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Fri, 17 Jul 1998 14:29:02 -0500 Jerry Finch <[log in to unmask]> wrote: <<<< >Many of you have probably not heard of the Year 2000 >problem. In a short version what we have is the inability of >a computer to show the year 2000 as different from 1900 >because programmers many years ago tried to save a little >space by giving the date as mm/dd/yy instead of mm/dd/ccyy >where cc is the century. >>>> Hello Jerry and all, Jerry, you used a special program to see if your computer was Year 2000 compatible. Most of these programs consider in their evaluation whether the BIOS goes "real time" from 12/31/1999 to 01/01/2000, so without the computer having been turned off! BUT.....although the BIOS won't go "real time" from 1999 to 2000, the operating system will. Most programs get their date from the operating system and NOT from the BIOS. There is still hope!!! BTW: Apple MacIntosh computers are ALWAYS Year 2000 compatible!!! To be sure whether your computer is Year 2000 compatible, you have to do the next tests: WARNING: Only do these tests when you know what you are doing!!! - Don't do these tests from within the BIOS-setup screen. - When you have to restart the computer during these tests: start it up only with DOS, bypassing the autoexec.bat and the config.sys. TEST 1: Restart your computer as described above. Change the date with the DATE-command into 12/31/1999 and the time with the TIME-command into 23:59. Then turn off the computer. Wait longer than one minute. Turn the computer on again. See what the date is with the DATE-command. It should be 01/01/2000. TEST 2: Change the date and the time again as in test 1. Wait longer than one minute (with the computer ON). DOS then has changed the date into 01/01/2000. NOW turn the computer off and on again. The date in DOS still has to be 01/01/2000. TEST 3: After test 2, without having turned off the computer, change the date into 02/29/2000. This should be an existing date. If ALL THREE tests were successful, the HARDWARE of your computer is compatible with the Year 2000. Congratulations!!! If only test 1 failed: no need for panic! In most cases you only have to adjust the date after 2000 *ONE* time. THIS DOES *NOT* MEAN THAT ALL *SOFTWARE* ON YOUR COMPUTER IS ALSO YEAR 2000 COMPATIBLE!! Problems can occur with programs that get their files from an external source (a server), databases, spreadsheets, self-made programs. Are you confronted with a "year 2000 bug" in software, you should go to the internet-site of the supplier or the manufacturer. Often there are "patches" available to restore the programs. DO NOT FORGET TO RESTORE THE CURRENT TIME AND DATE AFTER THE TESTS!! Good luck, Hans.