Still learning stuff about computers
Category Geekdom
This may not be news to some of you, but it certainly was to me. Last week my mother gave me a call to inquire if I had any knowledge as to why her computer's clock was losing time (fifteen minutes over a couple hour period, and very repeatable.) I did not have an answer for her...I had a suspicion that it might be some sort of malware playing with the clock, but no real knowledge of anything specific. I told her I would investigate and get back with her.
Come to find out, through my investigation of the problem (JFGI) that a weak CMOS battery can cause time loss on the system clock...who woulda thunk it? Certainly not me. I have had batteries die before...but generally you just lose the current settings in CMOS on reboot and as long as there is power applied to the system, you can set the CMOS values and run just fine until the next time you reboot or turn the power off. Anyway, I looked up the battery specification and sent Mom an email explaining what I had found and how she could fix it if she wanted to...I also offered to help if she didn't want to tackle the problem herself. Well, we hardly ever see each other anyway, so she asked for my assistance. I found that Cord Camera, which has a store very close to my office, had the battery in stock, and I popped over there, then down to Mom's. Got the cords unplugged, case on its side and opened, battery exchanged, case closed and cords replugged, computer rebooted, and then settled into a nice conversation with Mom. Then I left. I had to stop and get gas before I got to far from Mom's and it was a good thing. About a quarter of the way through filling my tank, the phone rang...Mom couldn't get her 'local network' light on her DSL modem to light. Ut oh...I never checked that. Quick trip back to Mom's, reseated the USB connector to the modem and all was golden.
This may not be news to some of you, but it certainly was to me. Last week my mother gave me a call to inquire if I had any knowledge as to why her computer's clock was losing time (fifteen minutes over a couple hour period, and very repeatable.) I did not have an answer for her...I had a suspicion that it might be some sort of malware playing with the clock, but no real knowledge of anything specific. I told her I would investigate and get back with her.
Come to find out, through my investigation of the problem (JFGI) that a weak CMOS battery can cause time loss on the system clock...who woulda thunk it? Certainly not me. I have had batteries die before...but generally you just lose the current settings in CMOS on reboot and as long as there is power applied to the system, you can set the CMOS values and run just fine until the next time you reboot or turn the power off. Anyway, I looked up the battery specification and sent Mom an email explaining what I had found and how she could fix it if she wanted to...I also offered to help if she didn't want to tackle the problem herself. Well, we hardly ever see each other anyway, so she asked for my assistance. I found that Cord Camera, which has a store very close to my office, had the battery in stock, and I popped over there, then down to Mom's. Got the cords unplugged, case on its side and opened, battery exchanged, case closed and cords replugged, computer rebooted, and then settled into a nice conversation with Mom. Then I left. I had to stop and get gas before I got to far from Mom's and it was a good thing. About a quarter of the way through filling my tank, the phone rang...Mom couldn't get her 'local network' light on her DSL modem to light. Ut oh...I never checked that. Quick trip back to Mom's, reseated the USB connector to the modem and all was golden.
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