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Using TZEdit on Windows SP, SP2, SP3 for daylight saving time (DST)

If you've got some older systems or a new netbook that can't quite handle Vista , you might be hanging onto Windows XP longer than you thought. 

Out of the box, XP and the new DST changes don't get along. 

As a result of The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, the United States has an extended daylight saving period that lasts 3-4 weeks longer than in years prior to 2007. 

But there's a fix!

There's a handful of ways to update your computer so that it supports the new DST dates:

  • Downloading an EXE update
  • Manual registry changes
  • TZEdit and some others...

For a single machine, I found the most straight-forward way to update your machine is through TZEdit.

  1. Download TZEdit.
  2. Run TZEdit.exe to extract it to the default directory (C:\Program Files\TZEDIT).
  3. Run C:\Program Files\TZEDIT\TZEdit.exe.
  4. The timezone configured on your machine should be automatically selected.
  5. Click the Edit button.
  6. Change the Start Day to the Second Sunday of March at 2:00am.
  7. Change the Last Day to the First Sunday of November at 2:00am.
  8. Click OK.
  9. I found to get the settings to stick I had to change time zones in the Date and Time Properties window (the window that pops up when you double-click the time in the tray).  Change to some other time zone, and then change back to your original time zone.
  10. Now reboot.
  11. To test, change your date/time to the second Sunday of March at 1:59:59am.  If all went well, you should "spring" forward to 3:00am.

If you'd like more technical information on more advanced configuration, jump over to Microsoft's Help Page.


About the Author

Ray Li

Ray is a software engineer and data enthusiast who has been blogging for over a decade. He loves to learn, teach and grow. You’ll usually find him wrangling data, programming and lifehacking.

Comments 3

  1. very helpful, I used TXEDIT.exe but didn’t help cause I didn’t change time zone to some other and back, that’s the main point

  2. Mr. Li,
    You should have added:
    12. If the time changed to 3:00, then change your date/time to the current date/time.
    However, I realize people like halit cenk kaya can not follow instructions, so putting the above #12 may be moot, which may be why you did not add it.

  3. Mr. Li,
    I forgot to ask you if TZEdit will work with the new CDT. I realize your post was in 2013 or prior; however, I am still using XP because it is a sturdy & very user friendly OS. It has never died on me, although I had to reinstall XP only because each time it was due to hard drive failure. I love XP because it is handles everything I need, which includes, editing my emails, file management, and downloading files from the internet. Indeed, I am still learning about XP as I am now retired and finally have time to discover new (new to me) questions to ask and finding the answers from a multitude of forums and sites, including yours.
    Best regard,
    Rudster

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