If I completely shut down a computer and not use it for months, how can it still tell the time accurately? (given that it isn’t immediately connected to the internet)

Question

If I completely shut down a computer and not use it for months, how can it still tell the time accurately? (given that it isn’t immediately connected to the internet)

In: Technology

Answer 1

A computer’s motherboard has a battery, known as the CMOS battery. This battery remembers all the basic BIOS settings on a computer and keeps track of the time and date. If you remove this battery and leave it off for a while you’ll notice all BIOS settings have reset and your time will also have to be re-synced.