Daylight Savings Time 2007
info@drakehs.com

The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, passed by the U.S. Congress July, 2005, extended Daylight Savings Time (DST) in the U.S. by approximately four weeks. As a result, beginning in 2007, DST will start three weeks earlier on March 11, 2007, and end one week later on November 4, 2007, resulting in a new DST period that is four weeks longer than previously observed.

Unless certain updates are applied to your computer and/or systems, it is possible that the time zone settings for your computer's system clock may be incorrect during this four week period. When your time zone settings are incorrect your clock may be off by one hour, and certain applications running on your Windows based computer may not display the correct time. However, the computer system itself will still function, and if the update is not applied the correct time will be displayed at the previous scheduled start of DST (April 1, 2007 this year). IF you run systems that are time sensitive, this update needs to be applied before March 11, 2007.

Further information regarding this change and how Microsoft products are affected can be found a Microsoft's official website.

Users of Microsoft Outlook who rely heavily on the calendar and scheduling function should view any appointments that fall into these date ranges as suspect until they communicate with all meeting invitees to make sure that the item shows up correctly on everyone's calendar, both internally and externally.

• Include the time of the meeting in the e-mail request so that invitees can double check the correct meeting time (such as, "Project brainstorming - 11:00 A.M. Central Time").
• Exercise caution with the appointments and meetings in the extended DST period. When in doubt, verify the correct time with the organizer.
• Consider printing out your weekly calendars during the extended DST period.

To update systems at your office and/or home please follow this link:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst

This link will take you to a Microsoft site that will guide you through downloading the appropriate update for your operating system. Please make sure to choose "Home User" even if you utilize your system at work, as this will take you to the correct page for updating a single system.

The necessary update is also available through Microsoft's Windows Update site but we caution users on updating this way to make sure that your software will work with Internet Explorer 7 and/or do not update to Internet Explorer 7. To use Windows Update, open Internet Explorer, select the Tools menu and choose Windows Update. Install any necessary updating components and when prompted for "Express," or "Custom," choose "Custom," then follow the onscreen prompts.

An update for Microsoft Outlook (version 2003, XP/2002, and 2000 can be found by going to http://download.microsoft.com, searching for "Outlook time," and selecting the article "Microsoft Office Outlook Tool: Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook" or following this link.

As always, should you need any assistance with these updates or would like Drake Hardware & Software to take care of all the updating, please contact us--
Note: The information contained in this message is for informational purposes only. Drake Hardware & Software is not responsible for incorrectly installed patches and/or the affects the patches may cause to a system. Drake Hardware & Software recommends reviewing details related to the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 for further information on the reason for the change and recommends reviewing Microsoft's web site (www.microsoft.com) for further information regarding supported systems and updates/patches.