On 3/25/2019 3:36 PM, KenW wrote:
On Mon, 25 Mar 2019 14:59:22 -0700, John Robertson
wrote:

On 2019/03/25 10:28 a.m., David Farber wrote:
This Dell Inspiron N5110, which has Windows 7 Home Premium installed,
was given to me because upon startup it would BSOD with a
REGISTRY_ERROR. That was resolved with a system restore but I noticed
another problem which has me puzzled. The system time does not advance
when the unit is turned off. I went into the BIOS setup and noticed that
within the time configuration, the seconds were not ticking. Once the
machine is booted into Windows, the automatic time synchronization will
eventually set it to the correct time and it stays that way until it's
powered off. The CMOS battery measures above 3 volts in circuit and all
the other BIOS settings are saved when the machine is off. I tried
temporarily removing the battery to reset the BIOS and the result was
that the time reverted back to several years earlier however the seconds
were ticking normally. I entered the correct time/date and restarted the
computer and all was well. I turned it off for a while and then powered
it on again and entered the BIOS setup. The time was stuck again and the
seconds were not advancing. It seems to me that no matter what condition
the Windows operating system is in, it shouldn't be able to interrupt
the time function when the set is powered off. I tried updating the BIOS
to a newer version but that just crashed the machine. (Fortunately it
didn't brick the machine). I found other users complaining about the
frozen clock issue but as yet have found no solution. Here is an example
of a similar complaint.
https://www.dell.com/community/Lapto...e/td-p/4122751


Anyone have any ideas what is causing this suspension of time?

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA




Something is wrong with the on-board RTC - Real Time Clock.

You need to identify that chip or module and first see if its crystal is
damaged.

If the device is a Dallas TimeKeeper then you can simply plug in another
one, if soldered into the board then you have to decide how much it is
worth to fix...

John :-#)#
I found a free program Neutron Time Set that I run from startup that
sets the time for me.


KenW

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the workaround idea. I may have to resort to using it!

--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA