Fall Back: Tech & Computer Tips for Daylight Savings

  

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Despite the fact that it will soon be dark before most of us get out of work, there is an upside to daylight savings. We get an extra hour to snooze.

And the other good news is, technology is more seamless now, so most clocks and lots of other digital gadgets will reset themselves automatically. Windows 7 and Mac OS X are both pretty much configured to change the time on autopilot, for example. I don't think a fright like Y2K will ever be a concern again, thank goodness.

But before we cozy up in our jammies for a lazy Sunday morning this November 6th, the techie in me feels compelled to give you a handy checklist. Sometimes technology does fail us, and even if it doesn’t, Daylight Savings Time (DST) is a great time to do some routine maintenance:

1. Do an official time check. Even though many - or even most – devices will automatically set themselves to the correct time, you will inevitably have to do some things manually (think microwave ovens). Before you run around adjusting, go to www.time.gov and make sure you’ve got the time right.

2. Give your OS security a boost. Of course you should do this more often than once a year, but in case you don’t, use DST to check for software updates on your computers. If you don’t have an awesome company like iMedia handling this for you (shameless plug), now is a good time to make sure your running the latest updates to protect you from any new threats.

3. Listen to what Microsoft says. Even though most PCs are pretty intuitive about the time change now, Microsoft’s website says it’s important that the time zone settings for your computer's system clock and your calendar programs are updated. For your home PCs, the most important action you can take is to ensure you are using Windows Update, which will automatically update your operating system and make way for a seamless transition.

4. Remember, the server is the ruler. If you are in business and in a server environment, it’s important that all your computers are set to the same time. Usually it’s the server that decides this and communicates out to the other PCs. So, double check that the server clock settings are accurate after DST. If not, you could have some networking problems on your hands.

5. Schedule a safety checkup. Daylight Savings happens like clockwork (pun intended), so why not make an annual checkup time? This is a good time to make a yearly habit of changing the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Also, this may not relate so much to IT, but while you’re at it, why not update (or create) a home emergency kit and a car emergency kit? Hopefully you’ll never need it, but if you do, you’ll be glad you have it.

6. Have a wake-up backup. If you use your smartphone as an alarm clock, you might want to have a regular ol’ alarm clock as a back up if you don’t have the luxury of sleeping in on Sunday morning. You can plug that bad boy in and simply preset it to the time it will be the next day before you go to bed.

By the way, I assume that most of you hail from the USA, and more specifically Southeast MA, but in case you are from Russia, you can ignore most of this. This year the Russian government cancelled DST. But it’s still a good idea to make sure your computers are up to date, any time of year!