Time Zones & Daylight Saving Configuration Utility
TimeZoneSetter.exe
v.1.0.0.0
Copyright (c) 2017 by www.dennisbabkin.com. All rights reserved.
(Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10)

LAST MODIFIED: 4/14/2017


DESCRIPTION:
================

TimeZoneSetter is a small utility that allows to adjust time zones information on a Windows computer. It is primarily intended to be used on operating systems that no longer receive Windows updates or have updates disabled. (Note that on any current operating system that is set up to receive Windows updates, your time zone information will be maintained automatically.)

This utility allows to do the following:

- Set the current time zone.

- Adjust a time zone offset (or "bias") in minutes from the GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time.

- Adjust daylight saving parameters for a time zone, such as when the daylight saving begins and ends.

- Adjust "dynamic" daylight saving parameters, supported on Windows Vista and later operating systems, that are specific for each year.

- Create a backup of your time zones information, or restore it back. 



HOW TO MAKE A BACKUP
-------------------------

It is important to make a backup of your time zones information before you begin modifying it. To make a backup start TimeZoneSetter, then go to File -> Make Backup and provide the location and a file name for the backup. Then click Save to create it. The backup file produced will have the ".tzsbkp" extension. That file can be used at any time later to restore your time zones information.



HOW TO RESTORE FROM A BACKUP
-------------------------------

If you need to restore your time zones information, open up TimeZoneSetter, then go to File -> Restore From Backup and locate the backup file with the ".tzsbkp" extension. (A backup file must have been created earlier using TimeZoneSetter utility.) Then confirm that you want to reset your time zones. After that your time zones information should be reset to what they used to be when you created a backup.

IMPORTANT: Due to the fact that time zones information is specific for each operating system, it is strongly recommended NOT TO restore time zones information backed up from a different class operating system. For instance, DO NOT take time zones information from Windows 10 and restore it on Windows 7. Doing so may lead to unpredictable behavior of your operating system.



HOW TO EDIT TIME ZONE INFORMATION
-----------------------------------

First select a time zone that you want to edit in the list on the left. (The currently active time zone will be selected initially. To select an active time zone afterwards, go to View -> Go To Current Time Zone.)

To begin editting selected time zone, either double-click it in the list, or go to Edit -> Edit Time Zone, or use Ctrl+Enter keyboard shortcut. (Administrative account elevation may be required to proceed.) After that you will be able to use controls in the window to edit out the time zone details. To switch between settings for years in dynamic time zones select a year in the drop-down control first.

Each time zone can have daylight saving settings enabled to be recurring yearly, or to happen only once. The latter setting is supported only by the operating systems starting with Windows Vista.

To save changes made to the time zone, click Save Changes button, or hit Enter on the keyboard. Keep in mind that if your operating system has automatic time synchronization enabled, any changes made by the TimeZoneSetter utility may be overwritten later.

To discard changes, click Cancel button, or hit Esc key on the keyboard.



HOW TO READ DYNAMIC TIME ZONES
---------------------------------

"Dynamic" time zones are supported beginning with Windows Vista. In a dynamic time zone, information can be set up for any specific year. (This was designed to account for adjustments implemented by various governments of the world.) It works as such:

- If no dynamic time zones are set up for any years, then the operating system uses settings for "Default" year. (The same applies to Windows XP operating system whether there are any dynamic time zones or not.)

- If at least one dynamic time zone is specified for a year, the operating system will use the closest matching year's settings. For instance, if the current year is 2017, and the list of years for the dynamic time zone includes information for years 2014, 2015 and 2016, the operating system will use dynamic time zone settings for the year 2016, as being the closest to the year 2017. It will obviously use settings for the year 2017 if such year was available in the list of settings for the dynamic time zone.


TO ADD OR DELETE DYNAMIC TIME ZONE SETTINGS FOR A YEAR:

Go to Edit -> Edit Time Zone, and then again go to Edit -> Dynamic Daylight Saving -> Add Year. This will show a new window that will allow you to create a new dynamic time zone for a specific year. Keep in mind that dynamic time zone information can be added to sequential years only. This means that if you already have settings for a group of years, say 2014, 2015 and 2016, you will be able to add year 2017 or 2013 only. If in that case you needed to add settings for a year 2020, you will have to populate settings for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 first. To do so you may want to copy settings for the year 2016 from the existing group.

To copy and paste information for a year in a dynamic time zone, make sure that you enter into the time zone editting mode first by going to Edit -> Edit Time Zone. Then go to Edit -> Dynamic Daylight Saving and pick either "Copy Year Settings" or "Paste Year Settings" respectively. The same can be also accomplished by using the Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V keyboard shortcuts.







To download your copy go to:
https://www.dennisbabkin.com/TimeZoneSetter

For bug reports go to:
https://www.dennisbabkin.com/sfb/?what=bug&name=TimeZoneSetter


Thank you!














