Flash player is required to view weather conditions. Download

site web  

First there was Y2K. Then came viruses and worms. Now computer experts must cope with an extra hour of sunshine.

On March 11 at 2 a.m., most of the nation will switch to daylight-saving time — three weeks sooner than normal, thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The change could mess up electronic devices ranging from VCRs to alarm clocks to corporate-wide scheduling systems.

Many technologies have built-in programs that automatically adjust for daylight-saving time. This year, those systems will be activated three weeks after the new spring-forward date.

"The problems will range from a minor inconvenience to a major concern, depending on what type of environment you're working in," said Jason Sharp, a consultant with Royal Oak, Mich.-based C/D/H, a technology consulting firm.

Although the law attempting to conserve energy by adding an hour of daylight passed in 2005, software developers and technicians are still scrambling to fix the issue — and admittedly, won't get to everything.

The problem is not as simple as manually resetting everything. With networked computers, it's almost inevitable that some software will be updated and other software will not.

Confused clocks

For example, the clock in the corner of your computer screen could read the correct time, but the internal clock that operates your electronic calendar, such as Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes, may not. So it's possible you could receive meeting notices an hour late.

The problem compounds for operations that must interact between multiple systems.

Imagine that a doctor orders X-rays to be taken at 10 a.m., and he does that on an electronic scheduling system that has been updated to the new time. That order is sent to an X-ray lab whose computers have not been updated, and those computers will show the appointment at 9 a.m., creating a problem for the patient who appears to have shown up an hour late at the lab.

Microsoft, whose Windows operating system runs a majority of computers, says it is working to adjust its systems.

"Microsoft was aware of this issue when the statute was enacted in 2005 and has been working diligently across our product groups with the goal of making this change and transition as seamless as possible for our customers," company spokesman Nick Sherrill said.

One precedent indicates that the early switchover won't be catastrophic. In August 2000, parts of Australia shifted daylight two months early to provide more daylight for the Sydney Summer Olympics. Cameron Haight, an analyst for Gartner Inc. in Austin, Texas, said the only major fallout was a spate of missed appointments because electronic calendars didn't sync to the new time.

Without fixes

These are the types of things that could happen unless the appropriate adjustments are made:

• ATM withdrawals or credit-card payments might be recorded at the wrong time.

• Airline flight schedules could be affected, especially if foreign carriers don't update their systems.

• BlackBerry users could find that their devices incorrectly sync with their calendars, causing missed appointments.

• Companies using Internet-based phone systems could find voicemails logging an incorrect time.

• Just-in-time delivery at manufacturing plants could be thrown off by an hour.

• Punch clocks could show the wrong time.

• Controlled thermostats would set to lower temperatures earlier in the evening.