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Daylight Savings Time - Action Required!

March 12, 2007

Daylight Savings Time was pushed forward three weeks ahead of the “normal switching” time — meaning you must patch your computer in order for it to display the correct time. This might not be critical for most systems, but is definitely so for computer systems that process information in real-time.

Daniel Pentecost, Director of Enterprise Services - Telarus, Inc. & ShopforT1.com, examines the implications, and offers tips:

In case you haven’t updated [Sunday Morning (2am) -- March 11, 2007] your computer yet, here is what you need to do:

As you have probably heard on the news or radio, Daylight Savings Time (DST) changes this year. The changes, signed into law a couple years ago, mean that DST starts this weekend.

If you are running on Microsoft or Apple software, there are a couple things you need to do - unless you want to be an hour late for all your appointments for the next 3 weeks.

1) Update your operating w/ the latest patches.

Windows XP must be upgraded to Service Pack 2 prior to installing the DST fixes. Free updates are not available from Microsoft for anything older than WinXP SP2. OSX 10.3 users and higher can get updates from Software Update.

For XP users, go here: http://update.microsoft.com . You might want to turn Automatic Updates on while you’re at it.

For 2000/ME/98 users, you will need a 3rd party utility. I personally recommend the one from IntelliAdmin: http://www.intelliadmin.com/ . Click on “Downloads” and scroll down to the Freeware section. Download and run the one called “Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 Daylight Saving Time Fix” or “Windows 98/ME Daylight Saving Time Fix” depending on which system you have.

OSX users, run Software Update - if it has not already run automatically - and you should see the DST update show in the list.

2) Update your calendar applications. Yep, that means you have to update Outlook.

If you are running Outlook 2003, Outlook 2002, or Outlook 2000, you will need to run the Outlook Time Zone Data Update tool. If you’re running on Outlook 98 or older, you’ll have to upgrade to something created in this century.

First, read this Knowledge Base article so you know what you’re getting into: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931667/en-us

Next, update your Office installation. Click on “Check for Updates” here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/FX101321101033.aspx

Then, download the patcher: http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/e/9/6e9c86d7-9215-44d9-8b77-b91e95fac778/tzmove.exe

Note: If you don’t run the patcher, any events that occur during the weeks that were not previously covered by DST will be off by an hour.

For more information, see: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102086071033.aspx

3) Any other application you are running which uses dates and times probably needs an update or will need to be changed manually. Examples include:

  • - Windows Mobile devices (i.e. SmartPhones & PDAs)
  • - Palm Devices
  • - Palm Desktop
  • - Entourage
  • - Phone systems
  • - Voicemail systems
  • - VCRs
  • - TVs
  • - Anything with a clock in it.

Have a great weekend! And don’t forget to set your non-Atomic synced clocks up an hour before going to bed on Saturday.

Warm regards,
Daniel Pentecost
Director of Enterprise Services
Telarus, Inc. & ShopforT1.com

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