Don't Change That Date!

By Claudia Lynch, Benchmarks Online Editor

As January 1, 2000 creeps closer*, you will see more and more articles addressing the possible computer problems associated with that magic number. In fact, we have promised to continue talking about the topic for some time to come. The more you hear and the more strident the warnings, the more you may be tempted to just set your computer's date to 12/31/1999 and the time to 11:59 p.m. and see what will happen. Just to be on the safe side, don't do it!

According to the TipWorld "Year 2000 Tip of the Day" for 10/08/98, that is definitely a bad idea. You will find out if your computer is Y2K compliant all right, but it could also ruin your data and permanently affect your programs and applications. For example, if you did this and then started up GroupWise, all your mail would be deleted when you closed the application (see Making Your GroupWise Mail Immortal for more information on expiring E-mail). That could be very upsetting, so take TipWorld's advice:

Think carefully before taking this approach to testing. There are dozens of utilities on the Internet that will help you determine if your system is Y2K compliant without the risk of this method. A better approach is to check out the Web site of your computer manufacturer for Y2K compliance information.**

In fact, if you are using Windows 95 or Windows 98, you can test your PC's Year 2000 compliance here. If you are using a Macintosh, you don't have to worry about hardware compliance (all Mac's are Y2K compliant), but software could still be a problem. See "Apple and the Year 2000" for more information on this topic. If your computer is owed by the University, your best bet is probably not to do anything and let those support personnel who are responsible for helping to maintain your computer take care of the situation. As the article "Campus Computing News" points out, "the Computing Center is investigating software packages that purport to check other software packages for Year 2000 compliance. The goal of the investigation is to select and purchase a product or several products that will assist the campus in identifying potential problems with desktop application software packages that are now in use." n

* Click here to find out just HOW close . . .

** EDS has a Website, called "Vendor 2000," with compliance information for several thousand hardware and software products that you can check out also.