Not sure I'm asking this in the right place as it may not be a Windows XP issue but here goes.

Over the past few weeks almost every time I fire up my PC it throws up myriad error messages and none of my programmes will load because the clock has defaulted back to 31 December 2002 and the time to 11.01pm. I patiently reset it on the control panel & restart. But it is doing this almost every day and I am very tired of it! Someone said something about a battery in my PC but a) I can't find a reference to a battery in the manual and b) the date/time problem does not occur all the time, just most of the time! Any thoughts????

It is most likely the motherboard battery.

What is the exact make & model of the computer?

Not sure to be honest, other than it's an Advent PC hence it could have been made by just about anyone. I think it's an Advent 2005 (AMD Athlon XP 3000+). According to the spec - Motherboard ECS KT600-M+. May as well be in hieroglyphics to me...

Advent 2005 PC

http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/advent/pc/2005.htm

Is this a new computer? I note the 2005. If so I would not think that the battery would have gone

The only board I could find was a KT600-A

I will post a pic with the battery green checked. There is info in the above link as to opening the case.

Yet if this is a fairly new machine I doubt the battery is bad although your problem is symptomatic of a battery failure.

If it is a new machine let us know & we will try other options.

Do you run virus scans? Perhaps try this one:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/hous...start_corp.asp

Some additional ideas:

I doubt it's the battery. A dead CMOS battery will cause much more
ruckus than just screwing up the date/time. It will throw the
computer into BIOS setup with every restart. The OP didn't report
that as a symptom, so I'm leaning towards something else being the
cultprit.

If you leave the box plugged in, and are turning it on/off using the
computer on/off button, or shutting down using Start/Shut down, then
you aren't putting any load on the CMOS battery. The power supply is
still trickling power to the MB so the battery isn't being used.


If you unplug the box, or shut it down by interruping the power flow
from the wall to the box (like using a power strip and turning it
off), well then you will be using the battery. That's not that common
anymore though.

This is a very frequently asked question in this NG. The common answer is
this:


1) Start-> Run type cmd.exe then click OK
2) type net stop w32time then press Enter key
3) type w32tm.exe /unregister then press Enter key
4) type w32tm.exe /register then press Enter key
5) type net start w32time then press Enter key

Sounds like it is syncing but not sure why it is syncing wrong. Settings ->
Control Panel -> Date and Time -> Internet Time tab -> Uncheck Automatically
Sync with Internet Time Server.

The '2005' tag is a bit misleading as I bought the PC in December 2003. A totally separate problem I have had with it, not from the word go but for a very long time, is that you can switch it off at the 'on/off' button but you can't switch it back on again without turning off the power supply, leaving it for a few minutes, switching it back on at the wall and then hitting 'on/off'. Could this daily action have created an unnatural drain on the battery?

I do run virus scans and will run one now just to be sure that there isn't a gremlin in there somewhere, plus I will follow your other suggestions and see if they works. Like I say, this has only become a problem recently and I don't seem to get any other weird events suggesting battery problems but you never know.

What are the error messages that you mentioned?

"almost every time I fire up my PC it throws up myriad error messages"

The power supply issue is strange & could be affecting the battery.

Do you know how to enter the BIOS settings?

Perhaps by pressing the Delete key during startup.

There should also be a clock set in the BIOS.

This would indicate if the Mobo was losing the Time.