# Computer slowly losing time.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-slowly-losing-time/160378>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 10, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-slowly-losing-time/160378 "2003-03-10T19:37:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-slowly-losing-time/160378/1 "2003-03-10T19:37:09Z")

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My computer at work slowly but surely loses time.

I lives in a state of lag because of some of the software it runs is a little taxing on its little 450Mhz CPU. Could this actually cause the Clock to lose time?

Depaending on how hard I am loading down the machine it can lose 4-5 minutes a day. Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-slowly-losing-time/160378/2 "2003-03-10T19:43:33Z")

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My home computer (which is also a 450 mhz PC) is starting to do the same thing. I believe this almost always means that the battery on the motherboard is getting weak and will need to be replaced before too long.

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-slowly-losing-time/160378/3 "2003-03-10T19:59:54Z")

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There was a thread on this a while back. I seem to remember that the poster also said that the clock comes up with the correct time after a reboot. I do not think this is a battery problem, since the battery just holds the time when the computer power is off, and other values are also preserved by battery power.

Try a reboot and see how the time comes up. Also try a thread search on something like “computer clock”.

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-slowly-losing-time/160378/4 "2003-03-10T20:06:37Z")

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If that is the case, then **CookingWithGas** may be right. It could be something unrelated to the CMOS battery. This article from Microsoft support gives a little information about about potential problems:

[http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q189706](http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q189706)

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-slowly-losing-time/160378/5 "2003-03-10T22:31:16Z")

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“There was a thread on this a while back.”

About three dozen times now I think since I have been here. Depends on the type of computer & operating system & saying its a '450Mhz CPU" rules out an Atari computer I guess 🙂

If the DOS time is right, its a software thing usually.