Question from Kevin: Hi, Rick. I recently bought a HP laptop running Windows 11, and ever since I first brought it home it’s been keeping the wrong time.
It’s always 1 hour behind, and if I change the time to the correct time it just reverts back to the wrong time all on its own. It’s about to drive me bonkers!
Do you think it might be a bad CMOS battery or maybe a bad motherboard?
I’m totally at a loss and I’d really like to get this resolved while the machine is still under warranty. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Rick’s answer: Kevin, the problem is almost certainly not a hardware problem since it keeps a consistent (although incorrect) time. I have a strong suspicion that your PC’s clock is set to the wrong time zone.
When you first set up Windows, it asks you to set the correct time zone for your physical location.
If you make a mistake and select the wrong time zone, the computer’s clock will automatically sync with the wrong time every time it checks the current time via the Internet.
If that’s the problem here, it’s very easy to fix. Here’s how:
1 – Click the Start button to display the Start menu.
2 – Type the word time, then select Change the time zone from the list of search results.
3 – If it isn’t set that way already, toggle the “Set time zone automatically” setting to Off (the slider should be white).
4 – Select the correct time zone for your location from the drop-down menu in the “Time zone” field.
5 – Make sure the “Adjust for daylight saving time automatically” setting is set to On (the slider should be blue).
6 – Click the X in the top-right corner of the window to close the date and time utility.
7 – Check to make sure the current time matches the actual time at your location. If not, repeat the steps above until you’ve found the correct time zone for your location.
That’s all there is to it. From now on your PC should keep (and display) the correct time. If not, let me know and I’ll give you something else to try.
I hope this helps, Kevin. Good luck!
Update from Kevin: That was it, Rick. I live in Connecticut, but I had somehow selected the Central time zone when I set up my computer.
Thanks for the help my friend. You’re a lifesaver!