# Windows clock **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366 "2001-03-25T00:37:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![msc75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@msc75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msc75)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/1 "2001-03-25T00:37:07Z")
Another silly PC question. Sometimes the clock on my taskbar in Windows will stop. The only way I notice it is by looking at another clock, and believe me it has caused me some serious time-awareness problems (“Man, this day is dragging serious ass” has been uttered more than once.) The problem is cleared up by moving the taskbar to another part of the screen, then moving it back… no big deal. I just want to know if anyone knows what causes this. I’ve searched the internet and TechNet, no success. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/2 "2001-03-25T16:15:10Z")
Depends on what type of computer & what version of windows you are using… ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/3 "2001-03-25T21:15:09Z")
:rolleyes: Of course it does, handy, because a program (win9x) using the same code to run the same clock in each version is affected by separate things. I’ve noticed the same thing occasionally, also. Do you have problems with Explorer (Windows OR Internet) when this happens? I think the clock is built into explorer.exe, so maybe it’s a sign of a problem with Explorer? –Tim ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/4 "2001-03-25T23:56:31Z")
Umm. no, dude, if you search the net for clocks, youll see each verion of Windows has its very own clock issues. As if 63,000 people couldn’t yet put together an operating system with a proper clock. ---
**Author:** ![Bboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bboy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/5 "2001-03-26T00:19:45Z")
It seems like in every old **Chevy** we ever had, sooner or later the clock stopped. Sometimes one of the Windows would stop working too, but I never knew there was a connection. This seemed to happen more often with the later (electric) versions of windows. Fortunately, it never led to a crash. ---
**Author:** ![Ad\_Noctum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@Ad\_Noctum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ad_Noctum)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/6 "2001-03-26T00:26:00Z")
Bboy… are you for real? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/7 "2001-03-26T00:51:31Z")
Bboy - the only reason it didn’t cause a crash was that you replaced the driver. ---
**Author:** ![Bboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bboy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/8 "2001-03-26T01:23:01Z")
Thank you **yabob** , for getting it. _Good comeback, BTW._ **Ad Noctum** , it’s called humor…admittedly lame humor, but if you just loosen up a little…😃 ---
**Author:** ![msc75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@msc75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msc75)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/9 "2001-03-28T03:28:27Z")
You’ve all been wonderfully helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Jenericho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Jenericho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenericho)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/10 "2001-03-28T13:20:18Z")
Re: msc75’s original question… I’ve got a similar, but more serious problem - the clock on my PC’s rarely at the right time, because the battery’s dead and thus time only passes when it’s actually powered up. My solution has just been to blu-tak a small digital clock to the left hand side of my monitor. (Though I know I should fix the “real” clock, just so my date stamping’s correct - just now it thinks it’s 11.48am on the 9th of March). Bboy - I shouldn’t take too much notice of criticism from someone whose signature is ten times longer than their message. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/11 "2001-03-28T16:55:43Z")
“the clock on my PC’s rarely at the right time, because the battery’s dead and thus time only passes when it’s actually powered up” Not really. That can happen because you dropped an old HD into a new system & windows didnt get the proper timing files put on…so it reads the Bios time only when you turn it on. A taskbar clock that doesn’t keep up with the DOS prompt TIME might be a video card that isn’t refreshing, in desktop properties set it to automatically refresh, if it has such an option. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/12 "2001-03-28T17:49:05Z")
Incidentally, one of my co-workers had a similar problem to this one. The cause? She had a screensaver enabled that took a snapshot of the desktop in order to run a warping effect. She didn’t notice the time would always freeze at **exactly** the moment her screensaver would kick in. Just a WAG, but sometimes the easy solutions work best. ---
**Author:** ![msc75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@msc75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msc75)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/13 "2001-03-29T00:45:13Z")
Keep in mind that while I’m no Einstein, I’m also not a Cletus. I work with computers for a living, and always have. But this frikkin’ problem, for some reason, really bugs me. There’s an easy fix, just make Windows update the taskbar. What’s weird is this: Every other part of the screen updates just fine, so it’s not my video card. For example, as I’m typing this message, the screen is obviously updated with every keystroke. But the clock, and only the clock, remains frozen in time. This has happened on more than one computer, on more than one version of Windows, at seemingly random points in time. I’ve been unable to find a common link to the times at which it happens. I’ve searched Technet and pleaded with my co-workers to understand my plight, but all of my impassioned inquiries result in the same “Are you high?” look. I know that it’s not hardware related. I know this. I guess the reason I want an answer is not to solve the problem, but just for curiousity’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/14 "2001-03-29T01:12:13Z")
Click on the clock, select ‘properties’ uncheck ‘show clock’ Viola! ---
**Author:** ![msc75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@msc75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msc75)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-clock/59366/15 "2001-03-29T03:26:19Z")
\>\>Click on the clock, select ‘properties’ uncheck ‘show \>\>clock’ That is brilliant! God, where were you when I was trying to solve world hunger. \>\>Viola! What do stringed-instruments have to do with computers?