# My PC Clock **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009 "2009-09-14T06:11:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/1 "2009-09-14T06:11:53Z")
For reasons unknown every few day the clock on my PC goes daft. The time/date alter to 23:02 on December 31st 1999. Now this is easy enough to correct but why is it doing this? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/2 "2009-09-14T06:33:29Z")
Basically it has to be the battery or the clock chip. If your PC is old it’s the battery, if new more likely it’s the chip. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/3 "2009-09-14T06:38:00Z")
Hmm, might be your CMOS battery if it’s old, though often the BIOS would warn you with a _checksum error_, _read error_, or _battery failure_. In lieu of this, see what a HijackThis log throws up. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/4 "2009-09-14T08:24:21Z")
As my PC is about 7-8 years old then I guess it’s the battery altho’ I’ve not had any warnings. Thanks for info ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/5 "2009-09-14T11:09:34Z")
That was happening to me for a while. I double clicked on the time to bring up the date and time properties, selected the internet time tab and selected ‘Automatically synchronize with internet time server’ ([time.windows.com](http://time.windows.com)). That did the trick (for now). ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/6 "2009-09-14T13:28:27Z")
What model is your computer? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/7 "2009-09-14T14:11:54Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > I’ve not had any warnings. There’s no battery monitor for this battery. Some PCs will tell you that the settings have been cleared if the battery dies. Others won’t. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/8 "2009-09-14T14:16:11Z")
It’s PC gone mad! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/9 "2009-09-14T14:34:40Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > It’s PC gone mad! It’s worse than that, look at the date it changes to! This is **Y2K** , man! It’s back! Run for your lives! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/10 "2009-09-14T14:55:28Z")
You people come up with some weird and complex explanations. Obviously, it’s a time travel issue. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/11 "2009-09-14T14:56:29Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > What model is your computer? Medion. @ **mack** done that makes no difference, stills act the goat ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/12 "2009-09-14T14:59:32Z")
> [@Captain\_Awesome](#): > > In lieu of this, see what a HijackThis log throws up. Hijackthislog? Wassat then? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/13 "2009-09-14T15:22:59Z")
HijackThis is a utility from TrendMicro. You can download it for free from various places off of the net. It’s a tool that is used to locate any strange tasks that might be mucking up your computer, typically something like a browser hijacker (hence the name of the program). It is possible (though not likely, IMHO) that you’ve got some oddball bit of malware starting up that is interfering with the PC clock when it gets its time during startup. If so, you’d be able to see this task in the log file that HijackThis creates. ETA: more info here: > **[Trend Micro HijackThis](https://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html)** > > Download Trend Micro HijackThis for Windows to scan your Registry and hard drive for spyware. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-pc-clock/510009/14 "2009-09-15T12:36:55Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > Medion. What’s the model number?