OL2000: Task Time Conversions Seem to Be Incorrect

ID: Q234260

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Outlook 2000
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

Time duration values entered into the Total work or Actual work fields of an Outlook task record are not converted correctly.


CAUSE

Outlook defines time units for tasks as 480 minutes per day (8 working hours) and 2400 minutes per week (5 working days), rather than 24 hours per day and 7 days per week.


RESOLUTION

To change the default time for tasks to 24 hours per day and 7 days per week, modify the Windows registry entries.


MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To Modify the Registry Entries for UnitsPerDay and UnitsPerWeek

  1. Click Start, and click Run. Type regedt, and click OK.


  2. Select the UnitsPerDay value under the following key in the registry:


    3. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Options\Tasks
  3. On the Edit menu, click Modify, click Decimal, and change the Value data to 1440, and then click OK.


  4. Repeat these steps and select the UnitsPerWeek value. Change it to 10080, and then click OK.


  5. On the Registry menu, click Exit.


  6. Restart Outlook.


NOTE: If there is no Task subkey, you can create one. Open Outlook and on the Tools menu, click Options. On the Other tab click Advanced Options, and click Advanced Tasks. Click OK, OK, and OK.

When you enter a time duration into either the Total work or the Actual work fields on the Details tab of an Outlook task, the duration entered may be converted to what seems to be an incorrect value.

For example: A value of either 1440 minutes or 24 hours will be changed to 3 days even though you might expect a translation to 1 day. This is because Outlook assumes a day value for tasks to be 8 working hours (480 minutes). If you enter a value of 7 days it will remain 7 days, however, if you enter 5 days it will be translated to 1 week because Outlook assumes a week value for tasks to be 5 working days (2400 minutes).

Additional query words: OL2K wrong convert conversion three five seven

Keywords : kbdta
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb


Last Reviewed: June 24, 1999
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