Despite the importance of accurate timekeeping in many computer networks, Microsoft doesn't plan to release a patch that will update Windows 2000 systems to the new time-zone definitions. A patch was posted on Nov. 21 for Windows XP and Server 2003 (see KnowledgeBase article 928388). But a version is conspicuously absent for W2K.
Paul Chinnery is network administrator for a community hospital in western Michigan. With 38 servers, all running Windows 2000, and almost 300 workstations, 40 percent of which still run W2K, he's furious that Microsoft won't provide admins in his situation with such a simple patch.
"With the number of organizations in this country that are still using Windows 2000," Chinnery said, "it's a dereliction of Microsoft's duty to its customers not to put out a patch for the time-zone issue."
Patients in his hospital might not actually die if a computer's clock was off by one hour, he said. But government regulations (not to mention common sense) require accurate records for such things as surgeries and medications, where one hour can definitely make a difference.
In this case, there's a workaround that Windows 2000 admins can apply. A utility known as tzedit.exe, which is included in the Microsoft Windows Resource Kit, allows manual editing of Registry keys that define the beginning and ending of DST. (For information, see KnowledgeBase article 886775.)
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