PC clock wrong after a few minutes- always on

I realize that the motherboard battery strength affects the Windows XP
clock time but even while constantly on and in Windows mode, after a
few minutes the clock is off by several seconds if not more. If the
PC is always on, shouldnt' the motherboard be getting it's power from
the AC to run the clock?

On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:05:45 GMT, Bull**** Baffles Brains
<spammenot@nospam.com> wrote:

>I realize that the motherboard battery strength affects the Windows XP
>clock time but even while constantly on and in Windows mode, after a
>few minutes the clock is off by several seconds if not more. If the
>PC is always on, shouldnt' the motherboard be getting it's power from
>the AC to run the clock?


Look at applications you have installed, some may cause
problems. Disable all from running at boot-time and see if
there is improvement. If all else fails just replace the
battery, it only costs $2.

Bull**** Baffles Brains wrote:
> I realize that the motherboard battery strength affects the Windows XP
> clock time but even while constantly on and in Windows mode, after a
> few minutes the clock is off by several seconds if not more. If the
> PC is always on, shouldnt' the motherboard be getting it's power from
> the AC to run the clock?

What kind of motherboard is this ? Or alternately, what chipset
is used on the motherboard ? Is it an Nforce2 chipset ?

Paul

It has nothing to do with CMOS batteries. Windows has always had this
problem and probably always will.
Too much overhead and too low a priority updating the system clock.

John

"Bull**** Baffles Brains" <spammenot@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:ku6rh3lu34ro3ju7knqbp052qaf8pfp7hu@4ax.com...
>I realize that the motherboard battery strength affects the Windows XP
> clock time but even while constantly on and in Windows mode, after a
> few minutes the clock is off by several seconds if not more. If the
> PC is always on, shouldnt' the motherboard be getting it's power from
> the AC to run the clock?

Bull**** Baffles Brains wrote:
> I realize that the motherboard battery strength affects the Windows XP
> clock time but even while constantly on and in Windows mode, after a
> few minutes the clock is off by several seconds if not more. If the
> PC is always on, shouldnt' the motherboard be getting it's power from
> the AC to run the clock?

No, the computer does not get timing from AC 50/60Hz, since the PSU
supplies only DC voltages.

Go to the Control Panel, click on "Date and Time", select the Internet
Time tab and check "Automatically synchronize with an Internet time
server". Select whichever server you wish to use and hit OK.

On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:35:15 GMT, "jaf" <me@here.com> wrote:

>It has nothing to do with CMOS batteries. Windows has always had this
>problem and probably always will.
>Too much overhead and too low a priority updating the system clock.
>
>John


I've had plenty of systems where the time didn't drift by
more than a minute or two every couple months, if not
longer.

More likely is that the crystals used for the motherboards
are not especially high-binned (high precision) type, as
that would cost more. Shave a penny here, shave a penny
there... it's quite a miracle if you think about it, that
some motherboards cost under $50 while buying all the
individual discrete parts, nevermind that it's
manufacturered (assembled and soldered) into a product, the
PCB, engineering, or support later... would cost multiple
times as much.

On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:14:44 -0400, "RobV"
<robv@nowhere.invalid> wrote:

>Bull**** Baffles Brains wrote:
>> I realize that the motherboard battery strength affects the Windows XP
>> clock time but even while constantly on and in Windows mode, after a
>> few minutes the clock is off by several seconds if not more. If the
>> PC is always on, shouldnt' the motherboard be getting it's power from
>> the AC to run the clock?
>
>No, the computer does not get timing from AC 50/60Hz, since the PSU
>supplies only DC voltages.

He might've mean, AC->PSU->5VSB power. Regardless, if there
is no software interfering with timekeeping, and battery is
not low, the time should be as accurate in windows as
outside windows or system off.

kony wrote:
> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:14:44 -0400, "RobV"
> <robv@nowhere.invalid> wrote:
>
>> Bull**** Baffles Brains wrote:
>>> I realize that the motherboard battery strength affects the Windows
>>> XP clock time but even while constantly on and in Windows mode,
>>> after a few minutes the clock is off by several seconds if not
>>> more. If the PC is always on, shouldnt' the motherboard be
>>> getting it's power from the AC to run the clock?
>>
>> No, the computer does not get timing from AC 50/60Hz, since the PSU
>> supplies only DC voltages.
>
> He might've mean, AC->PSU->5VSB power.

5VSB is still DC.

> Regardless, if there
> is no software interfering with timekeeping, and battery is
> not low, the time should be as accurate in windows as
> outside windows or system off.

Why do you think the option for time synch from an outside source is
there in the first place? ;-)
Yes, it's possible other factors are causing the problem, most likely an
inexpensive MB with dodgy components, or as you mentioned, software that
is interfering with time keeping, etc. Using the internet time synch is
a way of getting around those problems, at least temporarily.

On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:26:49 -0400, "RobV"
<robv@nowhere.invalid> wrote:

>kony wrote:
>> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:14:44 -0400, "RobV"
>> <robv@nowhere.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> Bull**** Baffles Brains wrote:
>>>> I realize that the motherboard battery strength affects the Windows
>>>> XP clock time but even while constantly on and in Windows mode,
>>>> after a few minutes the clock is off by several seconds if not
>>>> more. If the PC is always on, shouldnt' the motherboard be
>>>> getting it's power from the AC to run the clock?
>>>
>>> No, the computer does not get timing from AC 50/60Hz, since the PSU
>>> supplies only DC voltages.
>>
>> He might've mean, AC->PSU->5VSB power.
>
>5VSB is still DC.

Yes, but can't you see the logic in skipping a step in
mentioning the power origin? It wouldn't make any sense to
write "DC" would it, since the active-on PSU outputs DC as
well as a DC battery.

kony wrote:
> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:26:49 -0400, "RobV"
> <robv@nowhere.invalid> wrote:
>
>> kony wrote:
>>> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:14:44 -0400, "RobV"
>>> <robv@nowhere.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Bull**** Baffles Brains wrote:
>>>>> I realize that the motherboard battery strength affects the
>>>>> Windows XP clock time but even while constantly on and in Windows
>>>>> mode, after a few minutes the clock is off by several seconds if
>>>>> not more. If the PC is always on, shouldnt' the motherboard be
>>>>> getting it's power from the AC to run the clock?
>>>>
>>>> No, the computer does not get timing from AC 50/60Hz, since the PSU
>>>> supplies only DC voltages.
>>>
>>> He might've mean, AC->PSU->5VSB power.
>>
>> 5VSB is still DC.
>
> Yes, but can't you see the logic in skipping a step in
> mentioning the power origin? It wouldn't make any sense to
> write "DC" would it, since the active-on PSU outputs DC as
> well as a DC battery.

The OP obviously thought that the line frequency (50/60Hz AC) was used
to keep the time correct. When you wrote "He might've mean,
AC->PSU->5VSB power.", that could be interpreted as 5VSB has an AC
component to it. At least, that's the way I was concerned the OP might
take it. I was just pointing out that it is DC as well, so the OP would
not get confused. ;-)