techchallenged

Hi,

I have a Dell Inspirion that is 3 years old nearly. I just purchased a Macbook Pro and have been using that but I still love my Dell and use it often as well.

Tonight I noticed that th clock was incorrect for the first time. It read 7:24pm when it was actually 10:24pm. I clicked to reset it and noticed that it again reset itself to the incorrect time again. It actually changed to 10:17pm.

It also appears that the clock is changing slowly.

I've searched online for an answer and see that some sites or individuals mentioned a bios clock battery??
Perhaps I am confused but I'm not computer literate...well, I do know how to use a computer and get around it pretty well but I'm no expert. can someone help me?

Thanks so much

twajetmech

The battery they refer to is known as the cmos battery, it keeps power to the cmos chip to retain any custom bios settings and such....like the date and time. If the cmos battery falls below 3V then the machine looses the ability to keep the proper date and time and usually on boot will post to default values of the bios and ask for them to be set. Changing a cmos battery on a desktop is relatively easy, on a laptop it could require partial disassembly of the machine to gain access to the motherboard where the battery is. You can check the Dell support site and see if they have any articles pertaining to the cmos battery replacement or take it to a repair shop and have them do it for you. Typically on a desktop the battery is a cr2032...about $6 at radioshack or walgreens on a laptop I'm not sure exactly which battery is common.

kodi

What model inspiron? I will try to get a schematic for the battery removal

crazijoe

Probably a stupid question but, do you have the correct time zone set on the computer?

laboye

If he has the time zone set incorrectly on the computer and it also has the online time synchronization enabled, it may be correcting the time to the wrong time zone. While this may be true, it is likely the CMOS battery. On desktops, it is usually a CR2032, but on laptops, it's usually a proprietary design because they are sometimes dedicated to powering other parts as well. Knowing Dell, it is probably proprietary. Provide the model number of your Dell, and we will gladly look up any information for this matter.

-Eddie