Sunday, Mar 11, 2007
Well the new time change is here (unless you live in a place like Arizona without DST...) and that means many of us need to update our computers to have the right time. If you have Windows XP SP2 or later, all you have to do is go to http://support.microsoft.com/dst2007 to make sure your computer has the necessary patches. However, if you're a user like myself who opted not to upgrade to SP2 (I'm still on SP1), Microsoft doesn't provide you with many options. The only way they suggest is turn off DST in the "Date and Time Properties" and then manually change the time. It works, but it is a bit cumbersome if you ask me. Well, I've found a better solution that I will describe below.
NOTE: PLEASE NOTE THAT I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IF THIS FIX DOES NOT WORK FOR YOUR COMPUTER! It worked for me, but please do some research before applying the fix.
There is a utility called the Windows Time Zone Editor and it will allow you to fix DST for your time zone. Keep in mind that this only changes individual time zones, so if you travel between time zones, you may need to update several time zones in the editor.
First, download the utility:
http://www.softshape.com/cham/manual/tzedit.htm (Windows 95/98/NT but it also worked on XP SP1)
Microsoft link to tzedit.exe (Windows 2000)
From what I can tell, both versions should work. For reference, I used the top link for the software. Here are the steps you want to take:
1- Unzip/unpack TZEDIT and then execute TZEDIT.EXE.
2- Your time zone should be selected.
3- Click the Edit button.
4- Change the Start Day to... Second, Sunday, March.
5- Change the Last Day to... First, Sunday, November.
6- Click the OK button.
7- Click the Close button.
8- Click Start, point to Settings, point to Control Panel, and then double-click Date/Time.
9- Click the Time Zone tab.
10- Select a different time zone than the one you are set at, and then click Apply.
11- Change back to your timezone, and then click OK.
When you use the time zone editor, the update should look something like this:
Ya, your time should now be fixed! BTW, for your reference, I found the previous information at the following website. It has some more discussion on how to fix this problem so it might be useful.
NOTE: PLEASE NOTE THAT I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IF THIS FIX DOES NOT WORK FOR YOUR COMPUTER! It worked for me, but please do some research before applying the fix.
There is a utility called the Windows Time Zone Editor and it will allow you to fix DST for your time zone. Keep in mind that this only changes individual time zones, so if you travel between time zones, you may need to update several time zones in the editor.
First, download the utility:
http://www.softshape.com/cham/manual/tzedit.htm (Windows 95/98/NT but it also worked on XP SP1)
Microsoft link to tzedit.exe (Windows 2000)
From what I can tell, both versions should work. For reference, I used the top link for the software. Here are the steps you want to take:
1- Unzip/unpack TZEDIT and then execute TZEDIT.EXE.
2- Your time zone should be selected.
3- Click the Edit button.
4- Change the Start Day to... Second, Sunday, March.
5- Change the Last Day to... First, Sunday, November.
6- Click the OK button.
7- Click the Close button.
8- Click Start, point to Settings, point to Control Panel, and then double-click Date/Time.
9- Click the Time Zone tab.
10- Select a different time zone than the one you are set at, and then click Apply.
11- Change back to your timezone, and then click OK.
When you use the time zone editor, the update should look something like this:
Ya, your time should now be fixed! BTW, for your reference, I found the previous information at the following website. It has some more discussion on how to fix this problem so it might be useful.
