Believe me it's real!

 

The most difficult task facing someone concerned with the implications of the Year 2000 Date Problem is convincing people the problem is real. Here is some help in that area.

 

Early Warning

 

This is just a test. It'll only take five minutes. It won't be painless, but... the results may save a lot of anguish in the not too distant future.

 

Set the date on your Personal Computer to December 31st 1999. Set the time to 23:58hrs (11:58pm) and then POWER OFF the computer. Wait at least 3 minutes and then turn the PC back on. Check the date and time. It SHOULD be a minute or two past midnight, on the morning of Saturday, January 1st 2000... My computer responds with January 4th... 1980. Not exactly what you would expect.

 

The problem lies somewhere in your computer. If the system has the wrong date, then all your software has the wrong date.

 

The good news is that this was only a test. The bad news is that on Dec 31st 1999, it won't be, it'll be painfully real.

 

More than 80,000,000 PCs will be switched off as people leave work. When they return, their computers will be all but useless.

 

How bad is the problem? How many PCs will really fail? Based upon predictions of people involved in the Year 2000 problem, upwards of 80% of existing PCs are unreliable.

 

On Jan 1st 2000, more than 80,000,000 PCs will think the Berlin wall is still standing and that Trudeau is still the prime Minister of Canada...

 

When this test was first explained to me, I didn't listen properly. I changed the date, and waited... The date and time behaved properly... I 'knew' the operating system could not be wrong!

 

Powering off the machine during the roll-over makes all the difference.

 

Each PC responds differently to the year 2000. If I reset it to Jan 1st 2000, then it rolls over to Jan 2nd 2000 correctly. Now all I have to do is remember to reset my computer on Saturday, 1st January 2000. Other PCs will not accept the year 2000, refusing to believe it exists.

 

All your applications, Spreadsheets, accounting packages, day-timers, E-mail

systems, even backup cycles will be at risk a few years from now, unless you solve the problem.

 

What can you do? You've several options. Replace all your computers. A few letters to vendors explaining how you're a tad upset... might be appropriate.

 

Apply a kludge to your operating system, Have it read 1980 from the BIOS and add 20 years. Trouble is, each PC fails differently, making sure all your PCs have been fixed, and remain fixed, will be a logistical nightmare.

 

Another option is, do nothing. Why? Because, the problem won't take effect for a few years; you'll probably be in a different job; someone else will fix it; it can't be as bad as I make out etc. etc.

 

In the meantime your problem is growing. Right now, a new PC is being installed. Is it Year 2000 compatible? What about the PCs you buy tomorrow, next week and in 1996?

 

I think the 80% failure rate is too high. This is not based upon any lack of faith in predictions. It's more an unwillingness to believe such a 'stupid' error, could be so prevalent. On the other hand... I have great faith in the laws of Murphy. If anything can go wrong...

 

(Actually I was wrong... after this article was printed in Information Canada, I received more than 140 responses... 97% of the PCs tested... failed. PdJ)

 

Did you test your computer(s)? How many failed? Now do you believe in the Year 2000 Date Problem?

 

The power of this little demonstration lies in it's simplicity. It doesn't take much to imagine all the PCs in the world... all of them... producing some very strange reports. Does this place you at risk?

 

Where exactly does the problem lie? Is it in the RTC? (Real Time Clock) or in the BIOS? or in the operating system? Does it matter? The fact is, an error in processing the Year 2000 will occur more than 80,000,000 times.

 

Many folks point out that a) the computer on their desk will be replaced before the Year 2000, b) that someone will fix it with a software patch, c) that the next release of the operating system will solve the problem!

 

All of these observations are true... but they don't erradicate that this error was replicated millions of times... now... ask yourself the question. If the manufacturers of PCs could make this type of error... what leads you to believe your accounting software is safe... and will handle the Year 2000 correctly?