Date/Timestamp problems with Win98/Wn2k

[rhinse]

I have read the Scooter Software KB article on date/time stamp
differences between Win9x and NT versions. I have a seemingly
unusual problem which does not seem to be answered directly by
this article.

I compare a Win98SE system with a Win2K system frequently and
must resort to selecting 'Ignore Time Zone Differences' in the
Advanced section of the Comparison Control menu (in win2k) to facilitate
ignoring exact 1 hour differences in time stamps between the two
machines. Oddly, this works even though both right and left side
Time Zone adjustment windows are set to 0 hours. The Win98SE system
is set 1 hour later than the Win2k system in some folders and 1 hour
earlier in others. As if that weren't enough, syncing a few files
with today's date stamp this morning from Win2k to Win98SE resulted
in a time date/time stamp corresponding to the older Win98SE on
the Win2K system. These files do not subsequently appear on the
comparison if the "Ignore Time Zone Differences" box is unchecked.

I would use 'Ignore Daylight Savings Time Differences' on the
Win2K system, but that is set to 0 minutes and I don't seem to be
able to change it. (maybe just a registry change?)
The Win98SE system is set to 'Ignore Daylight Savings Time
Differences' with a setting of 60 minutes.

I have also tried purging all filles in a particular folder on
Win98SE and recopy all. This works but only for a short time and
then the time stamps magically change to the one hour difference
on Win98SE.

Both computers have 'Automatically adjust clock for daylight
savings changes' unchecked and are set to the same time zone. Both
hardware clocks are synced periodically to the NIST server. Both
computers use fat32 file systems.

To make matters worse, the behavior of comparison control does
not work correctly for some directories. Even though time stamps
are different, turning off 'Ignore Daylight Savings Time Differences'
and 'Ignore Time Zone Differences' results in files not appearing.

This may be a problem with one or both operating systems, but it
only seems to occur when using Beyond Compare. Both systems use
version 2.2.7

Any suggestions or recommendations appreciated.

[Aaron]

The first thing I would recommend is updating to the latest version of 2.x. All 2.x updates are free for 2.x licenses. The most current version is 2.5.3 and is available from our downloads page.

Also, when you mention files disappearing, do you have a Display Filter set that is causing the disappearance? Show All, Always Show Folders, or Supress Filters may help troubleshoot the issue.

[rhinse]

As you suggested, I upgraded to version 2.5.3 on Win2k system.

I copied the install file from Win2k to the win98 machine and used
suppress filters to see the file on both machines. At least in this
instance, time stamps matched. The problem of mismatched
time stamps usually crops up after I have performed a sync.

Before I do this, I would at least like to correct the 'Ignore Daylight
Savings Time Differences' which still shows (0 minutes). Can this
be adjusted somewhere?

[Aaron]

Could you sent a copy of your BC Support.zip to support@scootersoftware.com and point out which Saved Session (by name) you are using?

Some screenshots with Suppress Filters on and off showing where files have disappeared would also be useful.
You have referred to a couple times Files Disappearing or Not Showing on the compare. If you set Always Show Folders and All Files, it should show all of your files, which will help troubleshoot why they would be disappearing otherwise. What settings are you using to cause them to disappear?

The Timezone is disabled if it does not think there can be a timezone difference. Between two local folders, it may detect there cannot be a timezone difference.

You can also try the BC3 beta at www.scootersoftware.com/beta3 for different Timezone ignoring options.

[rhinse]

Don't know what you mean by BC Support.zip. Don't know if it would be
all that helpful anyway since I use the default session with "Show all Files
and Folders" enabled.

I don't really have a problem with displaying files with the proper filters. The
only problem seems to be with timestamps and eliminating display of files
with one hour differences regardless of how they arise. The problem is not
with "Time Zone" but with "Daylight Savings Time"; I can select it on the
filters menu, but it has no effect since "0 minutes" is displayed.

However, if I enable 'Ignore Time Zone Differences' on the advanced menu,
it seems to serve the same purpose as 'Ignore Daylight Savings Time
Differences" as if it were set to 60 minutes. However, the Time Zone
Difference windows are set to 0. This seems odd to me.

I have looked in HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Scooter Software/
Beyond Compare/Settings and find no key enabling "Ignore Daylight Savings
Time Differences", so it would appear that, at least on an NT system,
'Automatically adjust clock for daylight savings changes' might have to be
checked for this to work properly. As I say, there is no problem with this
on the Win98 machine. When I have some time I will experiment with this.

To reiterate, both machines are set to the same time zone and do not
automatically adjust for daylight savings time.

[Craig]

Unfortunately I don't have time to get in depth on this right now; maybe Aaron can followup:

We're asking Windows for the timezone information for the "Ignore daylight saving difference" using the GetTimeZoneInformation function. I don't see any references to "Automaticallly adjust clock settings..." affecting what it returns, but I wouldn't put it past it. The actual timezone infromation is stored in a centra place in "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Time Zones", but the format's a bit obscure.

The "Ignore Time Zone Differences" option, on the other hand, just ignores any difference that's exactly an integral number of hours difference, up to 23 hours, so it doesn't depend on the OS's settings.

[rhinse]

I did check the box for 'Automatically adjust clock for daylight savings changes'
in Win2K and found that BC 2.5.3 now reflects a "1 hour" difference in the
filter settings for Time stamps instead of "0 minutes". I check this box in
BC and return to the default settings for "Time Zones". The filter works
as it should.

So, apparently for NT systems, adjusting for DST changes is a necessary
setting in the OS to enable BC to function properly.