Copyright 1998 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd

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The Toronto Star

July 22, 1998, Wednesday, Edition 1

SECTION: BUSINESS

LENGTH: 671 words

HEADLINE: YEAR-2000 SYSTEMS MAY NOT BE BUG-FREE

BYLINE: Robert Cribb

BODY:

BUSINESS REPORTER

Just when you thought it was safe to take your company into the

next millennium with your brand new, Year 2000-approved computer

system, there's a small chance you still have a problem.

Richard Coppel, chief executive of Prove It 2000, a British-based

software firm, says even some new systems aren't immune to the

so-called Millennium Bug that threatens to disrupt and even

disable computers as we enter the year 2000.

The problem has to do with real-time clocks in computers that

keep track of time and date information.

Coppel says computer applications that read date and time

information directly from a computer's real-time clock could fail

when the year hits 2000.

''The real-time clock issue is an important one that affects all

computers,'' said Coppel. ''Any application that requires the

real-time clock will be affected, even if the computer is

supposedly Y2K-compliant.''

Experts agree the vast majority of computer programs rely on a

computer's operating system or BIOS (which tells the operating

system how to access computer hardware) for date and time

information.

''For the typical person out there using software they bought off

the shelf, this is not an issue,'' said Peter deJager, a

Brampton-based Y2K expert. ''I think the concerns about real-time

clock problems are exaggerated.''

But older or more esoteric software programs, such as those used

by manufacturing firms, may be foiled by the real-time clock

glitch, said Coppel.

QNX Software Systems, a software firm based outside of Ottawa,

has released an update to its operating system - QNX - to plug

the real-time clock problem.

''It is a real problem, but it can be easily fixed if people are

aware,'' said Mal Raddalgoda, director of corporate

communications for QNX Software, which is used everywhere from

nuclear plants to hospitals to Cadbury chocolate production

plants.

Coppel says not enough companies are aware of the problem because

the computer industry isn't warning them.

''Even if 2 per cent of companies have a problem, those people

are entitled to know about it. The computer industry is blandly

ignoring it.''

Older software programs may be foiled by the real-time clock

glitch

Two months ago, Coppel's company - which develops software to

prepare computers for the millennial change of date - challenged

a Compaq Computer newspaper ad claiming its Deskpro models are

''Y2K-complaint,'' meaning they are prepared for the change of

millennium date.

Prove It 2000 asked the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority to

investigate the ad. While the authority agreed to look into it,

Compaq has just scrapped the ad before any formal decision was

released.

''Our decision not to continue with that ad is not at all related

to (the Prove It 2000 complaint),'' said John Challinor, manager

of corporate and public relations for Compaq Canada.

''It was a financial and marketing decision. Our products are

Y2K-compliant.''

For evidence, Compaq points to independent tests on its computers

performed by NSTL, a Pennsylvania-based information technology

testing firm.

According to NSTL's YMARK2000 test, current Compaq desktop and

portable computers, along with servers and workstations, are

ready for the year 2000.

Mark Paxson, manager of design verification for NSTL, said the

risk of real-time clock problems is ''extremely small.'' But

while he estimates more than 99 per cent of applications are safe

in ''Y2K-compliant'' Compaq computers, he conceded there is no

such thing as a foolproof system.

''If you have some obscure application that uses the real-time

clock, it will have no knowledge of the century. So if an

application accesses the hardware clock directly, its up to the

software to decide whether it interprets it as 1900 or 2000.

''You're at its mercy.''