Skip to Content

Free TUAW iPhone app -- try it now!
AOL Tech

DaylightSavingTime posts

Filed under: Utilities, Windows Mobile, Microsoft

Microsoft patches its Windows Mobile Daylight Saving Time patch

Windows Mobile clockWindows Mobile clockWindows Mobile clockMicrosoft has issued yet another Daylight Saving Time update for Windows Mobile devices. This patch should fix a problem with the patch released last week.

So let's review. First, Microsoft posted instructions for manufacturers to develop their own DST fixes. Then some enterprising power users decided to make their own updates rather than wait for their PDA manufacturers to do so. Next, Microsoft finally puts out an official update, but it appears to have a major bug in it that could wreak havoc on your appointments for a few weeks.

And now there's a real, honest to goodness, official update that you can (probably) trust, less than a week before Daylight Saving Time begins. Whew.

Anyway, if you haven't updated your Windows Mobile device yet, now's probably as good a time as any. Remember to follow Microsoft's instructions on this one. There's a few bits that aren't intuitive. For example, you have to change your time zone and then switch back to your current time zone before the update takes effect.

[Thanks Gregger!]

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Unix

Daylight saving time change: What your PC needs to know

Daylight saving time signed a change-of-address form, packing up its old home on the first weekend in April for the pre-spring locale of the second Sunday in March. With modern operating systems adjusting the time automagically, the shift to an earlier DST means your computer needs to be (or may already have been) informed of the change.

For users of Vista, updates have already been applied to compensate for the change. XP systems with automatic updates turned on should be OK as well but, if you're still using Windows ME, 98 or 95 you'll need to manually update your clock (and then manually re-adjust when the OS changes your time for you on the old date). Oddly, Microsoft's own advisory on the DST change makes no mention of Windows 2000, or Microsoft server environments.

For Mac users, Apple's auto update system should have taken care of things already. If you're paranoid (like me) and want to check things for yourself, Mac OSX Hints has published a great guide on making the changes required for the new date which, given OSX's Unix underpinnings, is also valid for Linux users. Taking a few minutes now to make sure you're all set for the switch will save you any embarrassing moments come March 11.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows Mobile

Fix your Windows Mobile clock's daylight savings data the easy way

Windows Mobile clockDaylight Saving Time starts on March 11th this year. That's several weeks earlier than usual, and as we pointed out in December, if you have a Windows Mobile device, it will not automatically adjust the time until April, when it thinks Daylight Saving Time begins.

Microsoft went and put up a web page explaining how to adjust your device's registry to fix the problem. But the instructions are really meant for developers, not users. Still, I'm not aware of any PDA or smartphone makers that have issued an update yet, so it was awfully kind of the folks at edgeblog to go and wrap the registry changes into a .cab file that you can install on your Windows Mobile device.

The file is called DST2007WM5.cab, which makes me a bit reluctant to install it on my Windows Mobile 2003SE device. That, and the article repeatedly mentions installing it on a Smartphone, but says nothing about Pocket PC devices. Not to mention the fact that this is an unofficial program that is meant to change your registry settings.

In other words, install at your own risk, but if you do, please back up your device first, and let us know the results!

Filed under: Windows, Windows Mobile, Microsoft

Updating your Windows Mobile daylight savings data

Windows timeIn flagrant disregard for computer users, the U.S. government went and adopted an Energy Policy Act that extends daylight saving time by four weeks starting in 2007. Of course, this means that little clock in your computer that goes and changes the time for you while you completely forget to set your clock and wake up late/early for work is going to be off by a couple of weeks.

Microsoft will be issuing updates for Windows XP, and Windows Vista will ship with the new data. But Windows Mobile users will have a harder time setting their clocks.

If you've got a relatively new PDA or smartphone, there's a decent chance your manufacturer will have an update available for download sometime before daylight saving time kicks in on March 11th. But there's no guarantee.

Microsoft's got a handy little web page up showing the registry settings that need to be changed if you have a Windows Mobile 2003 or later device. Sorry, 2002 users, Microsoft refuses to acknowledge that you still exist.

The instructions are really meant for PDA manufacturers to incorporate the registry changes into an installer file, so you might want to wait a few months to see if an update for your device comes out before futzing with your registry settings.

[Via Jason Langridge's Weblog]

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Microsoft Security Essentials
Chromium Pre-Alpha on CrunchBang Linux
Safari 4 Beta
10 Firefox themes that don't suck
IE8 RC1
Download Squad at the Crunchies After-Party
Download Squad at the Crunchies
WordPress 2.7
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Windows 7 Hands On
Comodo Internet Security
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff
Adobe Lightroom 1.1

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

More Tech Coverage

AOL Radio