Clock Tooltip Doesn't Pop Up

Question: When the mouse cursor passes over the clock on the taskbar a little window is supposed to pop up with the date & time. Sometimes this does not happen. If I double click on the clock and then close the date & time properties window then it works again, but some time later, it again will not pop up the date/time window. The other items on the taskbar pop up a small window with information; only the clock pop-up doesn't work. Any ideas what causes this erratic operation ?

Answer: These little pop-up messages are called Tooltips. There are a few things that can cause the problem you're asking about where the Tooltip doesn't show up, or doesn't appear to show up.

1. It can be an incompatibility with your anti-virus software, such as Norton. I'm not an expert on PC technical problems, but I suspect it sees the tooltip as an unwanted pop-up window. I don't have this problem, but if I turn my pop-off blocker on in Internet Explorer, I get the same problem the first few times I move my mouse over the Clock. After the tooltip finally shows up the first time, I don't have the problem again.

2. There's a known Microsoft bug (see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/912650)
that causes tooltips to sometimes hide behind the Taskbar. Depending on how wide your Taskbar is, you might see the top of the tooltip or perhaps not, if it's completely hidden underneath. There's no Microsoft fix for this bug, but other companies offer some software
to fix it.

Tooltipfixer

Tool Tip Manager

The Elder Greek on Windows XP mentions a free shareware solution for this.

Please note I cannot vouch for the reliability or safety of any mentioned software, nor can I know the compatibility with your PC. Always use caution when installing third party software.

If you just want to be able to see the date and time all the time, widen your Taskbar to a double height by dragging it upward. The time, day and date should stay on display.

Showing the Date on the Taskbar

Question: Can I show the date along with the time on the Taskbar?

Answer: The date will show up if your Taskbar is two lines (double) in height. Drag the top horizontal edge of the Taskbar up to do that. On PCs that also show the day of the week, you might have to resize your Taskbar to a three-line height.

With Vista you can click on the Sidebar icon to make it show up on your desktop and customize it so that the calendar and clock show on it.

Clock tells the wrong time

Question: My clock doesn’t tell the right time.

Answer: Double-click on the time on the System Tray (single click with Vista) and select “Adjust Date/Time.” If you’re connected to the Internet, you can have your clock synchronize with the Internet. Or you can adjust the time yourself. If you do that, make sure you click on the time zone tab and select the correct time zone and click the Daylight Savings checkbox if applicable. If your PC was purchased prior to the new Daylight Savings Time set in March 2007, you may want to turn that feature off.