Losing time

By Andy Walker

Question: A friend has put a question to me and I had no answer for him. He asked if there might be a virus that makes the computer lose time. He has to adjust his system clock periodically. If you have come across or already covered this in your past columns, can you let me know? My assumption is that the battery in his system has expired. Could this be correct? --Edie

Answer: Yes, your guess is most likely correct. He's probably got a battery in his system that needs to be replaced. Some older systems, especially 486s or older have batteries that do recharge but can ultimately wear out. Sometimes they simply need replacing.

I covered that topic in depth in a previous column, but it's worth mentioning again. It's also a good idea to do a virus scan with current definitions as well, just to be sure.