By Rowena Vergara
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
It’s been compared to a “mini Y2K” — some electronic devices will be confused by the new date for daylight-saving time.
Although it’s more of a nuisance than a catastrophe in the making, older computers, PDAs and DVRs may not automatically update their times when daylight-saving comes three weeks early this year — on March 11.
The date change was established by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was passed to get Americans to cut energy consumption. The thinking is that less energy will be used toward the end of the day if the sun’s out later.
For years, most of the nation has set clocks ahead on the first Sunday of April.
Few computer experts think the new date will make a big difference.
“It’s been the set way for a long time now. And all the computers and devices had it programmed in so they were already set for it. It knew that. It just happened and it was a very seamless change,” said Larry Glusman, a computer consultant and owner of Computer Resources in Rockford.
Consumers can prepare for the change by using a rule of thumb: If a computer or device is a bit older, it may not correct the time automatically.
Any Microsoft operating system older than Windows XP may not recognize the new time change come March 11, says Jeffrey Garcea, a computer consultant and owner of Garcea Computers in 2000, Windows Me, Windows 98 and Windows 95.
For more information, customers can visit
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst.
Older personal digital assistants or digital video recorders, for example, may not adjust and you might have to set those manually, Garcea predicted. Customers should consult the manufacturers of their devices for instructions.
For the everyday computer user, the effects won’t be evident. “I’m not really positive what could happen. But I don’t think it will be that big of a problem,” he said.
Those with newer devices and operating systems need not worry; most should update automatically, Glusman said.
But the change could trip up computer calendar programs such as Microsoft Outlook. Experts suggest that users print their meetings and appointments a day before March 11 just in case.
Users could also type in the actual time of a meeting or appointment into the description of a calendar entry, a suggestion from en-terpret.co, a technology firm in Chicago.
Insight Communications customers with DVRs won’t miss any recorded programming. The recorders should pick up the new time automatically, said Joe Browning, Insight’s technical operations manager.
“It all depends on how people made your timepiece. If they didn’t put in the ability to switch daylight-saving time, it’s going to be wrong,” Glusman said.
Daylight-saving time will end Nov. 4 instead of the usual last Sunday of October. Glusman says once computer updates or “patches” are installed for this daylight-saving time, users shouldn’t have a problem come November. Those with older systems and devices, however, are likely to experience glitches again.
According to the Energy Policy Act, Congress has the right to revert to the former daylight-saving schedule if the new method is unpopular or doesn’t prove to save energy. The Department of Energy will conduct a study on its effectiveness.
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