Microsoft KB Archive/243883

= Windows 2000 Loses Date and Time on Every Boot =

Article ID: 243883

Article Last Modified on 2/28/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition

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This article was previously published under Q243883



SYMPTOMS
After you install Windows 2000 and reboot, you may receive a message stating that the system's date and time are invalid. When this occurs, the date may be set for January 1, 1601, or another invalid date, and the clock may be counting the time from 12:00 A.M.

If you reset the date and time correctly and boot to another operating system (such as Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 95, or Microsoft Windows 98), the date and time remain accurate after rebooting. However, the problem occurs whenever you boot into Windows 2000.



CAUSE
This behavior can occur if the computer's BIOS is not 100 percent Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) compliant. The BIOS may contain invalid entries in the HalpFixedAcpiDescTable table. Windows 2000 is the only operating system that relies on the ACPI BIOS entries to be valid.



RESOLUTION
Contact the computer's manufacturer to inquire about the availability of a flash BIOS update that resolves this issue. If available, apply the update according to the manufacturer's instructions.



WORKAROUND
To work around this behavior, reinstall Windows 2000 without ACPI support by using one of the following methods:  During the first phase of Setup, at the "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration" screen, press the F7 key. This forces Setup to install a non-ACPI hardware abstraction layer (HAL).  During the first phase of Setup, at the "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration" screen, press the F5 key. This allows you to manually select a non-ACPI HAL (See the table below to select the appropriate HAL.)

The following table lists the non-ACPI HALs. HAL                 Description

Compaq Systempro    Use for Compaq Systempro computers. MPS Uniprocessor PC Use on non-ACPI system's dual-processor motherboard with a single processor installed. MPS Multiproc PC    Non-ACPI systems with dual processors running. Standard PC         Any standard PC, non-ACPI, or non-MPS. Can be a                    386, 486, Pentium, or Pentium II/III. Standard PC         Non-ACPI i486 C-Step processor. with C-Step i486 

Additional query words: 1/1/1601 century

Keywords: kbenv kbhardware kbprb KB243883

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