Daylight Savings Time

Unraveling the Mystery

Is your PC Daylight Savings Time ready?

But first, let me pass on the best advice I've read. If you use any kind of Calendar program such as Outlook, you may need to adjust appointments.

Here's a tip: Verify your appointment times, then include the time in the subject line. That way if a bug shifts the time after March 11th, you'll know what time it's supposed to be.

Find out with this great utility to test your PC!

Straight from the University of Minnesota - Daylight Saving Time (DST) patch tester. If you get a big green circle on your screen, you're PC is good to go! (but don't forget about your Calendar program.)

Otherwise, Keep Reading...

Daylight Savings Time - What's changed

On August 8, 2005, the United States Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Among other changes, this act modifies the start dates and the end dates for daylight saving time (DST) in the following geographic regions:
  • All of the United States except Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa

Notes
  • All of Canada will observe the new DST start dates and end dates.
  • The Navajo Nation in Arizona does observe DST.

When this law goes into effect on March 11, 2007, DST will start three weeks earlier and will end one week later than what has traditionally occurred. This change is typically known as DST 2007. This change is described in the following table.

DST start date                      DST end date
        New      March 11, 2007          November 4, 2007
        Old      April 1, 2007           October 28, 2007

Under the DST 2007 rules, clocks change at 02:00 A.M. local time in the U.S. The key dates for 2007 are as follows:
  • On March 11, 2007, clocks will move forward from 01:59 A.M. to 03:00 A.M.
  • On November 4, 2007, clocks will move backward from 01:59 A.M. to 01:00
A.M.

These dates are referred to as the “extended DST period.”

Great, huh?

With Windows XP (Home, Pro, and Media Center), there is a patch that will come down automatically with automatic updates; Vista needs no patch. Windows 2000 Pro needs to have the time zone manually edited; use Microsoft's TZEdit Utility.

Here's a link that offers some more info: Microsoft Help & Support Center