JimCohen-clock?

Everett Cox · From: Marengo, OH, USA (deceased)

Jim-- A while back, you were having a problem with your computer clock losing time. The symptoms described were very mysterious.

While checking a Western Digital(hard drive) user forum for another reason, I noticed a message that might relate to you. Note that WD's reply was that they had no answer for the user's question. Note, too, that 'though the question concerned a Western Digital disk, they also market under other names.

Here is the user's message:

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Subject: System Clock Problems and Caviar Hard Drives
Topic:
Author: Chris Miccio
Date: 06/15/00 07:09:48
Drive Model: ac313000-00rt
Number of Drives: 2
Configuration: master/slave
Jumpering: one as master the westerndigital as the slave
System Age/Chipset: various sytems
CPU and Bus: 200mmx and 800
BIOS: award
OS: windows98
EZ/DM Software:

The Caver Drive is causing systems that it is installed in to lose time when the system is turned off. I came to this conclusion after I had moved the hard drive from one system to another.

I installed the drive as a second primary drive on a 200mmx system running windows 98. Sometime after installing the drive the system began losing time when shut down. At this time I did not equate the problem with the hard drive. I did all the usual stuff, changed batteries, ran diagnostics etc. Needless to say I could not solve the problem so I lived with reseting the clock every morning.

However, I recently move the hard drive to a brand new system. I installed the hard drive as a slave in this system. Since installing the hard drive the new system began to lose time. Again, I did all the usual stuff to resolve the problem. It then came to me that the problem may be related to the hard drive. So, I went back to the old system and found that after removing the hard drive the clock problem was no longer occuring.

Is there a fix for this problem?

---------------------------------------------

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Thanks, Everett. Actually, my problem was a little different; my clock slows down while the computer is ON, and resets to the CORRECT time when I shut it off and reboot!

But today someone sent me a link to a website that seems to understand my problem. Here's what they had to say about it:

Advanced Power Management (APM)

Advanced Power Management (APM) is a wonderful energy-saving feature that many computer systems now come with. During idle periods, this feature switches your computer to suspend mode, reducing the amount of energy it consumes without completely shutting it down. But did you know that enabling this feature on a Windows 95 system causes the Windows 95 clock to lose time? When your computer switches to suspend mode, the Windows 95 clock can slow down and possibly even stop. Fortunately, APM doesn't affect the underlying system clock, so the time loss on your Windows 95 clock isn't permanent. Simply restarting your computer will restore the correct time on the Windows 95 clock. But if you have to reboot your computer to reset the clock after every suspend mode period, it's pointless to enable APM in the first place. Here's how you can keep APM enabled without stealing time from the Windows 95 clock.

Two causes, two solutions

There are two possible explanations as to why a conflict between APM and your Windows 95 clock might exist. The first is likely to apply to older computer systems. On such systems, the BIOS (basic input/output system) might be providing support only for an older version of APM. If this is the case, you should try upgrading your computer's BIOS to resolve the conflict. Your computer manufacturer should be able to provide a BIOS upgrade for your system. The second explanation for a conflict between APM and your Windows 95 clock is that you might not have installed Windows 95 APM support. If you enabled APM in your computer's CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) settings after Windows 95 was already installed, this explanation is the more likely one. In this case, you'll have to reinstall Windows 95 in order to install APM support.

Once you've installed Windows 95 APM support, check to make sure this support is enabled. To do so, right-click the My Computer icon, choose Properties, and click the Device Manager tab.

The System Properties sheet's Device Manager tab lets you verify that Windows 95 APM support is enabled.

Next, expand the System Devices branch by clicking the plus sign next to it. Then, double-click Advanced Power Management Support. In the resulting dialog box, click the Settings tab and select the Enable Power Management Support check box, if it isn't already checked. Finally, close all open dialog boxes and then click the Start button and choose Suspend.

Conclusion

If your Windows 95 clock freezes along with the rest of your system in suspend mode, you now have two possible explanations for this problem. You also have two resolutions, so you don't have to choose between saving energy and marking accurate time.

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Jim, that specifically mentions WIN95 and I thought your were on WIN98. My Compaq, with WIN98, does not have the time clock problem and I use the power management feature to put the system in standby (after two hours of non use).

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Jack, this computer is indeed on Win95. I've tried to disable the APM feature as described above, but when I get to that window in the Devices section, there is no dialog box to do this! Anybody know how else to do it?
thx,
jc

[This message was edited by Jim Cohen on 27 June 2000 at 05:37 AM.]

Ernie Renn · From: Brainerd, Minnesota USA

Jim;
Get the program Atom Time They should have it at either www.tucows.com or www.downloads.com When you're on the net it can check the time with the national atomic clock. (I think). It will also adjust your clock to match it, it you want it to.

------------------
My best,
Ernie

The Official Buddy Emmons Website
www.buddyemmons.com

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Thanks, Ernie. I'll give it a try.
jc

ToneJunkie · From: Columbia, MD, USA

Y'know, I don't know much about Microsoft OS internals, but the more I learn, the less I want to know. Can you imagine an operating system that consults system time only at boot up and never again? Just freewheeling forever. I think that is really an amazing engineering blunder. I believe its a genuine indicator that the OS was never expected to run continuously for very long. I run Win98-2ed and generally leave the system up all the time. Right now the clock on the wall says 10:50 and my system time says 10:25. That's probably several days to a week's worth of steady up time (which in iteslf is a stunning Windows feat). Eventually I'll shut down (or crash) and restart, at which time the OS clock will be correct.

Seems insane that a solution to the OS's time keeping problem would be to grab atomic time from the Internet. But a cool idea nonetheless. Jim, let us know how the atomic clock works out.

Cheers

------------------
Robert Hicks

Home Page: http://www.members.home.net/tonejunkie
Email: rhhicks@home.com

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I just saw a similar problem on the Compaq support forum. Compaq's "fix" for the clock losing (or gaining) time in Windows is:

Go to DOS (shut down windows and restart in DOS mode or just boot up to DOS mode) and rename the file timedate.cpl file to timedate.bak. The file is in the Windows/System folder. The DOS command to do this is REN(space)TIMEDATE.CPL(space)TIMEDATE.BAK If there is no path statement in your Autoexec.Bat you may have enter the command as
REN(space):\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TIMEDATE.CPL(space)C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TIMEDATE.BAK

After you have the file renamed, reboot and restart windows. Windows will create a new timedate.cpl file.

I don't know if this works, just what was on the Compaq support forum.

[This message was edited by Jack Stoner on 30 June 2000 at 04:16 AM.]

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