Time and date resetting itself

[richcleverley]

Hi,
One of my clients machines has started to set the date back to August 2004 which messes up the email server installed on it (all the new mails that get delivered have the new system date on them so seem not to arrive but are in fact way down in the email stack). I reckon it's the cmos battery, but have begun to question my thinking because the machine never gets turned off.

Anything else people reckon it might be?

Richard

 

[jrbarnett]

Is there an (incorrect) time server on the network that the PC is synchronising itself to?

John

 

[Freestone]

Along John's line of thought, open a command prompt on the machine and issue:

net time /querysntp

This will displays the name of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) server currently configured for the computer.

 

[bcastner]

Troubleshooting:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/Q189/7/06.ASP&NoWebContent=1

My guess: the computer needs a BIOS upgrade or is using the wrong HAL:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;243883&Product=win2000

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=299340

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[linney]

It is probably not relevant, but wasn't August 2004 the date that SP2 was released? Just a coincidence I suppose.

 

[bcastner]

Ad what was the date of the computer system BIOS release?


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[richcleverley]

Thanks guys,

I will look into the suggestions when I am next at the machine.

Richard

 

[Glenn9999]

And depending on what's going on, you might try setting the time and date on the system, powering it down, and then restarting it after about a minute or so and see if the time stays - that's really how you would test the CMOS battery, though like you say it shouldn't matter since the computer never is shut down. But you can try that just to be sure.

Other than that, there's several ways the time and date could be placed off - a program that sets those things running errantly, a program that changes the system timer that doesn't set it back, a problem where the OS can't synchronize time with the BIOS clock, numerous things, really.

 

[bcastner]

The CMOS battery can be tested just by dropping to a CMD session and typing TIME. There is absolutely no reason to reboot.

"... a program that sets those things running errantly, a program that changes the system timer that doesn't set it back,..." in both these cases a Stop Error 0xD1 would be thrown. The system clock runs at in IRQL of 28, while a program runs at an IRQL of 2.

XP obtains the BIOS clock setting once, at startup. It does not "synchronize with the BIOS clock".



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