Many functions of your Windows computer rely on a properly configured system clock in order to work properly. When it’s set to incorrect settings, some of your licensed software might expire prematurely or you might have trouble installing new applications. If you notice that your time and date has changed for some reason, here’s how you can set it back to normal.
Open the Control Panel, go to Clock, Language and Region and click Date and Time. (Alternately, right-click the clock in the desktop taskbar’s system tray and select Adjust date/time in the context menu.) In the Date and Time window, go to the Date and Time tab and click the Change date and time… button. Enter the username and password of an administrator account if asked. Make the necessary changes in the new window and click OK. (Or you can click the Change calendar settings link first to modify the date format, choose which day is the first of the week and change more settings.) Click OK back in the previous window to save the changes.
Don’t forget to use the correct time zone. While you’re still in the Date and Time tab, click the Change time zone… button. Select your time zone in the drop-down list and click OK.
The Date and Time window also lets you display up to two additional clocks, which is quite useful when you’re often in touch with other people in other time zones. Go to the Additional Clocks tab, mark a Show this clock checkbox, select the appropriate time zone and write a display name. Repeat the process for the other checkbox to add a second extra clock. Click OK to save the changes. To view the additional clocks, just left-click or hover your mouse over the system tray clock. Now you can know if it’s the right time to call your foreign boss on Skype.
Finally, you should also automatically sync your computer’s clock with an Internet time server to make sure that your computer is using the same time and date as other computers online. Go to the Internet Time tab in the Date and Time window, click the Change settings… button, enter an admin credential when asked, mark the Synchronise with an Internet time server checkbox and select a time server. The default server is time.windows.com. Click OK.
If you already set the computer’s clock back to normal and yet it eventually displays an inaccurate time and date, you may need to address some underlying causes.
One possible cause is the CMOS battery, which powers a part of the motherboard that stores the date, time and other system settings. The CMOS battery must be replaced when it has gone bad lest the motherboard can no longer retain important information.
Another possible cause is a computer virus. Make sure that you remove any malicious software residing in the system and protect your computer from further security attacks.
Make sure you are using the correct time zone. You’ve already been reminded about this above. This is because every time your computer reboots it resets the clock to coincide with the time zone you set.
