If every time you turn on the PC you find that the date and time of the computer have been reset , you have a problem but, despite what everyone may think, it can be both hardware and software . In this article we are going to tell you what is happening and, of course, what you should do to solve it.
The date and time of the PC are something that serves much more than to inform you of what day you live or what time it is, since the synchronization of many of the system services depends on this and can cause, among other things, that there are programs that do not work, so it would be a nuisance to have to set the PC every time you turn it on.
Why are the date and time reset when I turn on the PC?
The list of problems that you can find range from the error ” CMOS BATTERY FAILED ” when starting the computer until applications do not start if the date and time are not correct, such as the launcher of the famous Steam game platform, without To go further, it will not start if the PC’s date and time are not synchronized with its servers.
Another error that you may find is, in Windows systems, that when you try to set the computer on time you receive an error and the system does not let you, forcing you to do this directly in the BIOS instead of in the operating system configuration.
In a PC, whether desktop or laptop, the date and time work in sync between the BIOS of the computer and the operating system, and when the computer is turned off it is thanks to the CMOS battery that the motherboards incorporate that this data can be stored , so that every time you turn on the equipment again it shows you the correct date and time.
What can you do if the date and time of the PC are reset?
A good battery malfunction or the software in charge of this synchronization can cause the date and time to be reset every time you turn on the PC, so let’s see what you can do in each case.
Software problems
When your problem is that the date and time are reset every time you turn on but it does not let you set the time from Windows, or that each time you turn it on it shows you the date and time of the moment you turned it off, the problem is probably software, and fortunately the solution is quite simple. First of all you should check that you have all Windows updates installed (to do this click the Start button, then select Settings (the gear icon) and after that go to the “Update and security” menu, where it will show you if updates are available.
After checking and installing the relevant updates, what you should do is click on the Start button and type “Services” to access the System Services tool (alternatively, press WIN + R and in the advantage of executing type “services. msc “and hit OK). In the window that opens, you must locate the line called “Windows Time”.
Double click on this service and a window will open, in which you must change the Startup Type from Manual to Automatic.
Once this is done, click OK, close all the windows and turn off the computer to see if the problem persists. To make sure, once the system starts up, go back to Settings and go to the “Time and Language” section, where you should check that the “Set time automatically” box is activated, in addition to clicking on the “Synchronize now” button so that the Your computer’s date and time are synchronized with Microsoft‘s NTP servers.
Once this is done, restart the computer again and see if the problem continues to occur; If so, go to the next section because your problem is probably with the hardware.
Hardware issues
As we have mentioned before, that the PC is able to keep the date and time even when it is turned off is thanks to the fact that the motherboards have a small button cell, called a CMOS battery. This battery, like all batteries, has a limited life and it is possible that the battery in your device has worn out and you will have to change it for another.
Changing the battery on the motherboard is a very simple process; You simply have to locate where it is located on the motherboard of your PC and you will see that it has a small tab that prevents the battery from coming out. Simply flip the tab back with the help of a screwdriver (all this obviously with the equipment turned off and disconnected from the power) to remove the battery and replace it with a new one.
The CMOS batteries used by motherboards are quite standardized and, except for very rare cases, they are CR2032 that you can find as a general rule in any hardware store. In any case, you can go to a hardware store with the spent battery that you have taken out of the PC and ask that they sell you the same (its price is around two euros or even less). This type of battery can also be easily found in online stores such as Amazon.
Installing the new battery is a very simple process: just notice where the tab you had to move to remove the old battery is, and insert the new battery at the opposite end. Pressing the area of the tab will allow the battery to settle into place and will be fixed. Just be careful to insert it with the correct polarity, as the negative (the narrowest part) should go down and the positive (the widest part) should go up.
After changing the battery, the system will tell you that the date and time have been changed and that you must enter the BIOS of the computer to configure them, so just do it, save the changes and check if the problem has been definitively solved.