Is your computer Y2K Compliant? Test to see

["T. K. Cassidy" <tkc@STORYLADY.COM>]

In response to Toby Z's query regarding Macs and Y2K:

My husband has been doing a lot of researchon this lately. Following is a
sight which will be off value. I have listed the tests to see if your
machine is Y2K compliant. You may want to visit Mr. North's site for more
info. Although his is not a computer person, he is a historian. His site is
full of intersting info. In light of last week's "60 Minutes" I hope more
folks begin to realize this WILL be a big problem.

Best to all...... from Mr & Mrs. Chicken Little

http://www.garynorth.com/y2k/results_.cfm/Personal_Computers

Gary North's Y2K Links and Forums  Category: Personal_Computers (feel free
to mail this page)
Subject:        Testing Your PC for Year 2000 Compliance
Link:            http://www.infowar.com/CIVIL_DE/appendd.htm
Comment:        This document was produced by the Department of Defense's Test
                                        and Evaluation Board (July 10, 1996).

**********************Never run a test before you back up all of your hard
disk drive.***********

                        Link:  http://www.infowar.com/CIVIL_DE/appendd.htm

TEST AND EVALUATION YEAR-2000 TEAM REPORT
to the Test and Evaluation Board of Operating DirectorsJuly 10, 1996

TESTING YOUR DESKTOP FOR YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE

For MACs:

**********************Never run a test before you back up all of your hard
disk drive.***********

A. From the Control Panel select "Setting Date And Time".
B. Using the up/down arrows:
        1). Set the date to 12/31/99.
        2). Set the time to 11/59/01 (minutes and seconds are arbitrary).
C. Select OK or CLOSE the dialog box.
D. Select "Setting Date And Time" again.
E. The date should be at 12/31/99 and the time should be advancing.
F. Wait until the date changes (should roll over to 01/01/00).
G. Time should be advancing.
H. Close the dialog box.
I. Create and save a file.
        1) Select the Apple icon from the menu bar.
        2) Select the file type (ex: Microsoft Word) from pull down menu.
        3) Select File from the menu bar.
        4) Select New from the pull down menu.
        5) Select the desired Template (ex: Normal).
        6) Enter anything into test file.
        7) Select File from menu bar.
        8) Select Save or Save As from pull down menu (save to your Desktop).
        9) Enter the document (file) name (ex: testy2k.doc).
        10) Select Save.
J. Select File from the menu bar.
K. Select Quit from the pull down menu.
L. Highlight the file you created from the Desktop.
M. Select File from the menu bar.
N. Select Get Info from the pull down menu.
O. Verify that the file create date is Jan 1, 2000.
P. If the file create date is correct your MAC computer is Year 2000
compliant .  If the create date is not correct your MAC is not compliant.
Q. Delete the test file (drag the file icon to Trash can).
R. Reset the date and time to today's date and the correct time.

For PCs:

**********************Never run a test before you back up all of your hard
disk drive.***********

A. From your Program Manager Desktop menu select Main.
B. From Main select Control Panel.
C. From the Control Panel select Date/Time.
D. Using the up/down arrows:
        1) Set the date to 12/31/99.
        2) Set the time to 11/59/01 (minutes and seconds are arbitrary)
E. Close the dialog box.
F. Select the Date/Time icon again.
G. The date should be 12/31/99 and the time should be advancing.
H. Wait until the date changes (should roll over to 1/1/00).
I. If the date doesn't change correctly your PC isn't year 2000 compliant.
You can set the date to 1/1/00 and continue test at Step K if desired, but
date will fail.
 J. If the date is correct continue test.
K. Close Date/Time dialog box.
L. Close Control Panel and Main. You should be at Program Manager Desktop.
M. Create and save a file (select Microsoft Word, for example).
        1) Enter anything into the test file.
        2) Select File from the menu bar.
        3) Select Save As from the pull down menu.
         4) Enter the File Name in the highlighted blue box (ex:
y2ktest.doc).                            5) Select a Directory to store the
file.
        6) Select OK (double click on the OK).
N. Select File from the menu bar.
O. Select Close from the pull down menu.
P. Exit Microsoft Word (for example).
Q. Select File Manager from menu bar.
R. Select Directory where the file was stored.
S. Select View from the menu bar.
T. Select All File Details from the pull down menu.
U. Highlight the file you created.
V. Verify the date the file was created is correct (0/1/00). If incorrect
(1/1/:0 for  example) your PC is not Year 2000 compliant.
W. Delete the test file (select File, select Delete from the pull down
menu, select YES from the next three dialog boxes).
X. Exit File Manager.
Y. Reset date and time.

**********************Never run a test before you back up all of your hard
disk drive.***********
The Reason:

The standard PC computer system maintains two system dates; one is in the
CMOS Real Time Clock chip - a hardware component that is normally on the
machine's motherboard - and one is in the DOS (and Windows) operating
system software. These two dates are represented differently. The CMOS RTC
date is kept as century/two-digit-year/month/day and the DOS date is kept
as  days-since-1980/01/01 which is converted to four-digit-year/month/day
when  any program asks for it. When DOS boots, it normally initializes its
current date by reading the date in the CMOS RTC and converting it to
days-since-1980/01/01. DOS maintains its date as long as the system is
running; the CMOS RTC hardware maintains its date whether the system is
running or not, but it does not maintain the century. In the CMOS RTC, year
99 overflows to 00 and the century remains unchanged so the effective year
becomes 1900; in DOS year 1999 overflows to 2000. So until the system is
 rebooted there will appear to be no problem with the transition from year
1999 to Year 2000; but trouble lurks in the CMOS RTC date, which has become
year 1900. When DOS boots it reads 1900 as an out-of-range date from the
CMOS RTC and the date conversion algorithm calculates an erroneous
1980-01-04. That's what the DOS date will become after rebooting the system
after the Year 2000 transition if the CMOS RTC exhibits the standard flaw.

**********************Never run a test before you back up all of your hard
disk drive.***********

Another Test:

To determine if your system suffers the Year 2000 CMOS RTC flaw, from a DOS
prompt set
the date and time to:
        Power off test: C:>DATE 12-31-1999 C:>TIME 23:59 Power off the
system, wait more than one minute, Power on the system. Allow the system to
boot. Check the DOS date. It should read 01-01-2000. If its not (usually
01-04-1980) your machine has the flaw.
Power on test: C:>DATE 12-31-1999 C:>TIME 23:59 Wait for more than one
minute. Check that the DOS year has changed to 2000. Reboot. The DOS year
should still be 2000. If it does not your machine has the flaw.
For a Year 2000 solution for your PC refer to the following WEB site:
http://www.RighTime.com

Now proudly serving Sand Ridge Elementary School, Swansboro NC -
Onlsow County's newest and finest - now online at:
http://sandridge.swansboro.k12.nc.us
T. K. Cassidy, MLIS -     tkc@storylady.com
                                         http://www.storylady.com

The most wasted of all days is that during which one has not laughed. -
Nicolas Chamfort

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