Resolved Weird clock behaviour

I logged on as usual this morning, and didn't notice until I'd been working for an hour or so that my taskbar clock was running almost 12 hours slow. Not exactly 12 hours, but 11 hours and a few minutes (unfortunately, in my panic I didn't note down the exact difference). I logged across to Admin, did the online time synch and after a couple of moments it popped back to the right time. It's set to do a synch every few days, and I've never, ever noticed this happen before. In fact, I can be pretty sure it doesn't, because there's no other clock visible from my workstation, so I use it often, at least four-five times a day, to check the time, and I couldn't not notice such a huge offset. No powerout to my knowledge overnight (other clocks in the house would be blinking if there were).

It's no big deal, but I find it very mystifying and wonder if it's a symptom of some looming catastrophe. Grateful for any thoughts.

 

It's probably a simple and inexpensive fix.

The most likely cause is a depleted CMOS battery. Look up the type you need for your computer, follow the instructions in the manual for your machine. They can be found on the manufacturer's web-site. Be careful to follow all of the precautions listed. There are different kinds of mounts that hold the battery. The instructions will indicate the proper way to release it (actually a "coin cell ") Replace it with a new one, close the machine up, plug the power cord in, and start up the machine. In all likelihood, your clock problem will be solved.

Norm

 

Thanks, both. I never thought of that. Yes, I bought it second-hand (or maybe even more), and from one of the system info apps it appears to be several years old.
I'll replace it anyway - can't be very expensive - and I'll consider this resolved unless it happens again.
Of course, if anybody else has any thoughts they'd be welcome, too.

 

Apologies - I've just noticed I never got back to confirm that it was the CMOS battery, for anyone who's interested. Issue successfully resolved. Yay WindowsBBS!