Problem? The internet time on my machine just went goofy

[230RN]

I just noticed the internet time on my HP laptop computer with Win 7/64 bit was about two hours slower than the real time.  Not exactly two hours, as one might expect from screwing up a change from DST to MST, or a change in time zones.

Didn't think much of it, just reset it off the net, and it caught up to "real" time.  As I recall, it showed about 7:58 AM when the real time was about 9:45 or so.

Any ideas as to what might have caused that?

I recently completely depowered it while in "Hibernation" --battery out, unplugged from the wall wart, but not for two hours, maybe five minutes at most.

I recently ran WinCleaner and Microsoft Secutiy Essentials as I have done many times before without seeing any problem in the internet time clock.

I normally don't shut down completely, preferring to "Hibernate" instead.

Any hint as to why this might have happened? 

Did Internet time get screwed up for a while, or is something going goofy with my machine?



Terry

[Brad Johnson]

Problem? The internet time on my machine just went goofy 

Better than it going mickey or donald.

Keep an eye on it. If it does it again, moar dye ag NOS ticks iz warranted. If not, you're good to go.

Brad

[Ben]

Occam's Razor would point to your laptop before the Internet. :)

Could have just been a glitch, or if your laptop is older, the CMOS battery may be ready to die.

[K Frame]

"CMOS battery may be ready to die."

My first guess.

[Perd Hapley]

What is "internet time"?

[Ben]

What is "internet time"?

Oh give the guy a break.

[Hawkmoon]

What is "internet time"?

Indeed, what is "Internet time"? Last I knew, computers use the time you tell them to use, and the change for DST just adjusts whatever the CMOS thinks it is by one hour -- it's not reading a remore time signal from the national observatory or anything cool like that.

I'd guess that by allowing the battery to expire you lost the time setting.

[Hawkmoon]

Oh give the guy a break.

Looks like we cross-posted.

I never knew that.

[Ben]

Looks like we cross-posted.

I never knew that.

https://youtu.be/TKYQ5ibxslI

 

[RevDisk]

Indeed, what is "Internet time"? Last I knew, computers use the time you tell them to use, and the change for DST just adjusts whatever the CMOS thinks it is by one hour -- it's not reading a remore time signal from the national observatory or anything cool like that.

Not sure if serious...  Ben is indeed reading a remote time signal from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the U. S. Naval Observatory (USNO).[1]

The problem is the hoop or two. That's too inaccurate. I want nanosecond precision, so I intend on getting my USNO time hack directly from atomic clocks in space, unlike these filthy terrestrial internet time peasants. [2]


[1] Actually, that's exactly what is happening if you use Internet Time. You use NTP to sync to MS's NTP server which likely syncs from NIST. Tens or hundreds of milliseconds precision.
[2] GPS, which also gets its time hack from NIST/USNO via USAF. <14 nanosecond precision.

[Ben]

The problem is the hoop or two. That's too inaccurate. I want nanosecond precision, so I intend on getting my USNO time hack directly from atomic clocks in space, unlike these filthy terrestrial internet time peasants. [2]

I hesitate to ask what diabolical scheme you're now hatching that requires the precision. Do  I need to be prepared to head for my bunker, or will the whole planet be autoclaved, so what's the use? 

[RevDisk]

I hesitate to ask what diabolical scheme you're now hatching that requires the precision. Do  I need to be prepared to head for my bunker, or will the whole planet be autoclaved, so what's the use? 

Erm. Fallout 4 is being released tomorrow and I want to leave at 5pm down to <1ms..?

[Perd Hapley]

Oh give the guy a break.

So, that's a Windows 8 or 10 thing? No mention of "Internet Time" on this Win7 machine.

That really, really sounds like old-people-talk. "I set my Jitterbug to internet time, so I know it's right on."

[Ben]

So, that's a Windows 8 or 10 thing? No mention of "Internet Time" on this Win7 machine.

That really, really sounds like old-people-talk. "I set my Jitterbug to internet time, so I know it's right on."

I'm running win7. Left click on your clock in the lower right, click on "change date and time settings", click on "internet time" tab.

[230RN]

The "internet time" I referred to is that little clock dealie in the lower right hand corner.  I thought it was supposed to reset off the net every time you booted.  But, I rarely actually reboot, since I bring the machine up from "Hibernate" most of the time.

And it wasn't a matter of a couple of milliseconds, it was about two hours.

So, OK, possibly the BIOS battery, but right after I posted, I did a full MSE scan.  It popped up with "your computer is potentially unprotected."  Now, this could be because the last time I updated was Saturday, but that seems like a pretty short time for MSE to be outdated.

But my first concern was if something outside the machine was goofy or if it was internal, like malware screwing up the time.

I know most malware makers don't mess up your machine --they don't want you to realize something's wrong --but it's been acting "funny" lately.  Mouse suddenly quitting and having to reload sites.

I guess it's a good bet, as you said, that the BIOS battery is going bad, but I didn't think this was supposed to happen nowadays and I;ve only had the thing for about four years.  Of course, it could have been sitting on a shelf or something for a while before I bought it.

So.  It looks like I'd better keep my backups updated a little more often, and wait.  Or buy a new one. Or figure out how to install a new battery.  (I've done that before with another piece of equipment.)

So thanks, folks.  Appreciate  your input.

Terry

[Ben]

CMOS battery is pretty easy to change, even on laptops (usually). You can probably google instructions for your model. CMOS battery is basically a watch battery, so they do die after some years have passed, and four is not at all unheard of.

Backup is always a good idea if it's acting funky. The internet time usually just autochecks at certain intervals if I remember right, so it shouldn't matter whether you turn your machine off or not.

[brimic]

It was a glitch in the matrix. Since you noticed it, we will be visiting you soon to dispose of you. 

[Perd Hapley]

I'm running win7. Left click on your clock in the lower right, click on "change date and time settings", click on "internet time" tab.

My taskbar is on the right hand side at work, and on the top, at home. My computer at work made no mention of internet time. My computer at home, does. I'm running Win7 Pro at home, but I'm not sure which flavor of 7 we have at work.

Maybe it's because of the server, at work.

[230RN]

The clock is a gadget you can install from the resident gadget goodies.  Click on start, enter "gadget(s)" in the little search window, and you will see a couple of entries for the gadgets that are available.  See attachment for sample of what my gadget gallery looks like.

I think you can also click on the taskbar and drag it around to where you want it, but I don't feel like looking it up right now.  I used to accidentally move the taskbar around in XP with mis-clicks every once in a while, so I presume you can in Win7, too.

I did change out the CMOS battery on one of my HF rigs.  You parallel the present battery with an external one of the same voltage, slip out the old battery, slip in the new one, then disconnect the external battery.  I don't know why I was thinking that was no longer necessary for computers.

Lord, let that be my worst mistake of the week.

Amen.

Terry

[RoadKingLarry]

Did you try turning it off then back on again?