Links and Help for Year2000 Problem and Computing
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The Year 2000 Problem, also known as the "Y2K Bug" or the "Millennium Bug" concerns the method
used to store and process dates in Computers, embedded Chips, and Data Files.
Computer applications and technologies designed prior to the early 1990s addressed the high cost
of data storage and slow processing speed by storing the year as a two-digit number
with no reference to a corresponding century. For example, 1998 was stored as "98" with no means
of distinguishing the years 1898 from 1998 or 2098. When "00" comes up for the Year 2000, many
Computers will view it as 1900 instead.
In systems with Y2K Problem the use of a two-digit date will affect the way the computer
application or embedded technology operates. When a two-digit date field is used post 1999 to
perform calculations or date sorts, the system may stop operating or corrupt the data.
The Bug may potentially lead to failures in application Software, concerning not only your PC
but also business, transportation, utilities and other services.
Especially: Many PC's in use today have Year 2000 non-compliant BIOS and most are operating with
non-compliant Real Time Clock's. PC's like this will fail to keep correct time after
midnight December 31, 1999. Fixes (patches) for your BIOS will then become necessary.
See the Links and the Download Section below.
But that's not all for 2000: There will be a 02/29/2000. Year 2000 is a leap year!
Computers employ certain formulae to determine whether or not the year is a leap year.
These formulae might be affected by the Year 2000 date change. The first calculation is to determine
if the year is divisible by 4. However, if the year is also divisible by 100 then it is NOT a
leap year UNLESS it is also divisible by 400 (Gregorian calendar rule). Some computers have not
implemented this calculation completely and problems may arise. In the Year 2000 systems that
simply divide by 4 will work correctly, since 2000 is divisible by 4. This will only work if
the date stored is 2000 and not 00. You may have a look at
this.
Click here to download resp. view the latest Greenwich Mean Time Document
for the Year2000 Problem (size 700k). Note: Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader Plugin installed.
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Simple Y2K Basic Check for your Computer
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Very simple procedure to test your Computer:
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Set Date on your Computer to MM/DD/YYYY = 12/31/1999 and Time to 23:58,
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Shut down your Operating System and switch off the Computer,
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Wait 5 Minutes and restart your machine,
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Check if your Computer shows correct Date and Time, run your application programs. If you don't encounter trouble,
your Computer passed the Basic Test. This may be enough to test for you.
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Don't forget to reset Date and Time.
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The same test procedure applies to the resp. Problem with 02/29/2000 !
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Download Section for Y2K Check of your PC
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The most important point is a BIOS software/firmware on your PC without Y2K Problem.
In the following I collected some Year200 Test Programs for you.
You may download them to test your Computer, they are all virus-free.
The one from Phoenix/Award is a very intensive one.
A blank or erasable floppy diskette is needed and will be used to create a test disk.
Run the Test Program from Windows or DOS.
The Files are zipped, download and run the exe-Files afterwards.
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Click for Download of y2ktest Check (size 76k) from McAfee 2000 Toolbox.
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Here is the Download of the very good phoenixpcy2000test-fixtool Program
(size 830k) from (but not only for) Phoenix/Award BIOS. Program performs the test and fixes problems!
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Download the also very recommended y2kdiag Test and Fix Tool
(size 1560k) from SecureNet Technologies, comes with Documentation. This Tool is designed for Windows PCs in English, Spanish, German,
French, Italian and Portuguese.
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Links for more Information
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