I’m sure this is a very elementary question, but it’s bothering me.
I have recently added some updates and a new program to my laptop, and after an extended computer brain fart in which I had to power it off a couple times, my laptop automatically reset the date and time back 4 years plus or minus 3 or 4 days.
Is there any reason it did this? I don’t remember ever manually setting the date and time to begin-- I only noticed it because all the security certificates are suddenly being flagged as being from the future. What’s the deal and is there something wrong with my laptop?
Have you recently been traveling at 88 miles per hour?
It may be helpful to note OS, what updates, what program, and what you meant by “an extended computer brain fart.”
It’s running Windows Vista. I just installed some Sony camcorder software, PMB (Picture Motion Browser) and I think I remember clicking on a Java update. As for computer brain fart, it started running really slow, then it kept showing the “Locking your computer” screen and I had to manually power the laptop off.
Looking at my list of recent updates, it says I updated my Vista Service Pack and Vista Update Agent in the year 2114… hmmm. Yeah right, like Windows will support Vista past 2011!
It also wants to download Vista Service Pack 2, which is weird since it was released a year ago. I thought that the year-hopping thing would be a common problem, but I guess not. Perhaps my computer has been time-traveling without me. I should check for any Sports Almanac files.
A while back, my old desktop started losing its time and reverting back to 2004 whenever it unplugged it. I would only notice when i started getting the same sort of security certificates warnings that you’ve been seeing.
Turns out the CMOS battery was dying, and needed to be replaced.
I’m not sure if laptops have the same sort of CMOS setups as desktops, but that’s one possibility.
It’s not exactly the same, but it works for your purposes: if it runs down, and you lose battery and backup power, your clock will reset. That actually makes it less likely to be noticed, as you’d have to have run your main battery all the way out.
Interesting possibility. The laptop is pretty old: about 4 years. Maybe it’s reverting to its childhood. It’ll start playing all the classics from 2006 like “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Had a Bad Day” and eventually die off HAL style.