Is PC clock adjustable?

[jazzman111]

I recently bought a Dell Dimension E310 running XP/Pro. I'm discovering that it's internal clock loses about 2 minutes a day. Since I often set alarms on my personal scheduler, this poses a punctuality problem! It's a hassle having to adjust it manually every day (when I notice it). Is there some way that the clock's speed can be adjusted to keep more accurate time?

 

[PRPhx]

Is this a new pc? If it is, is it still under warranty? You may want to contact Dell and let them know what's going on. IF it's not under warranty, you could try changing the battery and see if that makes a difference.

 

[alidabiri]

the clock is adjustable.
start/settings/control panel/date and time.

 

[Frank4d]

Right click the time and then Adjust Date/Time. On the Internet time tab, make sure the box is checked for synchronize time. Since you are losing two minutes per day you will want to edit the default synchronization interval which is one week.

You'll need to edit the registry. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient. Change the value in SpecialPollInterval from its default 604800 seconds (decimal) to something shorter.

 

[jazzman111]

Yes, I still have plenty of warranty still left on the PC--I bought it in December. And Frank4D, thanks for your response--it answers my question of whether the PC's clock can be adjusted so as not to lose 2 minutes a day. But I think I'll also call Dell and have their technicians walk me through how to do that!

 

[Frank4d]

Two minutes per day works out to about 0.139% clock accuracy, so Dell may balk at that being a warranty issue. But I don't know since the clock in my car is about that accurate.

If your PC is connected to the Internet and you edit the registry value for "SpecialPollInterval" to 21600, it will set the time every 6 hours.

 

[temporello]

I don't think that 2 mins/day,or 5 secs/hour is acceptable...

 

[alidabiri]

voltage issues sometimes affect clocks depending on cycle rate fluctuation.