Daylight Savings Time Updates

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandated changes to daylight savings time in the USA. This change has required updates to both PC and Macintosh computers and to Java running on both platforms. As daylight savings time begins this coming weekend, it's important to have your systems updated with the appropriate patches.

Macintoshes:

Apple has released a patch to account for the changes in daylight saving time.

If you routinely install updates automatically or by using Software Update under the Apple menu, the patch should already be installed.

If you don't install new software updates often, now is the time to do it! Go to the Apple menu and choose Software Update... Install any updates that your computer finds available. If it has been a long time since you installed updates, it may take a while and you may need to run Software Update twice in order to get everything installed. See the link to the right on how to configure software update to automatically download and install new updates.

Don't forget to check any other computers that you might use, such as a classroom computer or one used by student workers.

Windows XP:

Microsoft has released a patch via windows update to change XP's time zone definitions.

If you regularly install updates when prompted, you don't need to do anything more.

If you don't routinely install updates, look for the small globe shown in the graphic above and click on it. On some computers, the Windows Update icon is a small yellow shield with an exclamation point in it instead of a globe. Install any updates ready to be installed. If it has been a while since you installed updates, there will be more updates to install afterward. Wait for the notification bubble to appear and install any new updates.

Don't forget to check any other computer that you might use, such as a classroom computer or one used by student workers.

Windows 2000:

College-owned Windows 2000 computers have already been patched automatically to handle the new daylight savings time changes. No further action is needed.