Frequently Asked Questions

What is shareware?

Windows Vista?

Wine?

London and GMT

Indiana time zones changes

Sytem32 error message

How do I use the GCKWINxx.ZIP file?

I am registered - how do I find my registration number?

How do I transfer GeoClock from one computer to another?

My register.exe does not work

My GeoClock CD will not install

GeoClock stops updating or shows wrong time

Y2K?

Can I download the registered version?

Problem with screen saver

What is Nunavut?

What are the differences between the shareware and registered version of GeoClock?

What are the differences between the CD and floppy versions of GeoClock?

How can I get time zone lines displayed on the maps?

How can I display the International Date Line?

How do I keep the time zones up to date?

How do I update GeoClock to a new version?

What do the up and down arrows on the moon and local times mean?

What is the HAM package?

Is there a 32 bit version of GeoClock?

Does GeoClock work on WinXP?

What happened to the GeoClock BBS?

What are ZIP files?

When is the new Millennium

What's New in GeoClock

Why can't I produce my own HAM map?

What is the problem with GeoClock email?

What is Shareware?

Shareware is a way of marketing software. You can download and evaluate the software before deciding whether to buy.
It is neither free nor Public Domain.
After evaluation you must either delete or register the software. You can register GeoClock on this site. With registration you not only fullfill your obligations, but you get many more maps, display of local time next to the cities on the maps, and elimination of the reminder screen.

Windows Vista?

We have been able to install Vista Home Basic on one of our machines. GeoClock installs and works fine on this version of Vista. When installing (either from the download or CD) you are prompted twice about whether or nor you really want to install, but otherwise it runs fine. Once we got a message that the install "might" have failed, but we ignored it and everything was OK. It could be run without administrator privledges.

On Vista Home Premium, we had the same results EXCEPT that instead of a warning that the installation might have failed, we got a GPF . On running GeoClock there were no problems. The Screen Saver was reported by Windows Defender as being "dangerous", but it seems to work fine.

We have gotten reports from other users (possibly on other Vista versions) but not confirmed by us:
1) GeoClock MUST be run as administrator
2) GeoClock MUST be run in XP compatability mode
3) GeoClock will not run in Vista64 or XP64
We will issue further reports as more is known. We assume users will send comments about their experience with Vista and GeoClock.

Wine?

So far, we have only one report of GeoClock under Wine (for Linux) - properly configured it works OK. However, the program must be run on a 32 bit version of Windows - it will not run on a 64 bit version. Also, the program group may not be set up properly while being installed, so you may have to manually create shortcuts to GeoClock.

London and GMT

Contrary to popular belief, London time is not the same as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). GMT is an astronomical time originally determined at the Greenwich Observatory (just east of London) and was intended as the basis of determining longitude by time. The Observatory has the zero meridian (longitude 0) going through it (at least it used to, before GPS made more accurate determination possible). The world time standard is now maintained by SI in Paris, though within less than a second is it is the same as GMT. GMT does not vary by summer and winter times, and it follows the AVERAGE sun position. Like many places, London has summer time (daylight savings time). Its time is the same as GMT in the winter, but in the summer it uses British Summer Time, which is GMT plus one hour. Places that are on GMT all the time include Antarctica, Iceland, and several countries in central and Northern west Africa.

Indiana time zones changes

On April2, 2006, Indiana will finally join the 20th century (about 80 years late!). The whole state will begin to use summer time (previously, only 13 counties in the northwest, southwest, and southeast did), and 8 counties will switch from eastern to central time. The INDIANA.ZIP file has all the changes to GeoClock data bases required for this change. A new GEOCKWIN.EXE has been issued which reflects the changes from eastern to central time when using zipcodes for adding cities. 9 more counties wanted to change to central, but the request was denied by the US Department of Transportation. There may be more changes later .
Washington Post article and map
blog to the current status and map.

Sytem32 error message

In the past few days (2004/09/20) several users have reported an error message: "16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem path to the program you are trying to run C:\%SYSTEM%\system32\autoexec.nt The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications."
This has been traced to a missing or damaged AUTOEXEC.NT file (which is used by WinME and later to run legacy windows applications). The Help and Support system in the OS tells you how to repair this file. My guess is this is caused by a virus, since several anti-virus programs, including Norton (Symantec), use this file in their installation, and one common virus behaviour is to interfere with Anti-Virus programs.
There is some evidence that there are some adware programs that are deleting AUTOEXEC.NT. Be sure you scan for and remove these programs, or the problem will reoccur the next time you reboot.

If you cannot correct this problem by following the windows help, here are some SUGGESTIONS:
Find a backup copy of AUTOEXEC.NT . Just search for the file - it is frequently in the repair or I386 folder. COPY the backup copy to the system directory
By default this is C:\Windows\System (Windows 95/98/Me), C:\Winnt\System32 (Windows NT/2000), or C:\Windows\System32 (Windows XP).
If you don't have a copy of AUTOEXEC.NT, try this one:

@echo off
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\mscdexnt.exe
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\redir
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\dosx

This works on my XP, but who knows if it will work on yours.

IMPORTANT: you must find and remove the spyware or adware that is deleting AUTOEXEC.NT, or the problem will continue to occur. Most virus checkers do not do anything about spyware or adware. Try ad-aware ( www.lavasoft.de )

How do I use the GCKWINxx.ZIP file?

To run GeoClock, you need to do the following:

Download the windows zip file. It will be named GCKWINxx.ZIP, where xx is the version number. 8.4 (GCKWIN84.ZIP) is the latest.
Our web site at www.geoclock.com always has the latest versions.

Create a folder for GeoClock, and unZIP the files into that folder. If you do not have an unZIP program, we recommend the original PKZIP from Phil Katz's web site www.pkware.com.

Execute GEOCKWIN.EXE from the GeoClock folder.

I am registered - how do I find my registration number?

If you are registered, you have received diskettes or a CD or specific instructions for download, from us . If you never ordered GeoClock and have only a shareware version, you are not registered.
The registration number is printed on the program (#1) diskette, and on the cardboard sleve for the CD. If you have a registered windows version running, click Help, then About, then Info, and the registration number will appear in the list of data in the window.
For newer versions, you should have a GEOCLOCK.KEY file (between 8 and 512 bytes). If you email this to us, we can determine the registration number. Similarly, older versions will have a REGISTER.EXE file (about 3000 bytes) from which we can determine the registration number.
Finally, we can usually determine the registration number from the name and address you used when you first ordered GeoClock.

How do I transfer GeoClock from one computer to another?

The simplest way is to reinstall the software from the origonal media (CD, diskette, or downloaded file).
If you no longer have access to the original media,or wish to preserve all the customization you have made to GeoClock, you can copy the necessary files from one computer to the other. Usually all these files are located in C:\GEOCLOCK, unless you selected a different folder when you installed it. At any rate, copy all the files to a folder on the new computer. You will have to setup the screen saver again (if you want). Start GeoClock, then click Files and Setup Screen Saver. If desired, you can make new shortcuts to the GEOCKWIN.EXE file.

My register.exe does not work

The original DOS version of GeoClock used a small program, register.exe, to write registration information to the GeoClock EXE file. This method still works, but some systems and virus checkers object to writing to the EXE file. We have been using a new system, a GEOCLOCK.KEY file, for many years. If you have a problem with register.exe, e-mail us with your name and registration number for a solution.

My old GeoClock CD will not install

GeoClock CDs older than Feb 2000 (8.2 and older) will not install on some systems due to a silly change made to net work security. If you have this problem, e-mail us with your name and registration number for a solution.

GeoClock stops updating or shows wrong times

On some systems, GeoClock stops updating the time after very long runs. This is most common on systems where GeoClock runs in the background and where rebooting is infrequent. This has been reported on Win2000, and observed on WinXP and WinME. It is not a problem on Win98SE, Win98, Win95, or Win3.1. On WinME and later, upon returning from a suspend or hibernate or DOS box, the windows time can be out of sync with real time.
It appears to be caused by a bug in NTDVM, an MS "helper" application that supports running legacy software. This was not used on Win98 and earlier. There appears to be a limit to the number of times a certain operation may be performed (we don't know what it is yet) that was not limited in eariler OSes, but is limited on later OSes.
If this limit is reached, NTVDM fails, and a reboot is required to clear the error before GeoClock can be run again.
One solution is to slow the update interval. Setting the background and Foreground update times (click controls, then time controls) to 60 seconds keeps the problem for occuring provided you shut down and restart GeoClock at least every 11 days.
The clock sync problem is also an NTDVM bug - the windows clock is not synced with the hardware clock when it returns from a DOS box, a suspend, or a hibernate.
We now have a possible solution to these problems. Download GEO84D.ZIP and see if it solves the problem for you. Please report your findings.

Y2K?

GeoClock has no problems with Year 2000 dates. It uses 4 digit years both interally and externally, and always has.

More details: GeoClock (both DOS and Windows) runs correctly for all dates from 100 CE (Common Era) to about 5000 CE. (GeoClock will interpret years before 100 CE as two digit years between 1945 and 2044, and while it will use the current formulas for years to 9999 CE, the calendar will need to be reformed again about 5000 CE.) It uses 1582 Oct 4 (Thursday) as the last day of the Julian calendar, and 1582 Oct 15 (Friday) as the first day of the Gregorian calendar. On input, four digit years (which are always accepted) are interpreted as is, two digit years 45-99 are interpreted as 1945-1999, and two digit years 00-44 are interpreted as 2000-2044. On output, all four digit years are output directly, or, optionally, only the least significant two digits are shown.

GeoClock has had these characteristics since version 3.0 was released in December 1988.

Can I download the registered version?

Yes. If you register online, you will receive instructions for downloading the registered basic version of GeoClock (about 1.9MB), or the GeoClock-Pro (about 14 MB).
Both versions require downloading and running an install program, and entering a registration code sent via e-mail
You can download the your purchased HAM package by following the instructions in the e-mail. It requires downloading and executing one file, retrieving another ZIP file attached to an e-mail, the then unZIPping the file over your installed GeoClock.

Problem with screen saver

IMPORTANT!! Due to yet another arbitrary change made to screen saver handling by MicroSoft, the GeoClock screen saver requires GeoClock version 8.4 or later to work with WinXP and later versions of WinNT and Win2000.
Recently, several users have reported new problems when using GeoClock as a screen saver. In particular, when the screen saver Starts, a small box for GeoClock opens on the task bar, and sometimes multiple boxes open when the screen saver runs for a long time. Although we do not know what causes this, we do have a solution: Start the regular GeoClock, click File and then Edit GEOCLOCK.INI, and then add the line:
SSINTERLOCK1
to the file and click Save. This method is described in more detail in the "Common Problems" section of help.

What is Nunavut?

Nunavut is a new Canadian territory, created out of the eastern 2/3 of the old NWT. The Nunavut is included with the 8.3 version of GeoClock. You can add the Nunavut territorial border to older version of GeoClock by using the INCLUDES.ZIP file. Instructions for using the file are included in the file - unzip the contents into your GeoCLock directory and read the INCLUDE.TXT file.

What are the differences between the shareware and registered version of GeoClock?

GeoClock is marketed as shareware. This means that you can download (from here or any number of other sites) a evaluation version of GeoClock. After an evaluation period, you much either register (see below) or delete your copy. In addition to being fair to the developer, you get some extra functions (local time display next to the city names on the maps and elimination of the reminder screen, for example) and lots of maps when you register.

What are the differences between the basic and professional versions of GeoClock?

You can register for either the Pro (CD) or Basic (floppy) version of GeoClock. The GeoClock program is identical for both versions, but the floppy includes only GeoClock and 45 maps, while the Pro (CD) version includes the spinning globe (GeoGlobe) and about 500 maps.

How can I get time zone lines displayed on the maps?

GeoClock does not display time zone lines (except for the International Date Line). These lines are imprecise and create ambiguities when trying to determine times for places close to the line. For example, try to determine from a map if Bismarck, ND is on Central or Mountain time, or Chattanooga, TN is on Eastern or Central. Time zone lines also do not reflect summer/standard time variations, or changes to time zones. GeoClock instead computes the current local time for cities around the world, reflecting stardard/summer time variations and also time zone changes. FYI: Bismarck is Central time and Chattanooga is Eastern.

How can I display the International Date Line?

The file INCLUDES.ZIP, available here, can be used to display the international date line. unZIP this file into your GeoClock directory and read the INCLUDE.TXT file.

How do I keep the time zones up to date?

The timezone file (GEOZONES.DAT) is updated about every six months. You should periodically download this file and replace your old GEOZONES.DAT file. While GeoClock does include algorithms to extrapolate summer/standard time zone changes, many countries do not follow a set pattern, and a few countries change their time zones each year completly.

How do I update GeoClock to a new version?

To update your copy of GeoClock, whether or not it is registered, download the latest GCKWINxx.ZIP, and unZIP it into the directory with your existing GeoClock. If you have made extensive modifications to the GEOCLOCK.INI or the GEOn.DAT files, you may not want to overwrite your old copies of these files with the new versions. If your old copy of GeoClock was registered, the REGISTER.EXE or GEOCLOCK.KEY file will automatically register the new version at no extra cost to you. The file UPDPROxx.ZIP has everything that has been changed or added since the first edition of GeoClock-Pro was released.

What do the up and down arrows on the moon and local times mean?

On local times, the arrows indicate of the date for the city is a day ahead or behind the date for the primary city (the one named at the bottom of the screen). On the moon phase, the arrow indicates whether the moon is waxing (increasing in illumination) or waining (decreasing in illumination).

What is the HAM package?

An add-in package to GeoClock (both DOS and Windows) is available to provide special functions for HAM radio operators. It provides graphical display of remote station location, propagation path, and D and F layer illumination, together with key location, pointing, distance, and time data. The package includes a custom Azimuthal-Equidistant map centered on your HAM station, a call sign data base, and utility programs. This package REQUIRES a registered copy of GeoClock.

The HAM functions include:

Azimuthal-Equidistant (Great Circle) map centered on your station

Twilight and terminator, or D and F layer illumination/display

User Maintainable call sign data base

Remote station location

Short and long great circle path

Short and long path azimuth and range

Remote station (reciprocal) azimuth

UTC, local, and remote station local time

DXCC and WAE designations

CQ and ITU zones

Continent, area, and location names

Optional use of QRZ CD-ROM for US call signs.

Is there a 32 bit version of GeoClock?

Not at this time. GeoClock for Windows uses the Win16 API. This runs fine on Win3.x, OS/2, Win9x, WinME, WinNT, and WinXP, and the Win3.x emulator on the Mac. We are working on a 32 bit version, but surprisingly, this effort has proven harder than the conversion from DOS to Win16. One of the biggest problems is that the 32 bit version is a moving target (thanks, Bill!). The methods to activate screen savers and support network security in particular keep changing with each new Win and NT release. When and if a 32 bit version is released, the upgrade will be free to all registered owners of a prior version of GeoClock.

Curiously, most of the problems running GeoClock on later OSes haved not been 16/32 problems - they have been caused by arbitrarty changes made by Bill Gates. The two biggest problems were: the install program for GeoClock Pro failed (caused by a silly change to CD security); and the screen saver stopped working (caused by a change to the command line passed to the screen saver from windows).

Win XP?

GeoClock and GeoGlobe themselves seem to work perfectly under WinXP. Version 8.3 and earlier have some minor problems with the setup program from the CD (it does not find older versions of GeoClock in some folders, and occasionally there is major screen distortion on first start up (restarting solves the problem)); and the screen saver mode does not work at all. All these problems have been resolved in 8.4

What happened to the GeoClock BBS?

The BBS computer was fried during some severe power problems caused by an ice storm on 1999/01/16. Given that the BBS only got a few calls per day, and less then 1 download per day, and that the last message was written on 1998/11/24, we decided it was not worth the trouble and expense to repair/replace the BBS.

Our web page at www.geoclock.com has updates to programs and files when they are released, and an ordering system.

What are ZIP files?

There are many programs and schemes that can take many files and collect and compress them into one (usually much smaller) file. This simplifies and speeds downloading. PKZIP, invented by Phil Katz in 1990, is the best and most widely used. You can get a copy of his PKZIP program, which restores the ZIPped files to their original state, from his web site at www.pkware.com. Other programs, such as WinZIP, can also unZIP files. In the case of GeoClock files, you should unZIP the files into your GeoClock directory. You can download a free unZIP program

When is the new Millennium

GeoClock of course has no problems with the year 2000 (or years between 100 CE and 5000 CE for that matter). Everyone knows what the first day of the year 2000 is, but there seems to be some confusion as to what the first day of the third millennium is.
If you do not think about it at all, January 1, 2000 seems the obvious date for the first day of the third Millennium. If you think about it just a little, January 1, 2001 seems the right date (since the first AD day of the current BC/AD calendar was January 1, 1 AD). However, a little thinking is often dangerous, and this is one case where it leads to the wrong conclusion.
Until about 1200 years ago, the years were marked by reference to some historical event (5 years after the flood, 2 years after the new king, etc). A monk about 1500 years ago first advocated numbering the years from the birth of Jesus, and this was adopted several hundred years later. Since new years were marked at the beginning of spring, the first date in this new calendar was at the spring equinox (about March 21, 1 AD. In 1582 AD, 10 days were dropped from the calendar (due to errors between the calendar and the sun's apparent position), and New Years Day was changed to January 1. All the years before 1582, including BC, were renumbered so that January 1 was the first day of the year. (The "April Fools" were the people who still celebrated New Years Day on April 1, since the spring equinox had precessed to about April 1 by then.)
It is now well documented that Jesus was not born in 1 AD. There are good cases made for many different years for Jesus's birth, all of which are between 8 BC and 2 BC.
So why should January 1, 1 AD be celebrated? It was: defined about 525 years after the fact; changed about 1582 years after the fact; 3 months earlier than the original first day of 1 AD; evidently a day like any other day; not the birth year of Jesus. Is this really something whose 2000th anniversary ought to have a world wide celebration? NOT!
Since there is no reasonable start date for marking the millennia (or centuries, for that matter), the only rational choice is just to celebrate the zeros. This has been called the odometer method. Regardless of how many miles were on the odometer when you got the car, you celebrate the zeros as they roll by.
The beginning of the second millennium was feared (in the Christian world) because it seemed to be a likely time for the second coming of Christ (1000 years after what? - birth, death, resurrection, ascendance). The beginning of the third millennium is feared for a much more concrete reason (Y2K computer problems) and also on a very specific date (Jan 1, 2000).
I am going to celebrate the new millennium on the evening of December 31, 1999. I am going to celebrate at home, because I am not sure about any software except GeoClock!

What's New in GeoClock

New in 8.4d versus 8.4
- fixes old bug that causes program to stop updating after long runs on ME, XP, and NT
- fixes problem with GeoClock going out of sync with the system clock on suspend and DOS window.

New in 8.4 versus 8.3
- Changes to screen saver to accomidate XP
- Increase in time zone capacity

New is 8.3 version 8.2
- Nunavut border included on all maps, even old maps
- VCR controls have been enhanced
- some minor bug and data bases fixes, plus changes to reflect our new business model

New in 8.2 versus 8.1 (Windows Only)
- A feature to easily set the initial map was added.
- The virtual time can now be controled with VCR type controls . This allows single step, reverse, etc, with buttons similar to a VCR. - The maximum number of clocks in the clocks window was increased to 100.
- A problem in the sorting of gazetteer entries was solved.
- Code restructuring to support a future 32 bit version.

GeoClock 8.1 (windows only) adds:
1) GeoClock CD-ROM. This CD-ROM contains everything available for GeoClock (except the HAM package, which is custom for each user). It has about 500 maps (many of which have never been released before), GeoGlobe, and many extra programs and files. The CD-ROM price is $75 for new registrations, and $50 if you have any prior registered version.
2) New commands (NETWORK and CONFIG) to support running GeoClock from the CD-Rom while maintaining full customizability
3) Fix for Win98 screen saver bug
4) New form of LIGHT command

GeoClock 8.0 (windows only) adds:
1) Display view-from-space maps by shift-left-click on a point.
2) Display world map centered at a point by shift-right-click.
3) Integrate GeoGlobe (including screen saver) into GeoClock
provided optional GeoGlobe program has been purchased.

GeoClock 8.0 (DOS and Windows) adds:
1) New registration file (GEOCLOCK.KEY) which will solve problems caused by some virus checkers. REGISTER.EXE will continue to work
GeoCLock 8.0 (DOS only) fixes:
1) Bug caused by error in turbo pascal run-time-library that can cause errors on very fast machines (Pentium Pro 200+, Pentium II 233+)

Why can't I produce my own HAM map?

Putting aside whether or not it makes business sense to release the HAM map generator, there are four serious technical problems:

1) The generator is a DOS program, which uses many techniques that are difficult to convert to windows.

2) The program utilizes several VGA hardware features for drawing the maps. More "modern" systems either do not have these features, or the OS prohibits their use.

3) The program requires my map data base - over 100 MB of data.

4) The program requires quite a bit of manual interaction.

What is the problem with GeoClock email?

This appears to be an AT&T attempt to control SPAM without doing any work. The method they have chosen is to block all email from or passing through "unfriendly" sites, and somehow they have selected the one GeoClock uses for forwarding (MyDomain.com) as a bad one. All the web sites and email through this site, including @Geoclock.com addresses, are rejected by AT&T as
"63.251.171.164 blocked by blacklist.mail.ops.worldnet.att.net. 550 - Blocked for Abuse"
Attempts to get this fixed has resulted in lots of finger pointing between ATT and MyDomain, and in the meantime I (and many others) am caught in the middle. Eventually, I will change to a new ISP. In the meantime, I have rerouted joe@geoclock.com to a non-AT&T address, and geoclock@att.net continues to work (provided your ISP is not on ATT's blacklist).