computers system clock is running fast, why?

November 23, 2003 5:48 PM from

i am starting to worry about my brand new computer, and this is not good.

does anyone know why the computers system clock would run fast? i have been noticing this effect for a little while now, and have installed beatnik and set it to sync my system clock every 120 minutes, and as soon as i first connect.

having a dial up connection, beatnik can only sync my PC when i am connected.

i was connected last night, so beatnik should have been keeping the PC clock synced OK. i turned it off for the night, and turned it on again this evening. when i did this the clock seemed to be about right. about 2 - 3 hours later i went on line, and as soon as i connected the system time jumped backwards by 40 seconds!

so, in less than 24 hours the system clock has drifted by 40 seconds

i have never had this problem before with any of my machines. anti-virus isn't reporting anything, and i am not aware of running any odd programs that would be causing this.

OS is winXP pro, and the machine is about 4 weeks old, bought brand new.

i need to see if the clock drifts when the machine is turned off, or if it only drifts when the machine is turned on. anyone got any ideas of what might be causing this?

6,472 views 7 replies

Reply #1 November 23, 2003 5:56 PM from

WinCustomize Forums Top

It's not as unusual as you might think. Re-boot into bios and set clock to correct time...let me know if that works.

Reply #2 November 23, 2003 5:57 PM from

WinCustomize Forums Top

A lot of onboard clocks don't keep very good time. Yours might be a bit excessive, but it's probably nothing to worry about.

Reply #3 November 23, 2003 7:17 PM from

WinCustomize Forums Top

You might try something like Atomic Clock. Free, and you can configure it to run on startup.

Reply #4 November 23, 2003 7:25 PM from

WinCustomize Forums Top

Beware of the USNO server though. Every time I used it, I would get port scanned by it shortly after.

Reply #5 November 23, 2003 9:06 PM from

WinCustomize Forums Top

If what yrag doesn't work, I'd suggest going into the BIOS and making sure that it is set to default so nothing is shadowing hardware ROMBIOS addresses into upper memory or caching it. This can cause issues like this and other oddities from time to time...

Reply #6 November 24, 2003 5:32 AM from

WinCustomize Forums Top

I used to have this problem, but I don't remember what exactly was causing it. It was related to Norton's Anti-virus, I think. It was a known issue and they probably fixed that problem by now (that was probably two years ago or so). I also read that Norton's Cleansweap could make your clock lose time.

Reply #7 November 24, 2003 6:34 AM from

WinCustomize Forums Top

Simple answer .... as you get older time passes faster.

I set my system to synch the time at startup with Sysmetrix.
I haven't noticed any problems but it is a good idea to check your BIOS as well.
It might be a remote chance that onboard battery is a bit suss as well ... very remote but it does happen.

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