(Another) Time Zone Update

This latest updates supersedes and replaces update KB931836, released back in January 2007. Yes, the one you likely scrambled to deploy. In addition to some enhancements, this also includes additional time zone changes that were signed in to law after update KB931836 was created.

While Microsoft is recommending that you standardize on the must current cumulative time zone update for all systems, it's designation of this fix as an "important" one can be evaluated based on your needs. Essentially, you should update but if you need it right away depends largely on if you have systems in any of the following five time zones changed by this update:

Caucasus Standard Time - Changes display name to Caucasus Standard Time as cities in the previous display name have separate time zones, and removes DST settings.

Armenian Standard Time - Creates a new time zone for Armenia to better align with different DST changes in the Caucasus region.

New Zealand Standard Time - Adjusts DST start dates and end dates according to changes signed in to law after the prior cumulative time zone update was created (February 2007).

GTB Standard Time - Corrects the display name for GTB Standard Time on Windows Server 2003 SP2 to include Bucharest.

Jordan Standard Time - Adjusts DST start times, end times, and dates according to changes signed in to law after the prior cumulative time zone update was created (February 2007).

Also helpful in the KB article is a table that describes the values in the registry that affect these changes. However, you should use the patch to apply the changes-- it is for information/verification purposes only.

However, aside from the specific list of updates above, the article also points out that there are changes made to all of the below time zone entries:

(GMT-09:00) Alaska
(GMT +04:00) Yerevan
(GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada)
(GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
(GMT+04:00) Baku
(GMT +04:00) Caucasus Standard Time
(GMT+09:30) Adelaide
(GMT-04:00) Manaus
(GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
(GMT-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey
(GMT+02:00) Minsk
(GMT-03:00) Brasilia
(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US and Canada)
(GMT+02:00) Cairo
(GMT+03:00) Tbilisi
(GMT) Casablanca, Monrovia, Reykjavik
(GMT+02:00) Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul
(GMT+03:30) Tehran
(GMT+02:00) Jerusalem
(GMT+2:00) Amman
(GMT+02:00) Beirut
(GMT-03:00) Montevideo
(GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US and Canada)
(GMT-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlan
(GMT+06:30) Yangon (Rangoon)
(GMT+02:00) Windhoek
(GMT+12:00) Auckland, Wellington
(GMT-3:30) Newfoundland
(GMT-04:00) Santiago
(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
(GMT-08:00) Tijuana, Baja California
(GMT-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito, Rio Branco
(GMT+05:30) Sri Jayawardenepura
(GMT+10:00) Hobart
(GMT+08:00) Perth

This much more exhaustive list probably means that most people will want to deploy the update right away.

The fact that this is designated as a cumulative update says that this is a rollup of hotfixes addressed together. If you deployed one of hotfixes to address a specific need of your own network previously, you may also consider this something that "should" be deployed, but maybe not immediately.

While it will not likely affect very many users, there is a known issue with its deployment noted. Apparently if you this update on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1, and you then install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Bucharest will no longer appear in the display name of the GTB time zone (instead it appears as "(GMT +02:00) Athens, Beirut, Istanbul, Minsk" where it should read, "(GMT +02:00) Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul.") The plan is to correct this in a future update (yes, there will always be more). However, if this matters to you, you can use the Time Zone Editor (Tzedit.exe) to modify the display name (the download is in the KB article). And if that is too much of a pain you can also use the following command to trigger the change:

%systemroot%\system32\tzchange.exe /F"GTB Standard Time" /N"(GMT+02:00) Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul"