HOME
TOPICS
ABOUT ME
MAIL

 
The problem starts with the calendar and clock window that opens when you double click the clock in the Taskbar. It looks like a timepiece, but it's really a time bomb.
   technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Worst Windows bug ever? Looking up different dates in the Date/Time window will change the date in Windows immediately


Nov. 14, 1999

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©1999, Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©1999, The Syracuse Newspapers

   With Y2K rushing at us so quickly, the last thing we need is another computer bug that affects the time and date.
   But that's just what I've discovered. This one is so bad and so crazy that I refused to believe it was real until I tested it thoroughly. What I found out seems impossible to believe. It's the dumbest Windows bug I've ever come across.
   The problem starts with that innocent-looking calendar and clock window that opens up when you double click the clock in the Taskbar. It looks like a timepiece, but it's really a time bomb.
   The window containing the calendar and clock is called the Date/Time Properties window. It always opens when you double click the clock in the System Tray (the far right portion of the Taskbar in most cases) but it also will show up if you double click the Control Panel icon with the same name. You can easily change the day, month or year in the calendar section or the time in the clock portion of the window.
   The Date/Time Properties window seems like a great way to display a calendar. And it practically invites you to look through the months to see how various dates fall, because all you have to do is double click the clock in the Taskbar and then press the up-arrow or down-arrow key to change the display to a different month. Want to find out what day of the week New Year's Eve falls on in 2008? Just hold down that arrow key.
   It's easy. It's simple.
   It's dangerous.
   Unlike any other control in Windows that I know of, the Date/Time Properties window makes its changes immediately. Even though it has an "OK" button and a "Cancel" button, this window doesn't wait for you to click "OK" before it does anything.
   Pay attention now: The Date/Time Properties window changes the date (and the time, if you're playing with the clock) right then and there. If you're trying to see how that last week of the year 2008 looks in the calendar, pressing the arrow key changes the year instantly in your computer. While the Date/Time Properties window is open, every change you make is immediately conveyed to the clock that keeps the time and date in Windows, even if you haven't clicked the "OK" button.
   This is insane. Microsoft's programmers tried to gloss over their blunder by making sure the "Cancel" button returns the time and date to what it was before. But that might be too late for some users. Any files or folders you create in Windows and any files or folders you change -- and anything Windows itself changes -- will have a totally bogus date if you change the settings in the Date/Time Properties window and then keep it open while you work in Windows. (Remember, clicking "Cancel" does not chancel out any changes that Windows already recorded.)
   Want to see this for yourself? Make sure you're not doing anything else on the computer, then right click on the desktop and choose "New," then "Folder." Don't bother with the name -- "New Folder" is fine.
   Now open the Date/Time window and change the year to something ridiculous. Change the month, too. Leave the Date/Time Properties window open on your screen and create another folder the same way you did the first one. Let Windows name it for you.
   Now click "Cancel" in the Date/Time window and right click the first folder. Choose "Properties" and look at the date. It will be correct. Do the same for the second folder. Notice the date. It will match the crazy date you chose in the Date/Time window - even though you never saved your changes.
   I've never seen such thoughtless programming from a major company. Windows is constantly making and changing temporary files, and every file it creates or modifies will have a bogus date if you have the Date/Time window open with a "test" date showing. Worse yet, Windows writes entries in its hidden database many times a second, and this database, the Windows Registry, will have its own counterfeit entries, too.
   My advice is obvious: For home PC users, do not open the Date/Time Properties window unless you are going to change the time or the date. After making the change, close the window immediately. Never use it as a normal calendar or clock. Never let your kids play with that window, either. Office PC users should never open the Date/Time window for any reason. If you must change the time or date, do it from a DOS window or ask the people who handle technical support to do it for you.