I've had Acer repair my Aspire 5100 running Windows Vista Home edition twice
now due to the system losing time on a daily basis. I just got it back on
Friday from Acer after the second repair, in which they replaced the
motherboard (which they needed to do to fix a CMOS battery problem because
it's soldered to the mobo.) However, 2 days later it is displaying the same
issues. Yesterday it was 1-2 minutes behind, today it is 3 minutes behind.

I've got two questions. Does anybody know if there is a software package out
there that would allow me to diagnose this issue on my own to determine if
it is in fact a CMOS problem or if it is another issue Acer's technicians
failed to bother to find and fix? Secondly, I have been told that if I allow
this problem to just continue and ignore it, not too long from now I will
experience corrupt data and mis-writes to my HDD and the computer will be
useless. Is this correct? I have no intention of allowing Acer a third shot
at my laptop. They didn't find the problem the first time, and the second
repair tells me they've got inferior parts or it wasn't a CMOS problem in
the first place and their technicians don't have the knowledge to find the
correct issue. If it's not a CMOS problem which will require a new mobo I'll
fix it myself or wait until this thing dies and get a new laptop from a
better company.

Historian wrote:
> I've had Acer repair my Aspire 5100 running Windows Vista Home edition
> twice now due to the system losing time on a daily basis. I just got it
> back on Friday from Acer after the second repair, in which they replaced
> the motherboard (which they needed to do to fix a CMOS battery problem
> because it's soldered to the mobo.) However, 2 days later it is
> displaying the same issues. Yesterday it was 1-2 minutes behind, today
> it is 3 minutes behind.
>
> I've got two questions. Does anybody know if there is a software package
> out there that would allow me to diagnose this issue on my own to
> determine if it is in fact a CMOS problem or if it is another issue
> Acer's technicians failed to bother to find and fix? Secondly, I have
> been told that if I allow this problem to just continue and ignore it,
> not too long from now I will experience corrupt data and mis-writes to
> my HDD and the computer will be useless. Is this correct? I have no
> intention of allowing Acer a third shot at my laptop. They didn't find
> the problem the first time, and the second repair tells me they've got
> inferior parts or it wasn't a CMOS problem in the first place and their
> technicians don't have the knowledge to find the correct issue. If it's
> not a CMOS problem which will require a new mobo I'll fix it myself or
> wait until this thing dies and get a new laptop from a better company.

Have you set Vista to update the time on boot as a work-around? Given,
the time drift is unacceptable, but there is this solution.

Q

"Quaoar" <quaoar@tenthplanet.net> wrote in message
news:cKidna0E8ew_V6LbnZ2dnUVZ_oLinZ2d@comcast.com. ..


> Have you set Vista to update the time on boot as a work-around? Given, the
> time drift is unacceptable, but there is this solution.
>
> Q

I'm not concerned about the time display being off actually. It telling me
the improper time is annoying but no big deal. In order to not have to look
at it, I disabled the clock from the taskbar. The only thing I'm concerned
about is the system stability and the life of the PC. The only reason I
reported the problem to Acer in the first place is because of what (I think)
I know about the function of the CMOS battery.

Chris

In message <rTQ%h.7621$pW5.2992@trnddc07>
at 02:03:03 on Tue, 8 May 2007, Historian <cjmartin04@nospamverizon.net>
wrote
>The only reason I reported the problem to Acer in the first place is
>because of what (I think) I know about the function of the CMOS battery.
>
If they have replaced the motherboard and you are having identical
problems, then it sounds like a common problem with the "heart" that is
counting the ticks or whatever it needs to keep track of time

As to your other question about data corruption, I see this to be highly
unlikely
--
Mike News

"Mike" <turnpike_user@turnpike_REMOVEuser.THIScomANDTHI S> wrote in message
news:qwxLuLBipKQGFwl4@turnpike.home...
> In message <rTQ%h.7621$pW5.2992@trnddc07>
> at 02:03:03 on Tue, 8 May 2007, Historian <cjmartin04@nospamverizon.net>
> wrote
>>The only reason I reported the problem to Acer in the first place is
>>because of what (I think) I know about the function of the CMOS battery.
> >
> If they have replaced the motherboard and you are having identical
> problems, then it sounds like a common problem with the "heart" that is
> counting the ticks or whatever it needs to keep track of time
>
> As to your other question about data corruption, I see this to be highly
> unlikely

Thanks. So if it is simply not counting ticks correctly, it's simply related
to a time issue and not indicative of a larger issue where eventually the
BIOS won't remember the proper settings?

Chris