Daylight Saving Time (DST) Changes

In 2009, Daylight Savings Time ends on November 1st. Be sure to set your clocks back one hour.

The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, passed by the U.S. Congress July, 2005, extended Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the U.S. by approximately four weeks. As a result, beginning in 2007, DST will start three weeks earlier and end one week later, resulting in a new DST period that is four weeks longer than previously observed.

When your time zone settings are incorrect your clock may be off by one hour, and certain applications running on your Windows based computer may not display the correct time. To address this, Microsoft is providing many free updates and tools that will update your system automatically.

Microsoft Vista / Windows 7 Users: No action is necessary to update your system. The DST patch was included within the initial release.

Windows Automatic Updates

Microsoft can install the necessary updates on to your computer through Automatic Updates. It is important for you to turn on Automatic Updates to receive all of the proper updates. The update for the DST change can be expected in mid-February. To find out more about using Automatic Updates, please click here.

Manual Updates

To manually update your system, please select from the following:

Windows XP SP2: Download the Update for Windows XP package now.

Windows x64 Edition SP2: Download the Update for Windows XP x64 Edition package now.

For Windows XP Gold or XP SP1: If you have Windows XP Gold or Windows XP SP1, you will need to update to Windows XP SP2 to apply the DST patch. To update your computer, you can visit the Windows XP web site to learn more, or go to the Microsoft Update web site to install Service pack 2 for Windows XP.

Windows 2000: Download the Tzedit.exe utility package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/8/a/58a208b7-7dc7-4bc7-8357-28e29cdac52f/tzedit.exe) and follow these directions:

1. Start Time Zone Editor.

2. In the Time Zones list, select your time zone, and then click Edit. For example, click (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada and then click Edit.

3. In the Edit Time Zone dialog box, click to select the Automatically set Daylight Saving Time check box.

4. Specify the correct daylight saving time start date and end date. To do this, follow these steps:

a. In the Start Day box, click the number of the day, the corresponding day of the week, and the month that you want. For the 2008 DST update, click Second, click Sunday, and then click March.

b. Select the time that you want to start daylight saving time. For the 2008 DST update, select 2:00 A.M.

c. In the Last Day box, click the number of the day, the corresponding day of the week, and the month that you want. For the 2008 DST update, click First, click Sunday, and then click November.

d. Select the time that you want to end daylight saving time. For the 2008 DST update, select 2:00 A.M.

e. In the Daylight Bias list, select how long you want the time to change when daylight saving time is in effect. For example, to set the clock forward 1 hour, leave the default setting of +1:00.

f. Click OK.

g. From the Windows Desktop, click Start, point to Settings, point to Control Panel, and then double-click Date/Time.

h. Click the Time Zone tab.

i. Select a different time zone than the (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) time zone, and then click Apply.

j. Click (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada), and then click OK.

Note Steps i and j are required for the new changes to take effect.

For Windows Millennium, 98, or 95, no update is available. You will need to manually adjust the system time to the correct day and time. To do this:

1. Click the Start button and then click Control Panel

2. Double-click Date/Time in Control Panel

3. In the Date/Time window, click the Time Zone tab

4. If checked, click to clear the “Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes” checkbox

5. Click the Date/Time tab and manually adjust the system time to the correct day and time. To finish, click OK

These steps will need to be repeated twice a year, prior to the second Sunday in March and on the first Sunday in November.

What if I don’t update my system?

If you choose not to take any action, and you live in the U.S. or Canada, your system clock and calendar will no longer automatically adjust for Daylight Saving Time at the proper time each year. This means that you will adjust 3 weeks late in the spring and 1 week early in the fall.