Windows 7 Windows 7 Issues with Motherboard & Updates.

omegawon

New Member
I have an HP Pavilion dv6-2157sb running Windows 7 Ultimate SP1, 64-bit OS. I bought it in the summer of 2010 for law school.

The laptop has served me faithfully through law school.

After almost three years, however, it began booting up with the time being incorrect.

Commonly, the time stamp would be 1/1/2009. At other times, 12/31/2008. Still at other times, 5/1/2013, and finally random dates between 2022 and 2023.

I did some preliminary research and decided that the BIOS battery must have an issue, and with the help of my uncle who does IT work for JP Morgan Chase, replaced the battery. Upon doing so, we also went into the BIOS settings and changed the date & time accordingly.

This did not help.

My "temporary fix" for this has been to connect to the internet, click the date & time, click Change date & time settings, click the Internet Time tab, click Change Settings, click Update now, and the date & time would adjust according to the internet time.

There have been instances where closing the monitor lid and putting it to sleep would not cause the time to change when opening the lid and waking the computer up. Upon shut down and start up / rebooting in general, the time & date invariably changes. Once in a while, putting it to sleep and waking it will nevertheless cause the time and date to change, albeit less frequently. Finally, every so often, I'd say once every two weeks, the date & time will change sporadically while the computer is on.

At the same time that this issue cropped up, several other things began going haywire; namely,

(a) The icons on the bottom right in the task bar next to the date & time would load very awkwardly, with lots of gaps & spaces in between them, and if one of the blank spaces were the wifi/ethernet settings, the internet would not work. My "temporary" fix for this has been to go to Task Manager, end the explorer.exe process, hit file > new task (run...) > type in explorer.exe > hit enter and upon restarting explorer, all the system tray icons look fine and operate normally.

(b) more importantly, Windows Update has suffered as a result of this. I noticed on my Windows 7 PC (DELL Optiplex 745) that my Internet Explorer version is v9.0.15. Here, it's 9.0.14. There's a 57.8 MB update titled Windows Internet Explorer 9 for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems. No KB number for it, but always fails with error code 9C48. Even where it somehow is "successful," when I just shut down and it attempts to install during shut down, the update comes back up. I've done extensive research on this problem and found a great thread in the w7 forums here with lots of proposed solutions; absolutely none worked. When I tried installing Internet Explorer 9 as a standalone exe without using Windows Update, Windows informed me via a dialog box that the version of IE I have is newer than the one I am trying to install. After giving up and hiding that update, I yesterday attempted to install Internet Explorer 10. The installation took a long time, but after about an hour, it said it was complete, and asked me to Restart. Upon restarting, Windows gave me an error claiming that it failed to configure windows update and is reverting changes now. This is what happened before with other windows updates related to internet explorer.

Please help. Are the two issues related somehow? What should I do?

Kindly let me know whether you need any more information; I would be glad to provide it for you.

Best regards,
Emanuel.
 
You were correct is suspecting the CMOS battery if the Time in the bios was incorrect. Did you also reset the bios to its default values when you changed the battery?

If the bios time is changing and the battery has been replaced, there may be a situation with the motherboard.

If only the time in the OS is changing, it could be a software situation. I assume you have anti-virus software installed and it hasn't found anything?

I have seen the time change if a hard drive was removed and replaced later. Have you done a chkdsk on your drive to check it and a SFC /scannow to check your system files?

Does this happen both with plugged in and on battery only? Any chance the battery is going bad.

And a problem with system time can cause problems with Windows Update...
 
Answers in red.

You were correct is suspecting the CMOS battery if the Time in the bios was incorrect. Did you also reset the bios to its default values when you changed the battery?

No, but I did reflash the BIOS a while after installing the battery. Should I reset BIOS to default values now?


If the bios time is changing and the battery has been replaced, there may be a situation with the motherboard.

I thought so, too; I looked into getting a replacement motherboard, but the one site I found had it for $200.00; way out of budget. Any ideas where I can get it cheaper, i.e., under $100.00? Would replacing the BIOS and keeping the same hard drive fix this issue, assuming replacement motherboard is good?


If only the time in the OS is changing, it could be a software situation. I assume you have anti-virus software installed and it hasn't found anything?

Yes, I pay for McAfee and find that it works well. I have run full scans since then and do not find anything out of the ordinary. I will run another full scan and see what comes of it.

I have seen the time change if a hard drive was removed and replaced later. Have you done a chkdsk on your drive to check it and a SFC /scannow to check your system files?

No removals / replacements of any hardware except for the BIOS battery. I remember doing a chkdsk and sfc /scannow, and remember that sfc /scannow did find corrupt files and fixed them before. I will run both again and take a note of what happens to report here.

Does this happen both with plugged in and on battery only? Any chance the battery is going bad.

The battery is a 12-cell extra long life one. This is a good question and I will attempt to restart using both the battery without the charger plugged in, and just the charger plugged in WITHOUT the battery, and report the results.

And a problem with system time can cause problems with Windows Update...

So basically work on getting the time fixed, then worry about wupdate.


Thanks. I will get back with an update.
 
When you flash the bios, you need to reset to defaults. Doing it now is fine, then you can go back and reset the things you have changed.

Replacing a laptop motherboard is not an easy job. When I replaced one on my Dell laptop, I got if from e-Bay, and you take your chances. Maybe it will work and maybe it won't.

I assume from your answer the bios time is changing?

If you think it might be related to the OS, you could try booting to a Linux Live CD and running for a while for testing.

You don't mention anything about Dual Booting, so I will assume that is not an issue.
 
Answers are in red; please see below, as well.

When you flash the bios, you need to reset to defaults. Doing it now is fine, then you can go back and reset the things you have changed.

I shut the computer down and manually booted it. I had to press Esape to enter "setup" options in order to access BIOS which I did by pressing F10.


Upon accessing BIOS, I pressed F9 to get "Setup Defaults," at which point I was prompted as to whether I want to reset all BIOS settings to setup defaults. I confirmed. The time went to 1/1/2009 at 00:00:00 and counting the seconds.


I fixed the time, hit F10 to save & exit, confirmed save, and booted into Windows 7. To answer regarding dual boot - correct, this is a single boot W7 OS system.


Upon logging in to W7, the time & date were correct (obviously), so I reset the computer - again, battery power, NO charger plugged in.


Booted up and the time was correct, but the date went back six days to April 17...

So that did not help.


Replacing a laptop motherboard is not an easy job. When I replaced one on my Dell laptop, I got if from e-Bay, and you take your chances. Maybe it will work and maybe it won't.

Definitely agree with you; not something I would try on my own. However, I am confident my uncle is capable of doing it, so for me, the question is cost of the motherboard. If you or anyone else knows where I can find one for under $100.00, please let me know.


I assume from your answer the bios time is changing?

Yes, the BIOS time seems to always be reset; no matter what is done.


If you think it might be related to the OS, you could try booting to a Linux Live CD and running for a while for testing.

Any thoughts on where I can get an ISO for that?


You don't mention anything about Dual Booting, so I will assume that is not an issue.

Correct. No dual booting on this system, just W7 Ultimate 64bit OS.

Continuing from where I left off above explaining my attempt at resetting BIOS settings to default:

Fixed it using internet time and shut down and manually started the computer.


No luck. Booted up to 12/31/2008. Taskbar icons were all messed up. See screenshot.


Updated time using Internet Time. Plugged in power & removed battery.


Shut down and manually started it, got some error that windows 7 was not genuine with a build # on the bottom right (it is genuine), so I shut down by holding the power button and started up again; this prompted a CHKDSK


This is what I was able to write down:


chkdsk started working


stage 1 of 3
deleted corrupt attribute record (128, "") from file record segment 74960
file verification completed
1592 large file records processed
0 bad file records processed
2 EA records processed
164 reparse records processed


800256 total file records processed


Stage 2
deleted index entries in index $I30 of file 30, 12140, 12140, 13033, and 13033
000000000000007A207
FontCache-System.dat
FONTCA~3.DAT
85456a6d-d198-4e95-a3e4-fdd34f174751
85456A~1


It froze at 39 percent, 805092 of 1103550 entries processed.


I waited for it to complete, anyway; slowly but surely, it went up.




index verification competeted


then it recovered several orphaned files such as
~fontc~2,dat
~fontcache-system.dat
kastak~1.dat
lastalive0.dat
000000000000007A204


into these respective directory files
12140
12140
12140
12140
30


finally, stage 3 was to verify secuirty descriptors and all went well without a hitch except for some final things I may have missed




After CHKDSK, same problem - 12/31/2008.


Fixed the time once more and did a reset to see if the computer being plugged in with no battery inside would be any different:


no dice. 12/31/2008.


opened up cmd, ran sfc /scannow from C:\>


It's running. 1% complete, and waiting. 5% since I completed editing this post.

The only thing I have not done yet from your suggestions is run a complete virus scan. I will be doing that and updating you as soon as I give you the sfc /scannow update.

Any thoughts so far would be greatly appreciated.

Much thanks,
Emanuel.





 
See attachment below outlining what the system tray icons look like when I boot up sometimes.
 

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What are you running to modify your Desktop? Any chance that is involved?
 
What are you running to modify your Desktop? Any chance that is involved?

Attached, kindly find the sfc /scannow results.

Modify my desktop? I guess Rainmeter modifies my desktop. What made you think I was running something to modify my desktop? The gray start bar? That was done a couple of weeks ago, way after this problem started. Simple procedure: right click my computer, property, advanced system settings, performance tab, adjust for best performance.

You can see rainmeter now on this screenshot.

I will run full scan on McAfee and report results when it is done.
 

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OK, I have not made that selection and have not seen that presentation with no Start Orb.

If you wanted to run Linux, you can download the Ubuntu Install .iso and after you set it up, when you boot to it, the option of trying Ubuntu will be available... Just don't install it.

If the time is changing in the bios just during a restart, it would appear the problem is on the motherboard. I don't think the memory would cause that, but some type of power interruption. Are you sure the CMOS battery you replaced the old one with is good?
 
I'm just chiming in to say that the laptop is more than 3 users old.. the price of replacing the motherboard may well be comparable to that of buying an equally powerful PC in this day and age. If you can't get it solved and decide to replace the motherboard, pricing dependent, you may want to consider upgrading all together.
 
Answers are in red below.

OK, I have not made that selection and have not seen that presentation with no Start Orb.

That's alright; just letting you know how I did it.

If you wanted to run Linux, you can download the Ubuntu Install .iso and after you set it up, when you boot to it, the option of trying Ubuntu will be available... Just don't install it.

Understood. Where can I download the ISO from?

If the time is changing in the bios just during a restart, it would appear the problem is on the motherboard. I don't think the memory would cause that, but some type of power interruption. Are you sure the CMOS battery you replaced the old one with is good?

I will get another battery and try it again.


I'm just chiming in to say that the laptop is more than 3 users old.. the price of replacing the motherboard may well be comparable to that of buying an equally powerful PC in this day and age. If you can't get it solved and decide to replace the motherboard, pricing dependent, you may want to consider upgrading all together.

You mean three (3) years old?

I bought this laptop for $749.99 (free shipping, no tax) then with all the bells & whistles.

If I am going to buy a new laptop, it will be a Windows 8 Pro Touch Screen, which I assure you is nowhere near $200.00. I tend not to buy the cheap Acer $400.00 laptops with 4 GB of RAM and 5400 RPM 500 GB hard drive.

Kindly let me know if you have any other ideas that may help me figure this problem out.

I should mention that all of this occurred once I upgraded to Ultimate using the Anytime Upgrade option, which at first gave me problems with validation but was quickly resolved by calling them and putting in the installation ID.

Also see attached screenshot of McAfee scan results.
 

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I'd agree with Mitchell_A. I'm not a pro with computers, but I've changed CMOS batteries and done this and that with BIOS, including dates and times and overclocking, and never really encountered the problems you have. Loosing settings in BIOS could indicate that you have a virus there? They do enter the basement as well as the top floor.

But politely, considering the time you have spent on it, perhaps you could spend time more profitably? No offense here.
 
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