Home --> IAQ -->

Slow System Clock

By Jeffrey Howard
All rights reserved unless noted otherwise

Several years ago, it was easy to diagnose the problem of a slow system clock. First, check to make sure the clock was ever set correctly. Assuming it was, it meant that the battery on the motherboard was starting to die. The system clock is maintained in PCs on a small chip on the motherboard that draws power from a battery to keep the time ticking.

I hate to express a lack of confidence in computer manufacturing processes, but I can't help but note that I've been having more and more trouble with clocks running slow right out of the box. One way to solve this problem is to start using NTP.

Platform

Any computer that has a slow system clock and can support software to run NTP could use this solution.

Solution

What is NTP? It's a protocol (Network Time Protocol) that is used to disseminate UTC time to machines throughout a network. At the root of it all, there are a number of very accurate clocks (usually radio clocks or the like), that keep UTC. As far as NTP is concerned, this is the correct universal time. From there, the time is distributed through a network of servers. This gets tricky; synchronizing clocks when there may be a variable amount of delay in the network paths is no small feat.

Find a software package that runs NTP and set it up. This sounds like a glib answer, but the mechanics of the individual software will vary significatly. For some versions of MacOS that it's as easy as setting your clock to use the "Apple Time Server".