Time Zone for Egypt - Daylight Saving Changes

[Ossama Elkadi]

Hello,

Actually, I don't know exactly where to post this message, so I assumed it
is related to the customization of Windows XP.

The problem is very simple. Several years ago, the Egyptian government
released a new regulation for the daylight saving time system. According to
this new regulation, the summer time starts at 02:00 GMT on the last
Thursday->Friday night of April, and ends on the last Thursday/Friday night
of September every year.

Previously, the summer time used to start on 01 May and end on 30 September.

Unfortunately, although several Windows versions have been released since
the new regulation was implemented, none of them recognized this important
change.

Furthermore, the Windows time server (used for synchronization of the time
on Windows XP) does not recognize this change either.

My question is: Who is responsible for maintaining and updating the time
zone system to incorporate this change? I believe there are two parts, one
involving all Windows versions, and another involving the dedicated time
synchro servers.

Any hints?

Ossama Elkadi
BMW Egypt

 

[David Candy]

Just one part - you. MS normally make updates available when daylight savings time changes, as they did for the 2000 Olympics (it started in winter - it was wierd).

This is a big problem if you are international in any way, or if your fellow egyptians solve the problem with different means.

All windows uses GMT time (except for Fat files, eg on a floppy). Your offset from GMT is added/subtracted when it is displayed - windows itself makes no distintion between daylight/standard time. I'm GMT +10 hrs, windows adds 10 hours during standard time and 11 during summer time.

However applications are different. For instance Outlook uses GMT +/- Time Zone Offset + Daylight Saving Offset. If you are scheduling meetings then everyone must use the same mechanism for changing the time else different systems use different GMT.

To change the time zone type in Start Run
cmd /k "timezone" /?|more

Or if you prefer a GUI one (tzedit)
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows95/downloads/contents/WUToys/W95KernelToy/Default.asp

For the 2000 Olympics I pointed out that this will cause problems and after being ignored MS finally released patches. Nag them. It affects coporate networks esp if international or cross site/company.

 

[Martin]

Hello,

Actually, I don't know exactly where to post this message, so I assumed it
is related to the customization of Windows XP.

The problem is very simple. Several years ago, the Egyptian government
released a new regulation for the daylight saving time system. According to
this new regulation, the summer time starts at 02:00 GMT on the last
Thursday->Friday night of April, and ends on the last Thursday/Friday night
of September every year.

Previously, the summer time used to start on 01 May and end on 30 September.

Unfortunately, although several Windows versions have been released since
the new regulation was implemented, none of them recognized this important
change.

Furthermore, the Windows time server (used for synchronization of the time
on Windows XP) does not recognize this change either.

My question is: Who is responsible for maintaining and updating the time
zone system to incorporate this change? I believe there are two parts, one
involving all Windows versions, and another involving the dedicated time
synchro servers.

Any hints?

Ossama Elkadi
BMW Egypt

You might find this interesting...

http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=179017

It describes how to create your own custom time zones within Windows.
(I've not tried it myself so i offer no guarantees!)

Martin.

 

[Ossama Elkadi]

Thank you, David. Unfortunately, nobody inside or outside Egypt may even be
aware of this problem. They just complain that their computer time is
inaccurate and adjust it manually. On the other hand, in all other
"privileged" countries like USA, Europe etc. this would not be an issue to
worry about, as Microsoft takes special care about any changes relevant to
software in these countries. For example, when the German language reform
was implemented, the next version (Office 97) already included an option for
recognizing the new rules (at least through a patch).

I tried out your recommended command line, but Windows XP does not recognize
it (maybe it applies only for Windows 9x?). The GUI tool is fine, but does
it also work for Windows XP as well? When I tried it under Windows 98 SE
(English) one year ago, it didn't work.

For me, the best solution would still be an official patch from Microsoft
for all Windows versions that modifies the rules for the Cairo time zone
(GMT +2), to start and end the summer time according to the new regulation.
It would be too much administrative overhead if I had to instruct every
customer I'm dealing with in my company to manually modify the registry (as
Martin suggested), as this would impose the risk of damaging other files
and/or settings. Even for me as a system administrator it would be too much
overhead, as we have enough more serious problems to deal with.

But at the end, you are right. For us as an international company dealing a
lot with planning and scheduled activities, this does impose a problem. I
just hope to find someone who could enforce issuing an update for this issue
that can be automatically downloaded through Windows Update.

Best Regards,

Ossama Elkadi
BMW Egypt

===============================================
Just one part - you. MS normally make updates available when daylight
savings time changes, as they did for the 2000 Olympics (it started in
winter - it was wierd).

This is a big problem if you are international in any way, or if your fellow
egyptians solve the problem with different means.

All windows uses GMT time (except for Fat files, eg on a floppy). Your
offset from GMT is added/subtracted when it is displayed - windows itself
makes no distintion between daylight/standard time. I'm GMT +10 hrs, windows
adds 10 hours during standard time and 11 during summer time.

However applications are different. For instance Outlook uses GMT +/- Time
Zone Offset + Daylight Saving Offset. If you are scheduling meetings then
everyone must use the same mechanism for changing the time else different
systems use different GMT.

To change the time zone type in Start Run
cmd /k "timezone" /?|more

Or if you prefer a GUI one (tzedit)
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows95/downloads/contents/WUToys/W95KernelToy/Default.asp

For the 2000 Olympics I pointed out that this will cause problems and after
being ignored MS finally released patches. Nag them. It affects coporate
networks esp if international or cross site/company.

 

[David Candy]

All versions of tzedit seem to work ok (just used 95, 98, and 2000)

XP is already set for 1st friday in may and last wednesday in september for Cairo. I thought the last wednesday might be the 30th but that last occured in 1998. Are you sure about the end date in Egypt. I can't see if it can be set for an date (eg 30th).

Been reading a few books lately about Egypt's wars. The sneak attacks on you in 56 and 68, and the marvoulous war of 73. If the Syriaians had have been as good as you guys they would have gotten the golan and you guys wouldn't have had to sacrifice massive life to try to save them. Still you won the war.