# Do I have Microsoft DST update? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378 "2007-03-10T14:42:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/1 "2007-03-10T14:42:19Z")
My systems are set to auto updates. Do I already have the Daylight Saving Time update for Wndows? How can I check? I searched on this (here) but didn’t turn up anything, but I suspect the question has been asked. If so, I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/2 "2007-03-10T15:07:00Z")
I answered the question for myself. Googled on… Windows Update XP KB931836 …and downloaded the update. If you already have it, like I did on my notebook, the program will probably tell you so and abort the download. Curiously enough, the update did download into my most used desktop which is set for auto updates. So I wonder why I didn’t get the damn update before this? ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/3 "2007-03-10T15:25:01Z")
There may be an easier way, but this is how I checked: Click on the Start button, then click Control Panel, then click on Add and Remove Programs on the displayed list. On the Currently Installed Programs and Updates list, _make sure the Show Updates box at the top has a check mark._ When you scroll down the list, near the bottom you should see a long group under Windows XP - Software Updates. Near the bottom of this group should be an entry for Update for Windows XP (931836), which on my PC was installed on Feb. 17, 2007. If you do not already have this update, then tonight your PC will burst into flames, like that robot on Star Trek which self-destructed when faced with illogic. To avoid that fate, you could always install the patch yourself from: > **[Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-US)** > > Microsoft support is here to help you with Microsoft products. Find how-to articles, videos, and training for Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365, Windows, Surface, and more. ---
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/4 "2007-03-10T19:16:49Z")
If you use Outlook you will still need to download an update. Automatic update only sends OS updates, and not office ones. Go here: [Daylight saving time help and support - Windows Client | Microsoft Learn](http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst) Say what kind of user you are (Home most likely)—The pick your OS (or if you know you already have the DST update pick the last option)—choose your version of outlook. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/5 "2007-03-10T20:04:31Z")
[QUOTE=whitetho] If you do not already have this update, then tonight your PC will burst into flames, like that robot on Star Trek which self-destructed when faced with illogic. [/QUOTE] Funny enough to make me laugh out loud. 😃😃😃 Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/6 "2007-03-10T20:09:51Z")
[QUOTE=Queuing] If you use Outlook you will still need to download an update. Automatic update only sends OS updates, and not office ones. Go here: [Daylight saving time help and support - Windows Client | Microsoft Learn](http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst) Say what kind of user you are (Home most likely)—Then pick your OS (or if you know you already have the DST update pick the last option)—choose your version of outlook. [/QUOTE] You saved my butt. I did what you said and in the process learned (in an error message) that I had not completed the DST download that I claimed to have done in my second post. So, I went back, completed it, and then tried your download and it was aborted because the update was already in. If I hadn’t followed your advice My computer would be utterly screwed up tomorrow and I’d have no clue of the cause. Thanks, **Queuing**. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/7 "2007-03-10T20:25:14Z")
Now that that question has been answered, why didn’t Microsoft just make the dates for DST and ST configurable from the Control Panel or something? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/8 "2007-03-10T20:31:10Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Now that that question has been answered, why didn’t Microsoft just make the dates for DST and ST configurable from the Control Panel or something? [/QUOTE] Just guessing: since it’s fairly easy to calculate the old way and since the old way had been around for a long time, Microsoft probably figured they could save their users a little time by doing automatically what wouldn’t need to be done by the user. That’s not quite as flawed a logic as assuming two digits would be sufficient for year or that 50 would be an adequate number for states in the USA. It could be a fun exercise to see how many other “constants” aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/9 "2007-03-10T20:44:13Z")
Yeah, you’re probably right, but I didn’t mean the user would have to enter it to get it up and going, just that he could whenever he wanted (or needed) to. As in tomorrow, for example. Microsoft could have set it up with the default, and then given the user access to change it. Not every PC is online. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/10 "2007-03-10T20:52:40Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Yeah, you’re probably right, but I didn’t mean the user would have to enter it to get it up and going, just that he could whenever he wanted (or needed) to. As in tomorrow, for example. Microsoft could have set it up with the default, and then given the user access to change it. **Not every PC is online.** [/QUOTE] Here comes the computer-challenged **BarnOwl** to make a fool of himself: If my computer weren’t online, couldn’t I just spring it one hour ahead tomorrow at two am? And when STD returned have it virtually fall back an hour? Too easy, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/11 "2007-03-10T21:13:29Z")
[http://dst.umn.edu/](http://dst.umn.edu/) handy! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/12 "2007-03-10T21:42:29Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl] If my computer weren’t online, couldn’t I just spring it one hour ahead tomorrow at two am? [/QUOTE] At approximately 2:00 AM, sure. As long as you’re up that late (or early). And as long as you remember that it’s a necessary chore each year. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/13 "2007-03-10T22:40:37Z")
[QUOTE=NurseCarmen] [http://dst.umn.edu/](http://dst.umn.edu/) handy! [/QUOTE] You made it up, **Nurse Carmen**! And everyone who links to it gets a phony green circle of approval and a phony message that says your computer is DST ready. 😛😛😛 ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/14 "2007-03-10T22:46:10Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] At approximately 2:00 AM, sure. As long as you’re up that late (or early). And as long as you remember that it’s a necessary chore each year. [/QUOTE] I’ll get my wife to do it. She really likes to go through the house, every year, springing forward and falling back. In all the centuries we’ve been married, I have never touched a clock for DST or ST adjustments. Not once. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/15 "2007-03-10T23:00:09Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] At approximately 2:00 AM, sure. As long as you’re up that late (or early). And as long as you remember that it’s a necessary chore each year. [/QUOTE] And of course you’ll also have to correct it again when it wrongly tries to adjust in April. If you don’t patch your machine, you will have to adjust it 4 times per year to stay on track. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/16 "2007-03-10T23:08:44Z")
[QUOTE=flex727] And of course you’ll also have to correct it again when it wrongly tries to adjust in April. If you don’t patch your machine, you will have to adjust it 4 times per year to stay on track. [/QUOTE] No, no, no. Liberal and I are talking about a hypothetical computer (in my house) which isn’t on line. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-microsoft-dst-update/395378/17 "2007-03-11T01:56:30Z")
[QUOTE=flex727] And of course you’ll also have to correct it again when it wrongly tries to adjust in April. If you don’t patch your machine, you will have to adjust it 4 times per year to stay on track. [/QUOTE] Microsoft Windows has a checkbox to “automatically adjust clock for daylight savings changes.” If you leave that unchecked you can make the change manually if you like.