Richard Peters

Y2K or Bust

When this column is printed, only 2 weeks will remain to ensure that your computer is ready for the new millenium. As with all other deadlines for grants, abstracts, etc., we know that many of us have an almost pathological tendency to procrastinate before getting to work. We anticipate that it will be no different for Y2K readiness, and we are writing this column with those of you (who by now must be starting to panic) in mind. We cannot guarantee that your computer will end up being Y2K bug-free by following the advice given here, but it should give you a good start in the right direction. The Y2K bug will affect systems that use a two digit-date format instead of the four-digit format. A computer that uses the two digit-date format will interpret 1 January 2000 as 01/01/00 and will mistakenly think it is 1 January 1900. The confusion can cause disruptions as simple as arithmetic errors in spreadsheets that have dates within formulas or as devastating as the inability to boot your computer. We will dissect the various ways that your system can experience Y2K glitches and will take into account both the Mac and the PC platform. There are three aspects you need to consider when trying to get Y2K ready: the hardware, the operating system, and the software (applications). We will start with the easiest and least risky issues and then move to the most challenging. First, lets review the applications that run on your system. This is relevant whether you have a Macintosh or a PC. Although most Mac users think that the Macintosh is generally Y2K ready, they should realize that the applications themselves that are installed on the computer may not be ready for the New Year. To find out whether your applications are ready, create a list of all the applications that are installed on your computer. Then log on to the World Wide Web site of each vendor to see whether the version of the software you have is indeed Y2K ready. If not, each vendor will provide you with a plan of action. For some, installing a solution (commonly referred to as a patch) is all you will have to do; for others, you may have to upgrade to the latest version of the software. The next steps will focus on the operating system and on the hardware. Here, Mac users are in luck: both the Mac hardware and operating system are Y2K ready. The only thing you need to do is change the date standard to the “yyyy-mm-dd” format in the Control Panels. For PC users, you will have to first determine which version of Windows is installed on your computer. On the Microsoft Web site, you can find upgrades (called Service Packs) that you can install to get your operating system Y2K ready. The Microsoft site also offers a wizard feature that you can download and run to diagnose your system. This Microsoft Product Analyzer determines which version of Windows and which version of any other Microsoft application are installed. A report is generated with a diagnosis, recommended action, and hyperlinks to the Web site where you can download patches. Remember, though, that this wizard only diagnoses Microsoft products. Finally, you should also change the Short Date format in the Regional Settings (in the Windows Control Panel) to one that includes a four-digit year (“yyyy”). The final and riskiest step is to upgrade the hardware. Every time your computer boots up, it runs a number of tests, one of which checks the date. This sequence of events is under the control of Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). Some older computers were equipped with BIOS that can only handle two-digit dates. If that is the case, you will need to upgrade the BIOS or even install a new Real Time Clock (RTC) driver. To find out what you need to do, log on to the Web site of the vendor of your computer hardware and find out what you need to do for your system. Remember that you can run into serious problems every time you modify the BIOS and get to a point where you may not even be able to boot up your machine. So before modifying the BIOS, be sure you understand what you are about to do; it is worth spending some time reading about this or asking a colleague for help. Now that you have a clear road map, back up both your system and your data and then test your backups to be sure that they actually work. Next, you should upgrade your computers BIOS, if needed. Although this is the most risky part, there is no point in going forward with upgrading the operating system and the applications if you cannot make the foundation of your computer Y2K ready. After the BIOS is ready, focus on the operating system and then on the various applications. Links to Web resources featured in this column are available at

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