Year 2000 "Bug" - Y2K checks
What it is, what to do, until it's here.

For those of us who have ever written a computer program using a date to calculate funds, or conditions to act upon, we know that in many and most cases, especially back in the 70's and 80's, a 2-digit year was used – this refers to the last 2 digits in the year. OOPS! What about when we get to the year 2000? The computer will think – year 0000? Or something else like 1900? That may signal a crash of some sort.

Could it be that many and most of us had no foresight? Yep! This state that has now been created is referred to as the "Millennium Bug" and is costing a fortune to most companies.

This is because the 3 parts of the computer systems that need to be checked and probably upgraded are:

• 1) the Hardware - this includes the BIOS of the system board
• 2) the Software - all applications running on the system
• 3) the Operating System - what enables the computer to boot

The Hardware vendor will be able to let you know if the BIOS can be upgraded. If so, this should be done by June 1999.

The Software vendors (as many as programs that are running on your system) must be questioned about Y2K (Year 2000) compliance as well. Most vendors have an upgrade which may or may not be accompanied by a fee.

And most importantly as well – the O/S or operating system. Since most PC users are currently running Windows 95, I'll state that Microsoft has addressed this issue and expect that most areas are covered. They continue to do testing.

It is also important to note other fears of the turn of the century, affecting not only the computers we use but the entire economy.

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