Date not set at startup

[Henrietta]

Hello,
When I start up my XP Pro, it says the system date is not set so I have to
f2 to set it or f1 to set it thru the calendar/control panel once windows has
come on. It starts up with the date set to 2004 (when I bought my pc). I have
no idea what has caused this.
After I have set the date manually every day, it's working ok but as soon as
I turn it off, the same error occurs.
So please can I pick your brains as to how to remedy this situation & why it
may have occured.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Malke]

Hello,
When I start up my XP Pro, it says the system date is not set so I have to
f2 to set it or f1 to set it thru the calendar/control panel once windows
has come on. It starts up with the date set to 2004 (when I bought my pc).
I have no idea what has caused this.
After I have set the date manually every day, it's working ok but as soon
as I turn it off, the same error occurs.
So please can I pick your brains as to how to remedy this situation & why
it may have occured.
Thanks in advance.

This generally means that you need to replace the motherboard battery. The
battery is a small coin-shaped one and this is an easy/inexpensive fix.
Just make sure you have the computer unplugged and ground yourself first.

How To Replace The CMOS Battery In Your PC -
http://www.liverepair.com/encyclopedia/articles/cmosreplace.asp
How to replace the CMOS battery -
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000239.htm
When was the last time you thought about the battery in your PC? -
http://home.i-plus.net/jtmurphy/cmos.htm

Malke

 

[R. McCarty]

Motherboards have a small battery on them that provides power to run
the clock circuitry. If that battery is discharged the settings will not
retain
their settings when AC power is removed.
Most motherboards use a CR-2032 battery. You can buy them at drug
stores that have a battery kiosk.
As to replacing just make sure you carefully remove the existing battery
and note the polarity. The CR-2032 has a noticeable + symbol on it's
positive pole (side ). The battery is held in place by a small clip - so
it's
very important to remove and not damage the clip.
If you do a web search you'll find numerous sites that provide step by
step instructions with pictures to help.

 

[Lem]

Hello,
When I start up my XP Pro, it says the system date is not set so I have to
f2 to set it or f1 to set it thru the calendar/control panel once windows has
come on. It starts up with the date set to 2004 (when I bought my pc). I have
no idea what has caused this.
After I have set the date manually every day, it's working ok but as soon as
I turn it off, the same error occurs.
So please can I pick your brains as to how to remedy this situation & why it
may have occured.
Thanks in advance.

You probably need to replace the battery (you'll see references to CMOS
batteries or BIOS batteries) that keeps these values "alive." It's
especially likely given that your computer is more than 5 years old.

Most of the time, these are coin-sized batteries and fairly easy to
replace, but specific instructions would require knowing the make and
model of your computer.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[Henrietta]

I had no idea it would be a physical problem. Thank you all very much for
these answers !

 

[Jose]

Hello,
When I start up my XP Pro, it says the system date is not set so I have to
f2 to set it or f1 to set it thru the calendar/control panel once windowshas
come on. It starts up with the date set to 2004 (when I bought my pc). I have
no idea what has caused this.
After I have set the date manually every day, it's working ok but as soonas
I turn it off, the same error occurs.
So please can I pick your brains as to how to remedy this situation & whyit
may have occured.
Thanks in advance.

When Windows starts - where does it get the date and time?

It gets it from the date and time set on the motherboard. If the
motherboard date and time does not makes sense, you will get this
error.

You need to set the date in the system BIOS first and you do this by
pressing whatever key you need to press at boot time before Windows
starts. You can determine that by powering up your computer (but you
may have to be quick).

If you set the date in the BIOS and it does not retain it, then the
CMOS battery on the motherboard may need replacement, but you should
first check the BIOS date and time and set it to something
appropriate, save it and see how that works.

If you feel compelled to replace the battery anyway, you will still
have to set the BIOS date and time or you will get the same message
after battery replacement.

 

[pat]

Change the battery.

Pat