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You’re probably familiar with your PC internal clock. You turn the machine on one morning and you’re greeted by a message saying your PC has automatically adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. That system works because your operating system has code for your time zone. The problem is your programs don’t know about this change unless they were coded after 2005. As example, Microsoft Vista won’t have an issue. Some devices such some Palm OS devices allow the user to set the parameters for Daylight Savings through preference settings.

Update: Palm has now has a DST support download page with instructions. 

Problems with Calendar Events and Appointment

The problem can exist with any program or device that creates events such as meetings. It depends on how the dates are calculated and stored. This could apply to a device like PDAs, smart phones, VCRs, DVRs and so on. The problem period is from March 11 – April 1 and October 28 – November 4. If you’ve scheduled an item during these windows, you’ll want to make sure the times properly adjust.

Many companies are posting notices of these issues and patches. There could be plenty of situations where the company doesn’t know you’re a customer. The best bet is for you to go and check for these updates.

Microsoft Programs and DST

Microsoft has done a good job of putting information on their website on this issue. The programs most likely to be impacted include:

• Microsoft Windows
• Microsoft Office Outlook
• Windows Mobile devices
• Microsoft Entourage

If you’re in an office environment then other products may be impacted such as Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft SQL Server. Most likely, your system administrator will handle all the updates. Regardless of which Microsoft product you use, you should review their page, Preparing for Daylight Saving Time changes in 2007.

Microsoft Outlook Issues

The biggest concern is if you use Microsoft Outlook. You should review their page called “Prepare Outlook calendar items for daylight saving time changes in 2007”. Toward the top of the page is a button called Play Demo. I don’t know why they call it a demo, as it’s a wizard. It will guide you through the update process and determine which updates you need. You’ll be asked questions about your operating system and

Outlook version. Part of the process also ensures that you’re current on your updates. Most likely, you will need to install a program called the Time Zone Update Tool. This program will scan your Outlook files for appointments that might be impacted by the changes.

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The program will also send meeting updates on your behalf. Since I didn’t initiate any meetings during this time, I can’t say what these notices look like. I was able to which events were changed. It included appointments and recurring events like birthdays. If you’re using other devices that synchronize to Outlook that don’t have these new time definitions, you may need to run the tool multiple times.

Java Applications

Another area where you may run into problems is with Java applications. The Java Runtime Environment also stores rules for daylight savings time. Until I started using the Secunia Inspector, I wasn’t as vigilant about updating this program. You may want to do their quick scan to see if you need to update Java.

While winter is still with us, why not spend a little time to find out which of your systems and devices might be impacted by these changes in daylight savings time. As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

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