# Something strange happened to my computer **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212 "2003-11-14T07:50:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Themis00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/13edae/32.png) [@Themis00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themis00)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/1 "2003-11-14T07:50:09Z")
When I was working around 7:30 tonight, my computer starting working slow. That’s not unusual, but what was unusual is that my clock delayed or got stuck, after a while my time was at least 30 minutes behind. What’s weird was when I restarted my computer, it was back at it’s normal time. What going on with my computer? ---
**Author:** ![Fredge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Fredge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredge)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/2 "2003-11-14T13:49:43Z")
That is a bit odd. Since the problem occurred while the computer was on and was fixed by a reboot I wouldn’t think the CMOS battery was bad (the CMOS battery is what keeps the clock correct when your system is off, among other things). It’s probably programatic; a glitch in the OS or clock program. It could be hardware related though - something on your motherboard gone bad. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/3 "2003-11-14T15:09:43Z")
Aliens. Do you have a sunburn or freshly probed? ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/4 "2003-11-14T15:11:30Z")
_feel_ freshly probed… ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/5 "2003-11-14T15:34:16Z")
It’s probably nothing. Something got your RAM hung up, and the output (display on monitor) didn’t get refreshed. There’s a laundry list of things that can go wrong with the OS and RAM, none of them are terribly interesting or even poignant. Fact is, people get frustrated with having to reboot, but it’s just a part of home computing. Also, you might consider defragmenting your HD. Winston ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/6 "2003-11-14T20:18:50Z")
I’d chalk it up to those low-flying Russian Satalites. Seriously… If it continues to happen after this incident, you probably have a program, TSR, Spyware that could be the culprit. There’s always the possiblity of a virus as well, so you may want to do a scan. Hope it works out. ---
**Author:** ![Themis00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/13edae/32.png) [@Themis00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themis00)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/7 "2003-11-17T17:40:48Z")
I’m kind of slow when it comes to these type of things. May I ask, what do you mean by spyware? Could that mean that someone can be hacking into my computer to view my files? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/8 "2003-11-17T18:07:05Z")
**Themis** , did you add any hardware to your computer lately? I’ve been having similar problems ever since adding a TV capture card and a second hard drive. The clock had the correct time but not the date, I discovered that when Norton started checking for viruses at Noon one Sunday when it’s supposed to do that at Noon on Wednesdays. Evidently the new HD was too much for the 300W power supply; I put in a 350W on Saturday and everything’s been fine so far. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/9 "2003-11-17T22:47:26Z")
Is it a Cray computer? If the time is right when you restart the computer its a software issue. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-strange-happened-to-my-computer/213212/10 "2003-11-18T00:56:50Z")
Do you use a Mac, by any chance? My husband’s G3 did the same thing, however, rebooting not only didn’t help, things slid down hill so fast and far we now have a Blue & White door stop! He’s out right now buying a new(er) Mac.