[Iconicmoronic]

I was wondering how it is possible that my PC is able to load without a CMOS battery installed, and what effect this will have on my PC if I continue to run it without the CMOS battery installed.

[Advertisements]

There are only two main uses for a CMOS battery in a PC:

1) Maintain system settings and options (overclocking for example) when the power is disconnected.
2) Remember the system date and time without the power connected. This is important for many reasons - websites may not work, programs may not work, Windows may not work. Every time the system is powered up the system will think it's midnight of a year gone by. The older the system the earlier the date.

There are no issues with running a system without a CMOS battery, but they're so dirt cheap it's silly not to replace a dead battery.

[Neil Jones]

There are only two main uses for a CMOS battery in a PC:

1) Maintain system settings and options (overclocking for example) when the power is disconnected.
2) Remember the system date and time without the power connected. This is important for many reasons - websites may not work, programs may not work, Windows may not work. Every time the system is powered up the system will think it's midnight of a year gone by. The older the system the earlier the date.

There are no issues with running a system without a CMOS battery, but they're so dirt cheap it's silly not to replace a dead battery.

[Iconicmoronic]

Thankyou for your response, I actually just forgot to reinstall it after I removed it on account of forgetting my BIOS password. This explains why Windows is saying it isn't Genuine, why websites are returning certificate revocations, and the general network mayhem. Oddly enough, Geekstogo provided no issues, but mail servers do. I suppose they are very time oriented though. So, again thankyou for your reply.

I do wonder though, if the system has no time setting, would this effect the execution of viruses? I don't know the in's and out's or the state of networks to be humbly honest. It does seem to me, although, that knowing a system time wouldn't be pertinent if you were on a secure network, unless the implication of programs and scripts was time based.

Intrusions that are not time based, or updates, wouldn't be effected though so long as they had the means to penetrate whichever code the system was running. Does this make sense?

[DaffyKantReed]

It does seem to me, although, that knowing a system time wouldn't be pertinent if you were on a secure network, unless the implication of programs and scripts was time based.

If your system time is changed within Windows, you will have trouble with SSL, amongst other issues.

http://blogs.msdn.co...ystem-time.aspx

[Iconicmoronic]

It sounds to me like its a 50/50 concern as far as security is concerned. Time based attacks (with the sort of know how that the blog implies) will have surely evolved through the computer era; at the same time while it might produce limited security if someone were to propose a time based attack through a system (at least by omitting the "erroneous" system), it seems like it could cause as many faults in data distribution through the network.

Thanks for the blog link as well. I have been looking for a suitable tech blog that wouldn't just let me know all the opinions on Apples new e-reader and such. It is very much appreciated.

[123Runner]

Also don't forget that windows updates are not going to be distributed correctly because they are also based on "time".

[Neil Jones]

I do wonder though, if the system has no time setting, would this effect the execution of viruses? I don't know the in's and out's or the state of networks to be humbly honest. It does seem to me, although, that knowing a system time wouldn't be pertinent if you were on a secure network, unless the implication of programs and scripts was time based.

Many years ago when it was all field 'round here, a lot of virii were what could be called now as time-bomb. That basically means they only worked at certain times on certain dates, and stopped working after a certain year. Most of these date from the time when you spread infection via floppy disk drive. The modern day equivalent would be the Conficker worm, which was actively patched through the internet to go off again on April 1st last year.

These days of course, the system time matters not because it's all about emptying your bank account.

Edited by Neil Jones, 24 March 2010 - 05:21 PM.