Are You OK for Y2K?
Perhaps it was 1997 when you first congratulated yourself for completing the Year 2000 survey of your computer hardware and software. Ahh...peace of mind: for the past two years, you have been confident that you are ready and waiting for January 1, 2000.
But Are You Really?
It turns out that companies have quietly been issuing fixes for Year 2000 issues all the time, even for products previously declared to be compliant. Problems can be lurking even in new hardware and software. Two recent events have demonstrated some of the difficulties of keeping ahead of potential Y2K problems.
First, statistics compiled by the company Greenwich Mean Time indicate that eleven percent of PCs manufactured in the first half of 1998 were not Year 2000 compliant! Furthermore, in the second half of 1998 six percent still failed Year 2000 hardware tests!
Second, Microsoft recently announced that even Windows 98, their latest operating system, requires an update in order to be Year 2000 compliant! You can update your Windows 98 PC by clicking on Start, then Windows Update, downloading a large (three megabyte) file and following their instructions. Or, upon request they will send you a CD-ROM containing the patch.
In addition, Microsoft has also found Year 2000 problems in Windows 95 and Windows NT with Service Pack 4, which was previously declared to be compliant, as well as in MS-DOS and Windows 3.1.
Other software vendors are in the same boat. As testing across the globe progresses, many have updated their compliance statements as new problems are discovered. For example, Novell NetWare 3.12 and 4.0 need updates to handle Y2K. The simple fact is that when thousands of people are testing your software, more problems will be discovered. This is more likely to be the case with smaller, vertical market software companies, which do not have the resources to perform extensive testing.
What Can I Do?
Visit the TeamITS web site at www.teamITS.com, and click on the Year 2000 button. This page has a table of programs that were at some point declared to be compliant. While this is a good starting point, to do a thorough job you should visit each manufacturer's web site to find the latest information and any fixes.
Ask one of our Technical Staff members for details on Y2K hardware testing and performing a Y2K software inventory.
Tick, Tick, Tick
1999 will only have about 230 days left by the time you read this. If everyone waits until August to try to fix their problems, there simply will not be enough time for VARs like ITS to install all the new software and hardware required! In many cases the new software will require upgrading older PCs to Windows 98, which in turn will require new PCs or hardware upgrades. Start planning now to allocate time and funds to investigating this problem.
Conclusion
New hardware and software does not automatically insure your system will be OK for Y2K! Thorough analysis and testing is required to properly certify any system for Year 2000 compliance.
May 1999
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