Changing System Dates In Production Environments

ID: Q246568

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition

SUMMARY

Microsoft does not recommend or support the changing of system dates for test purposes (such as year 2000 testing) in a production environment.

Potential data integrity problems can result from performing this action.

MORE INFORMATION

Changing the system date to a date other than the current date in a production environment, followed by rolling back to the correct date, can have a serious impact on the integrity of program data as well as operating system functions.

This action can affect service functions that are date sensitive, such as DHCP leases and WINS registrations, and can also invalidate program data that is processed during the period that the date is incorrect.

Some of the known issues related to changing the system date are discussed in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles. Potential problems may not be limited to those problems discussed in the following articles. The effects of setting the system date to an invalid date are not entirely predictable.

Q244703 XGEN: Advancing and Rolling Back System Time Clock for Y2K Test

For more information about how Microsoft products are affected by year 2000 (Y2K) issues, please see the following Microsoft World Wide Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/year2000/

Additional query words: Y2K

Keywords : kbenv kb2000 win95 win98 win98se
Version : WINDOWS:95; winnt:3.51,4.0
Platform : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type : kbinfo