'DST Bug' No Threat, But an Annoyance In a Wired World

Maybe you remembered to change your clocks and watches for daylight saving time, but what about your computers, BlackBerry, iPod and DVR?

In the computing age, not even keeping track of time is necessarily easy.

On Sunday, DST begins for most of the country, starting about a month earlier than in the past and ending about a week later, on Nov. 4 this year.

The change, mandated by the 2005 US Energy Policy Act, is designed to help reduce the nation's energy consumption.

But it also affects the automated clocks inside PCs, handheld devices and other computers, which were designed to automatically adjust themselves according to the old DST schedule.

Initially, the big switch sent a shock through the high-tech industry, which worried it could be as potentially problematic as the Y2K change seven years ago that prompted fears — unfounded ones — that computers, factory robots, ATMs, aviation computers and other computer-run devices would go haywire after reading the year 2000 as 1900.

But unless you're using a really old computer or have been lax about downloading software updates from Microsoft Corp., Apple Computer Inc. and other vendors, you probably won't experience any major problem from the time switch, experts say.

Microsoft, Apple, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. and just about every other major software company issued software "patches" for most devices in February. Most newer computers are programmed to automatically download such patches.

Computers using Microsoft's new Vista operating system shouldn't be affected at all, because the software was written after the time change was mandated.

With older computers, patches have to be downloaded and installed manually — or in some cases, internal clocks should be rest manually.

Even if you don't make the DST fix, nothing terrible will likely happen to your computers. You might miss an appointment because your automated calendar is not synchronized. Or maybe the e-mails you send and receive will contain an incorrect time.

"At most, it will be just an annoyance" for home computer users, said Jeffrey Hammond, an analyst at technology research company Forrester Research.

For businesses, governments and other organizations, it's a little different story.

Companies that haven't properly switched computers' internal clocks might find factory equipment starting at the wrong time come Monday, computerized locks opening doors at the wrong time, hourly bills calculated incorrectly or — most likely — lots of appointments being scheduled for the wrong times.

By calculating how long it typically takes to apply patches, Hammond estimates the nation's 7,000 or so publicly held companies have already spent more than $350 million preparing for the DST switch.

Fortunately, most business and government users have had plenty of time to make fixes, and most say they're prepared.

The issue "has been addressed" and is a "non-event for our customers," Hugh Suhr, a spokesman for Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks Inc. said by e-mail. SunTrust has about 1,700 offices and more than 2,500 ATMs.

At TiVo Inc., whose digital video recorders were a cause for concern because they rely on accurate time settings to record shows, "we're not anticipating any issues," said spokesman Jeff Weir. He said the company pushed out a software patch about a month ago that automatically updated TiVo machines nationwide.

That's not to say there haven't been — or won't be — glitches.

At the Georgia Technology Authority, technicians have patched all the data servers that hold important information like driver's license records and voter registrations.

"Those systems are all in good shape," said spokesman Michael Clark. "We don't see any problems whatsoever with those."

But last month, when the state agency tried to install a DST patch to the desktop computers its 600 employees use, its e-mail system started having glitches.

As a result, the organization had to go to a Plan B, Clark said, that requires every employee to individually install a patch on his or her machine. Whether they all followed the instructions, and whether that patch works as expected, won't be known until Monday at the earliest.

Chris Taylor, vice president of Evolving Solutions Inc., a Minnesota technology consulting company, said of his company's 700 clients, "most seem to have everything under control."

He said he's not expecting any critical problems because of the big time switch, and certainly doesn't see it as ominous as the Y2K switchover seven years ago.

"I don't think you'll see any major outages or problems as much as you might see some weird things happen," Taylor said. "An extra bill might go out or somebody might miss a meeting or something."

Even so, in an echo of Y2K, Taylor said he isn't taking chances.

"I don't know that I'd be flying" on Sunday, he said.

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME TIPS FOR HOME COMPUTER USERS

— If the clock on your PC or handheld electronic device is wrong the next time you use it, check for software updates or go to the device manufacturer's Web site, download a patch and reboot your device. Users of older devices may have to reset internal clocks manually. — Make sure DST patches don't affect unrelated programs on your computer. If so, you may have to download additional software patches from the manufacturers of those programs as well.

— If you use computer calendar software, double-check the times of any upcoming meetings, even if you installed a patch. In Microsoft's Outlook calendar, for instance, software patches might automatically switch the times of recurring meetings, but might not automatically switch one-time or occasional meetings.

— Check your monthly bills closely for anything that you get charged for by the minute or hour - including your cell phone, electricity or Internet service bill.

— And remember: You may have manually reset your older machines' clocks again in April, the old start of daylight saving time, in October, the old start of standard time, and in November, the new start of standard time.