Upcoming Chile DST fallback 2008/2009

Back in 2008, the Chilean government announced the DST for Chile would be extended for two weeks. This DST extension was valid only for the year of 2008.

Customers that followed Microsoft recommendations for updating Windows to interpret the 2008 daylight saving time extension may need to update the machines again, so they can correctly interpret the end of the DST in 2009.

In December 2008, Microsoft released the December 2008 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems – KB 955839, which contains the correct 2009 fallback date for the daylight saving time for '(GMT -04:00) Santiago'. Machines with this update installed should correctly interpret the end of the daylight saving time in Chile.

For Customers that followed the procedures to adjust their systems last year and do not have the December 2008 cumulative time zone update installed, additional steps are required to make sure Windows automatically adjust its time on the second Sunday of March of 2009.

This document shows the steps required to update these machines and  the possible impacts for Outlook and Exchange.

How to Update Windows PC Operating Systems

There are different options for updating Windows PC Operating Systems to make sure they will correctly interpret the end of Daylight Saving Time in Chile in 2009.

The following illustration shows a list of options available to each operating system:

DST-Chile-09-Options

In order to adjust machines with Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, the preferred method is to install the December cumulative time zone update (KB 955839):

  • 955839  December 2008 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems

This hotfix is available in Windows Update and can be deployed using Windows Update Services.

You may also use the procedures described in section “How to manually update ‘(GMT -04:00) Santiago’ time zone” to adjust Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003.

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008:

Although installing hotfix KB 955839 is still recommended in Windows Vista and Server 2008 machines, we do not foresee any impact on these systems - these machines were not adjusted for the daylight saving time extension back in 2008.

How to manually update ‘(GMT -04:00) Santiago’ time zone

Note:      This section is based on the following article:
914387 - How to configure daylight saving time for Microsoft Windows operating systems

Manually updating Windows servers and desktop operating systems

1. Create a registry file that contains the DST settings for Chile for the year of 2009, following these steps below:

1.1. Click Start, click Run, type notepad, and then click OK.

1.2. Copy the following registry information, and then paste it into the Notepad document:

 Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Time Zones\Pacific SA Standard Time]
"TZI"=hex:f0,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,c4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,03,00,06,00,02,00,17,00,3b,\
  00,3b,00,e7,03,00,00,0a,00,06,00,02,00,17,00,3b,00,3b,00,e7,03

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Time Zones\Pacific SA Standard Time\Dynamic DST]
"FirstEntry"=dword:000007d7
"LastEntry"=dword:000007d9
"2009"=hex:f0,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,c4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,03,00,06,00,02,00,17,00,\
  3b,00,3b,00,e7,03,00,00,0a,00,06,00,02,00,17,00,3b,00,3b,00,e7,03
"2008"=hex:f0,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,c4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,03,00,06,00,05,00,17,00,\
  3b,00,3b,00,e7,03,00,00,0a,00,06,00,02,00,17,00,3b,00,3b,00,e7,03
"2007"=hex:f0,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,c4,ff,ff,ff,00,00,03,00,06,00,02,00,17,00,\
  3b,00,3b,00,e7,03,00,00,0a,00,06,00,02,00,17,00,3b,00,3b,00,e7,03 

1.3. On the File menu, click ‘Save As’.

1.4. Select a destination, and then type TZupdate.reg in the File name box. 

1.5. In the Save as type box, click All Files, and then click Save.

2. Import this registry key on target machines by double clicking in the TZupdate.reg and clicking ‘Yes’ when prompted. All machines (clients and servers) must be updated with this registry information.

3. In order to deploy these time zone changes in a corporate environment, you can use a startup script as described in the session “Deploy the registry file with the new DST information using Group Policy” below.

Note:      The registry settings above contain the following information for the “(GMT-04:00) Santiago” time zone:

Daylight saving time begins

: Second Saturday of October at 11:59:59 PM local standard time Daylight saving time ends: Second Saturday of March at 11:59:59 PM local daylight saving time

Use a script to reload the TimeZoneInformation registry key

Time zone information is stored in two locations. We need to make sure these locations are updated. Importing the TZupdate.reg file updates the time zone database in the registry. Next, you must create a script that updates the time zone information registry key in the CurrentControlSet. You can deploy this script by using Group Policy or another deployment mechanism.

The script identifies the current time zone of the client computer and then reloads the Time Zone Information registry key with the updated information from the time zone database. Then, the script writes an event to the Application log of the client computer where the script was run.

 

1. Click Start, click Run, type notepad, and then press ENTER.

2. Copy the following code, and then paste it into the Notepad document.

 Set objSh = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

'Get the StandardName key of the current time zone
szStandardName = objSh.RegRead("HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation\StandardName")

'Enumerate the subkeys in the time zone database
const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
Set objReg=GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\.\root\default:StdRegProv")
szTzsKeyPath = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Time Zones"
objReg.EnumKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, szTzsKeyPath, arrTzSubKeys

'Step through the time zones to find the matching Standard Name
szTzKey = "<Unknown>"
For Each subkey In arrTzSubKeys
    If (objSh.RegRead("HKLM\" & szTzsKeyPath & "\" & subkey & "\Std") = szStandardName) Then
        'Found matching StandardName, now store this time zone key name
        szTzKey = subkey
    End If
Next 

If szTzKey = "<Unknown>" Then
       'Write entry to the Application event log stating that the update has failed to execute
       objSh.LogEvent 1, " Chile DST 2008-2009 Registry Update and Refresh failed to execute on this computer.  Time zones failed to enumerate properly or matching time zone not found."
       Wscript.Quit 0
End If

Dim process, processid, result, strUpdateCommand
Set process = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\.\root\cimv2:Win32_process")

'Add time change privilege to the process object
process.Security_.Privileges.AddAsString "SeSystemTimePrivilege",True
strUpdateCommand = "control.exe timedate.cpl,,/Z" & szTzKey

'Launch control.exe to refresh time zone information using the TZ key name obtained above 
result = process.create(strUpdateCommand,Null,Null,processid)
If result <> 0 Then
       objSh.LogEvent 1, " Chile DST 2008-2009 Registry Update and Refresh failed to execute on this computer.  Unable to refresh the Timezone database."
    Wscript.Quit 0
End If

'Get current display name of refreshed time zone
szCurrDispName = objSh.RegRead("HKLM\" & szTzsKeyPath & "\" & szTzKey & "\Display")

'Write entry to the Application event log stating that the update has executed
objSh.LogEvent 4, " Chile DST 2008-2009 Registry Update and Refresh has been executed on this computer." & chr(13) & chr(10) & chr(13) & chr(10) & "Current time zone is: " & szCurrDispName & "." 

 

3. On the File menu, click Save As.

4. Select a destination, and then type “refreshTZinfo.vbs” in the File name box.

5. In the Save as type box, click All Files, and then click Save.

6. Double click in the refreshTZinfo.vbs to refresh time zone information.

Note:

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure. However, they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.

Deploying DST modifications using Group Policy

1. Click Start, click Run, type notepad, and then press ENTER. 

2. Copy the following code, and then paste it into the Notepad document.

 @echo off

regedit /s \\contoso.com\NETLOGON\TZupdate.reg

ver |find /i "6.0">nul
IF %errorlevel% EQU 0 GOTO end
cscript \\contoso.com\NETLOGON\refreshTZinfo.vbs<br>:end
 

Note: You must replace the \\contoso.com notation above with the actual DNS domain name for your Active Directory domain.

3. On the File menu, click Save As.

4. DST2009Update.cmd in the File name box. 

5. In the Save as type box, click All Files, and then click Save. 

6. Copy the following files to the Netlogon share folder of the domain controller that holds the PDC emulator role in the domain:

TZupdate.reg 
DST2009Update.cmd

refreshTZinfo.vbs

7. Wait until Active Directory replication occurs. Also, wait until the files and folders in the system volume (SYSVOL) shared folder replicate to domain controllers in the domain. 

8. Click Start, click Run, type control admintools, and then click OK. 

9. Double-click Active Directory Users and Computers

10. Select an Organizational Unit (OU) which contains the computers that you want to apply this script to. In this example, we will use an OU that is named DST-COMPUTERS. This example also assumes that this OU contains computer accounts.

11. Right-click the DST-COMPUTERS OU and then click Properties. 

12. Click the Group Policy tab, click New, type DST Registry Update, and then press ENTER. 

13. Click Edit. The Group Policy Object Editor tool starts.

14. Expand Computer Configuration, expand Windows Settings, and then click Scripts (Startup/Shutdown). 

15. Double-click Startup, and then click Add. 

16. In the Script Name box, type the universal naming convention (UNC) path of the DST2008Update.cmd file that is located in the Netlogon share. For example, type \\contoso.com\NETLOGON\DST2009Update.cmd. 

17. Click OK two times. 

Note: Client computers that are within the DST-COMPUTERS organizational unit will run the startup script the next time the machine starts up, meaning all machines needs to be restarted to be able to recognize the new DST configuration via Startup script.

Important information about procedures described in this section:
  • The instructions above can be applied on Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Operating systems, however after performing these instructions on a Windows 2003 operating system the current time zone may not be updated. In this case you may need to restart the machine or run the refreshTZinfo.vbsscript manually.

  • The manual instructions above are not supported on Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 operating systems. Customers using Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 should install the hotfix KB 955839 to update their systems.

Adjusting the Outlook calendar for users in Chile

Once you install the December 2008 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems – KB 955839 (or manually update the time zone ' (GMT -04:00) Santiago ' ), the existent Outlook calendar items from Sunday, March 15th, 2009 to Saturday, March 28th, 2009, may be displayed one hour off.

DST-Chile-09-Delta

Options to correct the Outlook calendar:

  • Manually modify each appointment on the affected days (Sunday, March 15th, 2009 to Saturday, March 28th, 2009). Instructions on the section  "How to manually modify Outlook Calendar items". This is the easiest and preferred method.

- or -

  • Use the "Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool version 3.0" or "Exchange Calendar Update Tool" to correct Outlook calendar items.

Note: We recommend you to print your calendar before any changes are made, and then review the calendar items to make sure these items appear at the correct times.

Step by step procedure to use “Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool version 3.0” after a time zone update:

1. Make sure all clients and servers are updated according to the procedure " How to Update Windows PC Operating Systems" described earlier.

2. Download and run the installation package from:

https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=%20E343A233-B9C8-4652-9DD8-AE0F1AF62568

3. Go to Start, All Programs, Microsoft Office Outlook Tools, Time Zone Data Update Tool and Select "Time Zone Daylight Savings Update Mode".

4. Confirm the mailbox on "Data File" is the one you would like to correct, as well as the Time zone information (GMT -04:00 Santiago).

clip_image002

Note: The tool defaults to updating affected items on your Calendar and in your Reminders folder. If you would like to update additional items (e.g. items in additional Calendars or a PST), you can do so by clicking the ‘Custom…’ button and manually selecting the target folder.

5. Once you click OK, the Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool 3.0 will scan the calendar and search for appointments that can be corrected.

clip_image002[5]

6. Once you click OK, the Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool 3.0 will attempt to correct the items selected.

7. You can review the log generated by the tool " Outlook Time Zone Update.log". To do so, just click on "Open Log". (the log is located on your temp folder (%Temp%\Outlook Time Zone Update.log).

 

Using the “Exchange Calendar Update Tool” after a time zone update:

You may use the “Microsoft Exchange Calendar Update Configuration Tool”. This tool allows administrators to move the appointments of all users in a centralized way. We should note however, that running this tool is a complex procedure, recommended only for organizations in which the Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool is not suitable.

Depending on several factors, described on the article below, you may need to run the “Outlook Time Zone Update Tool” for certain users.

Instructions on how to use the "Exchange Calendar tool" can be found on the article KB 941018:

  • 941018 How to address daylight saving time by using the Exchange Calendar Update Tool

How to manually modify Outlook Calendar items:

A simpler alternative to correct the Outlook Calendar items is by adjusting the appointments manually. To do so, please proceed as follows:

  1. Start Outlook, and then go to your calendar. Review if any existent item is affected between the days "Sunday, March 15th, 2009 to Saturday, March 28th, 2009".

If you have any item off by one hour on this period, then:

  1. Manually move each meeting that you organized between Sunday, March 15th, 2009 to Saturday, March 28th, 2009 so that they occur at the correct time. 

  2. Send an update for each meeting that you moved to the meeting attendees. This action causes the calendar for each attendee to display the correct time for the meeting. 

  3. Manually move each single-instance appointment that may be off  by one hour from Sunday, March 15th, 2009 to Saturday, March 28th, 2009.

  4. Manually move all recurring appointments that occur from Sunday, March 15th, 2009 to Saturday, March 28th, 2009. 

Recommendations to minimize the impacts on Outlook/Exchange:

  • Request the users to print their schedule so they have a reference to follow in order to manually update the appointments later if needed.

  • Take a full online backup of your Exchange Servers in case you decide to use the Exchange Calendar Update Tool.

  • For the meetings with multiple attendees only the meeting requestor should update the time and send the update to the others.

  • Include the time of the meeting in the e-mail request so that invitees can double check the correct meeting time (such as, "Project brainstorming - 11:00 A.M. Santiago Time").

  • Exercise caution with the appointments and meetings.  When in doubt, verify the correct time with the organizer.

Exchange 2003 CDO update

In order to avoid DST issues related with applications that use CDO, including OWA, please install this update on all Exchange 2003 Servers in your organization:

  • 960445  December 2008 cumulative daylight saving time (DST) update for Exchange Server 2003 SP2

More information:

  • 328839  How to apply Exchange service packs and hotfixes

References:

  • 941018  How to address daylight saving time by using the Exchange Calendar Update Tool

  • 934001  A troubleshooting guide to the Exchange Calendar Update Tool (Msextmz.exe)

  • 931667  How to address time zone changes by using the Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook

  • 957498  Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool 2.0 and earlier versions of this tool do not correctly rebase any calendar item that was created in the Brasilia time zone

  • 943390  Some Outlook calendar items are rebased incorrectly when you use the Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool to adjust for daylight saving time changes in certain time zones