computers- what Is a CMOS battery?
ehhh, whenever I see one of these tech threads, I drop in 2c -- real answer expected or not. After all, computers are machines, and they're supposed to follow *our* instructions, right? :: cue music from your favorite horror movie ::
There's a small amount of memory in your computer that holds certain system information between bootups. Things like the number of disk drives, which drives to consider bootable, which devices to turn on immediately, the amount of memory in the system, and lots of other gory details. One of those details happens to be the current time, which is continually updated by a chip with an oscillator. The material used for storing the the information while the computer is off is known as "Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor" (CMOS), and it's kept powered by a battery (usually a Lithium Ion) that's usually in the back of the motherboard. Every once in a while, those batteries go bad, and the first symptom is that the time is slowed down.
Eventually, the battery goes really bad, and you start getting nasty errors about incorrect values in the data stored in your CMOS at boot time.
If it's not actually always losing time, but always exactly 3 hrs off, the problem is more likely misconfigured software than a bad CMOS battery. That's a good thing -- while it's not hard to change the battery, fixing software configuration is easier.
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From:
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Does it lose time when it's on, or only when it's off? Your CMOS battery may be going bad, which sometimes happens when the computer becomes 3-5 years old. Losing time is the first symptom.
Then, there are some other possibilities, but those are the most common.
From:
no subject
But it seems to consistently (every few days, I guess- I haven't really kept count) go exactly 3 hours off. I've left it for a while, and it doesn't seem to go farther off. THese have all happened when it's on, as far as I know.
Err- I'm not exactly knowledgeable about computers- what Is a CMOS battery?
From:
no subject
There's a small amount of memory in your computer that holds certain system information between bootups. Things like the number of disk drives, which drives to consider bootable, which devices to turn on immediately, the amount of memory in the system, and lots of other gory details. One of those details happens to be the current time, which is continually updated by a chip with an oscillator. The material used for storing the the information while the computer is off is known as "Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor" (CMOS), and it's kept powered by a battery (usually a Lithium Ion) that's usually in the back of the motherboard. Every once in a while, those batteries go bad, and the first symptom is that the time is slowed down.
Eventually, the battery goes really bad, and you start getting nasty errors about incorrect values in the data stored in your CMOS at boot time.
If it's not actually always losing time, but always exactly 3 hrs off, the problem is more likely misconfigured software than a bad CMOS battery. That's a good thing -- while it's not hard to change the battery, fixing software configuration is easier.