Incase you ever wondered about the battery on your motherboard:

[Guy Fawkes]

Mine died, and now my system clock stays where ever it was when I turned off my computer.

Just thought I would share that with you.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. I know you can set up your PC so it gets the time of day from the Internet

I believe Windows XP has this. Linux surely has, since day one. If you use an earlier Windows, I believe there are utilities to do that too.

[Guy Fawkes]

2. It is a basic function of windows, but it won't update if

it's on the wrong *day*

[Mr. McD]

3. I use the free atomic clock utility at

http://www.worldtimeserver.com/atomic-clock/

[Old and In the Way]

4. I never understood why board designers wouldn't use a storage cap for

running the clock. I suppose it would drain eventually, but it seems that for most users, this wouldn't be an issue. Doesn't the battery also power the BIOS?

[lpbk2713]

5. Yes it does.

And if the mobo battery is too low you will boot up with default values in your BIOS. You may not show a CD drive equipped for instance or other devices.