From 1 November 2026, users in Alberta and British Columbia (Canada) may find that SyncBackSE or SyncBackPro V11 or older stops responding as soon as a profile is run. The title bar shows "(Not Responding)" and the program has to be closed with Task Manager. This happens with every profile, even one that copies between two empty folders. It had worked without problems until then.
The same problem can affect the SyncBack Management System (SBMS) server and console, and SyncBack V12 when it is managed by SBMS.
Cause
Alberta and British Columbia stopped changing their clocks on 1 November 2026. Alberta now stays on UTC-6 all year and British Columbia on UTC-7. The October 2026 Windows update added two new time zones for this: "(UTC-06:00) Mountain Time (Alberta)" and "(UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia)". Windows may have switched your PC to one of them automatically.
A third-party component used by older versions of SyncBack, and by SBMS, cannot handle the way Windows describes these two time zones for 2026. When it works out the time for any date in 2026, it gets stuck and never finishes, so SyncBack stops responding.
Solution
Change Windows to an older time zone that has exactly the same time as the new one:
1. Close SyncBack. If it is not responding, end it with Task Manager.
2. Open Settings, then Time & language, then Date & time.
3. Turn off "Set time zone automatically". If you leave it on, Windows may switch back to the new time zone and the problem will return.
4. Set the time zone to:
- Alberta: "(UTC-06:00) Saskatchewan"
- British Columbia: "(UTC-07:00) Yukon"
5. Start SyncBack and run your profile again.
Your clock shows exactly the same time as before, now and in future years, because Saskatchewan and Yukon also stay on UTC-6 and UTC-7 all year. The only visible difference is the name of the time zone. Microsoft suggests the same time zones for PCs that cannot use the new ones.
How long to keep this setting
If you use SyncBack V11 or older, keep this setting permanently. Do not switch back to the Alberta or British Columbia time zone, even after 2026, or SyncBack may stop responding again.
SyncBack V12 is not affected (unless it is managed by SBMS, see below). If you upgrade to SyncBack V12, you can use either time zone.
SyncBack Management System (SBMS)
The problem has been fixed and the fix will be included in the next release of SBMS and SyncBack V12. Until you have installed those updates, use the time zone change above on any PC in Alberta or British Columbia that runs the SBMS server, the SBMS console, or SyncBack V12 managed by SBMS. Once the updates are installed, you can switch back to the Alberta or British Columbia time zone if you wish.
Notes
- Technical support for SyncBackSE/Pro V11 and older has ended. This article is provided as a courtesy.
- SyncBackFree is not affected.
- Users in other provinces and countries are not affected.