Extended Daylight Saving Time Revisited

The Daylight Saving Time Problem is still for real! I had written about this problem back in the spring. That post is here. The idea is this: Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time starts 3 weeks earlier and ends 1 week later than in previous years. This year, Daylight Saving Time ends on November 4th.

What that means for many handheld users is that they will need a "patch" in order for the time to show correctly on their handhelds. Without the patch, the time on the handheld will "fall back" a week to early.

Are you a victim of the Extended Daylight Saving Time demon? To find out, look at appointments you have on your handheld between October 28 and November 3. Look at the same appointments on Outlook. Are the times the same? If so, your device is OK. If the two are an hour off, you will need a patch.

1. For BlackBerry users, to get the patch, do this:
2. Close BlackBerry Desktop software
3. Disconnect Blackberry from computer.
4. Go to http://www.blackberry.com/DST2007/patch/index2.shtml
5. Scroll down until you come to a link labeled "DST Patch Loader" and click the link.
   You will get a message asking you to install an Active X Control. Click on the yellow strip at the top of the page to allow this to happen.
6. Connect your BlackBerry to your computer.
7. A button will appear that says "Install DST Patch." Click on it.
8. The patch will download. Be patient. The process will take several minutes and the little "progress bar" may appear to be frozen, but do not worry. Just give it some time.
9. When the process finishes, you are returned to the the screen that has the button asking you to install the DST Patch. It sure would be nice if you got some sort of message telling you that you were finished, but you don't. I am sure there are going to be many people who hit the button again, but at least YOU won't be doing that.
10. You can now disconnect your BlackBerry from the computer. You will find that a little hour glass is spinning on the screen. It may spin for 15 minutes. Don't worry. When it finally stops spinning, you are done!

At this point, the appointments on your BlackBerry and those on Outlook will at the least be the same. It does not mean they are correct. You will need to look at each one to determine if it is correct or an hour off. Make corrections as needed. The next time you sync, the corrections will transfer.