Last week my article about changing your computer’s battery generated some emails that surprised me. It was not about replacing batteries but it was about the time on people’s computers.
They were asking how to set the time for their computers. You know, the time in the lower right corner of your taskbar.
First, I would like to give you a couple of tips about the time on the taskbar. I imagine you realize that when you hover your mouse over it you can see the day and date. You may see a little more or less depending on which Windows operating system you have. Also, if you increase the height of your taskbar you will see all of the information without hovering. Try
it by right clicking on your taskbar and make sure that there is no checkmark by “Lock the Taskbar”. If it is checked click on the text and it will go away. Next, hover your mouse over the top edge of the taskbar until you see a vertical double-headed arrow. Now click and drag the taskbar up a few spaces. Look at the time now and you will see more information.
From Windows 95 up through XP all of the operating systems adjust the time the same way; however, Vista and W7 are slightly different. You get to them both the same way and once there you can click on anything and not damage your computer so go look around.
To check your time all you do is right click on the time in your Taskbar/Systray. Click the Adjust Date/Time and you are there. As I said before, click the different tabs and bars and you will see several settings you can change. From this location you will of course be able to change the date and time on your computer. You may also set up Daylight Saving 
Time for your system by clicking on a check box. That way you won’t have to worry about messing with the time twice a year to set the hour forward and backward.
If you move to a different Time Zone you may also change that.
If you want to set up your clock one time and then forget it you can use the internet time settings. There are online time servers for you to use. If you set your computer to synchronize with one of those, your computer clock should remain fairly accurate since it updates weekly using a time server. Click the “Internet Time” tab which will not be available if your computer is a member of a domain (in a work environment). Check the “Automatically sy
nchronize with an Internet time server” checkbox.
To test the time server click the “Update Now” button. When the synchronization finishes you will receive a message that the time sync was successful. If it does not work, which is rare, you may select another time server from the drop-down list.
You will also see the date and time of next synchronization in this dialog. It is easy to be accurate using this feature between your computer and the internet.
