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We are entering the dawn of a new millennium, as the most advanced creature to ever walk they planet (as far as we know). Our technology has become the backbone of our dominance on the planet from the control of fire to to ability to destroy our planet in the blink of an eye, we are masters of our domain RIGHT? Well OK so what's all this dooms day stuff going around, rumors of utter chaos, with defense systems crashing, cars stopping dead on streets, elevators freezing between floors and financial markets grinding to a halt?

Our society has become so heavily dependent on the computer that the little error that was made way back when (see How could this happen? ) Are we facing widespread failure of disastrous proportions? this section will explore this and try to keep you up to date on the latest.

 

This as many of my pages will be a work in progress, As I finish new updates I will get them up if you would like be notified when I have new articles ready Join my mailing list and I will sent you a letter when I get some information out.

 

 

What types of problems can you expect?

Part I: Hardware problems

1. Mac owners: Mac computers can handle dates from 1904 to February 6, 2040. That gives you about 40 years to play with, why Feb. 6? I don't have a clue maybe MR. Mac birthday or something.
2. Apple II computers: if you have one you know they do not have a system clock, if you have a system add on most will work fine.
3. Apple IIgs computers running System 6.0 or later should have no problems. Note:Apple IIgs systems running 8-bit applications will need to load ProDOS 8 Version 2.0 or later to ensure that the applications handle dates correctly.
4. Apple has full information on Y2K issues on its website.

 

Is your computer at risk?

There sure is a lot of emanate gloom and doom going around about the Y2K problem, but how will this affect you computer? I have had people ask me if they would have to plan on buying a new computer after the 1st of January 2000, like by just getting a system after the first it would fix it. There is alot of confusion about what and how to deal with this. As to your computer, well there's bad news and there's good news. Which would like first? Well lets hear the good news is that these problems are generally minor. The bad news well I think you may already know. There there will be problems lets address some of these.

 

When the date changes from "99" to "00" but the century bits do not change from "19" to "20," the operating system sees 1900 instead of 2000. But Microsoft operating systems do not recognize 1900 and automatically reset the system clock to 1980,( I think that is the date they wrote the software). The change of date suddenly to 1980 is one of the best ways to identify the BIOS problem. A BIOS fix has been inserted into the newer Microsoft Operating Systems:. Windows NT 3.51(sp5), Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0 all have logic built into them that will recognize 1900 as an error and will automatically set the date to 2000.

1. The above correction is not fool proof or complete it only addresses the most common BIOS problem. A BIOS problems that the s\above does not compensate for is some BIOSs revert back to 1900 every time the system reboots. When this type of system reaches 2001 Microsoft's solution will not recognize it as a Y2K problem, so once again that system will end up at 1980.
2. Another BIOS problem that some may experience is some BIOS reset the before the operating system starts so Windows cannot interact with it.

How to test your computer for Y2K Readiness

Dates that affect Y2K

See Y2K claims first victim

Red Cross urges to prepare for Y2K

Cadillac not ready for Y2K

Poor countries lack Funds to fix Y2K

Links ( I will add Links as I find them)

Hewlett-Packard: "Year 2000 Program"

Microsoft: Year 2000 Resource Center

Microsoft: Year 2000 Issues and Solutions

Microsoft: Year 2000 Issue - Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft: Year 2000 - Related Links

Y2K:Year 2000 Compliant PC Internal Clock and BIOS

Computer Associates: 21st Century Date Support

BindView: BindView's Year 2000 Frequently Asked Questions

Network Associates: McAfee Associates Year 2000 Date Change Information

Novell: Year 2000

Novell: NetWare...Ready for the next millennium

MSNBC: "Lawmakers: FDIC behind on Y2K"

The University of Texas at Austin Project Resources: Vendor pages on product compliance

The University of Texas at Austin: "Preparing for the Year 2000" by Cathy Lester, Administrative Computing Services and Gary Terrell, ACITS Strategic Planning and Analysis

Plug In Datamation: "A Battle Plan for 2000"

Plug In Datamation, Special Report: "Start Fixing Year 2000 Problems Now!"

Brown University Computing and Information Services: "The Year 2000"

K-State Year 2000 Readiness: "Identify Year 2000 In Your Work Tasks"

Congresswoman Constance A. Morella Chair, House Science Committee's Technology Subcommittee NIST International Symposium on the Year 2000 Opening Address Gaithersburg, Maryland June 9, 1997

Year 2000: The Year 2000 Information Center™

Year 2000: "For many computer and software systems, the year 2000 will bring a host of problems..."

Vendor Compliance Statements

Vendor Compliance Statements: More Links

Vendor Compliance Statements: "Are You at Risk? Why Should I Care?"

Computerworld: "Budgeting for the Millennium"

Federal Reserve Board

 

 

 

I recommend test all systems to see if your system will support the date 2000. To do this simply advance the date one your computer to the year 2005 shut down and reboot, check the date and see if it is right. For a more detailed method click here