Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. and Canada

As much a I would prefer that we stay on standard time, this is the weekend in the U.S. and Canada to Spring ahead.

Officially, at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 8, 2009, is when the time will be moved forward by one hour. Not to worry, you will have an opportunity to catch up on that lost hour's sleep in the fall when the process is reversed and we return to Standard Time.

What do you need to do to prepare?

• If you are a regular Security Garden reader, your computer is up to date, with all patches applied, right? In that case, the time in your computer will be automatically adjusted. If not, see the December 2008 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems.

• In order to be on time for Church on Sunday and work on Monday, it would be a good idea to at least set your alarm clock ahead before going to bed Saturday evening.

• If you have cell phone or cable service, the cell phone and cable box time will be reset by the service. However, don't forget to adjust any VCR or DVD player connected to the television, particularly if you have programs scheduled for recording.
  

• A setting frequently forgotten, at least in the northeast, is the programmable thermostat.
  
  
• If you spend a fair amount of time on the road, don't forget to set your car clock ahead before you start off for the first appointment of the day.
  

As we add electronics to our life, this business of adjusting the clocks twice a year becomes tedious. Between the timer on the coffee maker, the microwave, stove, grandfather clock, mantle clock, company award clock, den clock, watch . . . I am ready to leave the time at standard time or at least compromise with half-time, move the clocks forward one-half hour and then leave them alone!




Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...

Daylight-saving Time Ends Soon. Is your PC updated?

In March, we all dealt with the first onslaught of changes resulting from the new law enacted in 2005, resulting in daylight saving time starting and ending on a different cycle in both the United States and Canada. In addition to companies using custom scheduling, time calculation or billing applications that are date dependent, this change impacted international companies that interact with servers in North America.

Of course we all know the effect daylight saving changes have on our sleep. At least when November 4 rolls around in the U.S. and Canada, we will get back that hour of sleep we lost in March. We have a lot of clocks in our house that I have to adjust but, what about the computer time? Since I use Automatic Updates, my computer is properly patched for the time change. To confirm that your computer is updated, visit the Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center.

Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...

(Last?) Daylight Saving Time Update

A very timely reminder from Mary Jo Foley about this Sunday. It will indeed be an "April Fools Day" surprise to users who have not installed the Microsoft's updates and instead manually adjusted the time on their computer. If you fall within this group, I suggest that you download the appropriate Microsoft update. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007 for more information.

Trackback: Beware false Daylight Saving Time resets on April 1

Was Corrine Lost in the Daylight Saving Time Changes?

No, I didn't get lost in the time change. Automatic updates properly adjusted the time on my computer, cell phone, pager and cable.

I forget how many clocks we have in the house until it is time to set them ahead or back -- stove, microwave, coffee pot, thermostat, VCR, DVD, grandfather clock, mantle clock, wall clocks, alarm clocks, watches . . . the list seems to grow every year.

As much as I would have liked to, unfortunately, I was not boarding a plane for Redmond along with approximately 1900 other Microsoft MVP's, including many of my "on-line friends". Perhaps I'll be able to attend the next MVP Summit.

So, what kept me away from blogging this weekend? I decided to do a bit of remodeling of Windows Vista Bookmarks. I tried WordPress but the poor rendering in IE of the templates that fit my purpose was unacceptable. So I looked around again at Blogger templates and found K2. I selected it for its clean lines, created my own custom header, removed extras and there you have it. I think it came out pretty good. What about you?

Do you have a bookmark to suggest? Easy enough to do in a special topic at Security Cadets in Your Vista bookmarks, Add your Vista bookmarks here.

Unofficial Daylight Saving Time Updates for Windows 98, NT, Me, & 2000

I really thought I was finished posting updates on Daylight Saving Time for a while but something else came my way today. Although I provided instructions for using tzedit.exe, the time Zone edit utility, Blake Handler posted information on unofficial Daylight Saving Time patches for Windows 98, NT, Me and 2000 in The Road to Know Where:

"The IntelliAdmin website has two unofficial Daylight Saving Time patches for Windows 98, NT, Me, & 2000.

While I personally think that Microsoft's TimeZone program is pretty easy to use, this does make it a bit easier. (^_^)

• Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 Daylight Saving Time Fix (Support: IntelliAdmin Blog)
• Windows 98/Me Daylight Saving Time Fix (Support: IntelliAdmin Blog)"

Thanks, Blake. This will be very helpful for those folks with older computers.

Daylight Savings - Clocks Spring Ahead on March 11

Based on the analytics of readers finding last month's Spring Ahead March 11, 2007 - Computer Clock Update post, there are still a large number of computer users concerned about the time adjustments due to the changes taking effect this year.

Where Daylight Saving Time used to "spring ahead" on the first Sunday in April and "fall back" on the last Sunday in October, the timeframe has been extended so "spring ahead" will now occur on the second Sunday in March, with "fall back" on the first Sunday in November.

So, what's the big deal? Without the appropriate patches/updates, not only will your computer be out of sync with thetime change, so also will the Sun Java Engine, your e-mail calendar program as well as any mobile devices.

As I indicated in the above-linked document, if you have Windows Vista or have Automatic Updates turned on, your computer and Outlook calendar (if you use it) should be updated. See that document also for information and instructions on using the tzedit.exe utility.

For information on other vendors, Blake Handler has additional information available in Resources to Prepare for 2007 Daylight Saving Time Changes.

Spring Ahead March 11, 2007 - Computer Clock Update

Last month I provided you with information on updating your computer to accommodate the Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes soon going into effect. If you have Windows Vista or have Automatic Updates turned on, your computer and Outlook calendar (if you use it) should be updated. Note, however, that Outlook 98 and all earlier versions are no longer supported and Microsoft is not providing daylight saving time updates for these products.

Home users who wish to confirm the update has been applied can follow the steps in the Daylight Saving Time Update Guide at the Microsoft Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center.

The best way to get the update is via Automatic Updates. However, according to Preparing for Daylight Savings Changes in 2007:

All versions of Windows can be manually updated using the tzedit.exe utility or other techniques documented in Knowledge Base article 914387 and similar articles for other countries, which is the preferred method of remediation for any product outside of Mainstream Support.

The tzedit.exe utility is easy to use, although I do not know if it will work on unsupported versions of Windows. Please read Knowledge Base article 914387 for instructions on completing this update manually. To use the Time Zone edit utility:

• Download the tzedit.exe utility

• Backup your files and close all open programs.
  

• Navigate to where you saved the file and double-click to launch the file: WindowsXP-KB913446-x86-ENU.exe
  

• If you did not back up your files and close other programs, do so now and then click Next.

• As always, the standard license agreement must be accepted before proceeding.

• In addition to checking the system, with Windows XP, a restore point will be created. I did create my own restore point first, as I always do before making system changes.

• Click finish and its done!

Daylight saving time changes in 2007

With a new law enacted in 2005, daylight saving time will start and end on a different cycle in both the United States and Canada. In addition to having an effect on your sleep schedule, this change also affects your computer.

Many companies have custom scheduling, time calculation or billing applications that are date dependent. Calendars, both business and personal are also impacted by this change. The change also impact international companies as well, particularly if they interact with servers in North America.

Under the new law, Daylight Saving Time (DST) will start (spring ahead) on the second Sunday in March and end (fall back) on the first Sunday in November.

Microsoft has provided considerable information on update availability in Preparing for daylight saving time changes in 2007, including links to updates for supported operating systems and servers. Note also the following information which will be helpful for people who have not yet replaced an operating system that is beyond the "life support" by Microsoft:

All versions of Windows can be manually updated using the tzedit.exe utility or other techniques documented in Knowledge Base article 914387 and similar articles for other countries, which is the preferred method of remediation for any product outside of Mainstream Support.

MS KB 928388 - Time Zone Change Update

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Link is PDF) changes the start and end dates of daylight saving time (DST) in the United States. Starting in 2007, DST will start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November.

Microsoft released Knowledge Base Article 928388, "2007 time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems" addressing the time zone change.

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

• Update for Windows Server 2003
  

• Update for Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based Systems
  

• Update for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition
  

• Update for Windows XP