(1) Computer Cleaning (2) Preventive Maintenance (3) Full Backup
(4) Windows 98—Pro or Con? (5) The Year 2000 Problem (Y2K) (6) A Bios Upgrade
(7) Y2K Countdown 8) Y2K Cure 9) CD Rom 10) Opinion '98 11) Opinion Y2K
A CD-ROM DRIVE IS NO LONGER JUST AN OPTION
NOTICE: A CD-Rom Drive is no longer an option only. New programs and peripheral install software is available on CD-Roms only. When you purchase a new program, a Tape Backup Drive, a Scanner, a Printer, a Video Card, a Sound Card, etc. and open the box, you will no longer find a 3½" disk, you will find a CD-Rom. You need a CD-Rom drive to install new programs and peripherals.
— COMPUTER CLEANING —
If the inside of your computer has not been cleaned within the
last two years, your computer is operating on borrowed time! One
of the most important operations in a good preventive-maintenance
program is regular and thorough cleaning of the system. Dust
buildup on the internal components can lead to several problems.
One is that the dust acts as a thermal insulator which prevents
proper system cooling.
Excessive heat shortens the life of system components and adds to
the thermal stress problem caused by wider temperature changes
between power-on and power-off states. Additionally, the dust may
contain conductive elements that can cause partial short circuits
in a system. Other elements in the dust and dirt accelerate
corrosion of electrical contacts and cause improper connections.
In all, the removal of any layer of dust and debris from within a
computer system benefits that system in the long run. All IBM and
IBM-compatible systems use a forced-air cooling system that
allows for even cooling inside the system. A fan is mounted in,
on, or near the power supply and pushes air outside.
This setup repressurizes the interior of the system relative to
the outside air. The lower pressure inside the system causes
outside air to be drawn into openings in the system chassis and
cover. Your computer system
should be cleaned every 6 months to 1 year depending on the
cleanliness of the environment. Extremely
dirty environments, such as a machine shop or gas station might
need to have their computer system and printer cleaned every
three months.
Floppy disk drives are particularly vulnerable to the effects of
dirt and dust. Floppy drives are the source of a large
"hole" within the system through which air is
continuously drawn in. Therefore, they accumulate a large amount
of dust and chemical buildup within a short time.
Have your computer
and printer cleaned today!
—
Preventive Maintenance —
Preventive maintenance is the key to obtaining years of trouble-free service from your system. A properly administered preventive maintenance program pays for itself by reducing problem behavior, data loss, component failure, and by ensuring a long life for the system. Preventive maintenance also increases your systems resale value because it will look and run better.
What does The Computer Technician Preventive Maintenance consist of?
What Can You Do?
- There is much you can do to prevent problems with your hard drive.
- Run "Scandisk"; every couple days—scandisk is a disk analysis and repair tool that comes with MS DOS and Windows 95/98, it checks the hard drive for errors, corrects any problem that it finds. Type "scandisk" at the dos prompt for MS-Dos.
- Run a full surface scan, once a months (one of the options in scandisk).
- Run "Defrag/f" (for MS-Dos) bi-weekly (another program that comes with MS DOS and Windows 95/98)—a fragmented hard drive performs very slowly and inefficiently—the file allocation table (FAT) becomes so corrupt that it loses track of your files and you develop what is known as a CRASH! Good-bye data!—most or all data is lost in most cases.
- If you are running Windows 95/98, system maintenance can to be performed using the Start menu, Programs, Accessories, System tools, then Scandisk or Defrag.
- Windows 95/98 is not nearly as forgiving as Wiindows 3.1 or 3.11, we have repaired countless numbers of chrashed computers running Windows 95/98, the cause? Users do not run
- Scandisk and/or Defrag, some user have not even heard of Scandisk or Defrag.
- We are suggesting that our Windows 95/98 clients install "Microsoft Plus," because it has "System Agent" which automatically tunes your system, performing task such as disk optimization, error analysis, & more—it also runs "Scandisk" & "Defrag" automatically—thus automatically protecting & tuning your system.
—
FULL BACKUP —
What does every computer professional know about hard drives?
Every computer professional knows that because hard drives have moving parts and a platter that spins at very high speed constantly, it is inevitable that every hard drive will fail at some point in time. It is unpredictable when it will fail, but it will fail. When it fails, where is your data?
How can you protect computers from hard drive failure, human error, etc.? It is very important that you keep current tape backups of your programs, program configurations and data. Your data is valuable and without your computer and data it will be very difficult to conduct business. If accounts receivables are gone how will you know who owes you money? Great losses of time, effort, work and money—all gone. If you are not doing regular backups of your programs, configurations and data, you are playing Russian Roulette with your valuable data and programs that have taken years to develop and streamline.
Why does your system need to be backed up? To
prevent data loss! It is too difficult to maintain backups on
floppy disks with the larger size hard drives. Tape backups
provide the large capacities needed for this service.
Unfortunately, most computer owners and operators find out the
value of backing up their system after they have lost some or all
of their valuable data.
What is our recommendation?
We recommend backing up your computer system regularly. If not, when something happens to your computer or data, in the best case scenario, you get your data back, but you will have to pay much more for a data recovery service. The worst case scenario is, you cannot get your data back, it is destroyed! So be a wise business person, spend a little now, prudently—rather than spending much later, with regret.
We recommend that you invest in a Hewlett Packard Colorado T3000 backup system. Why a T3000? Because it is compatible with Windows 95/98. When you upgrade to Windows 95/98 or if you are already using Windows 95/98, the T3000 will work well with your operating system. If your computer is a shower computer such as a 486 or a Pentium 75, you will need the Colorado FC20 card to boost the signal speed so that the T3000 internal drive can pick it up.
The advantage of the external backup drive is that is connects to the printer port and if you have several computers to be backed up, you can move it from computer to computer. But it is much more convenient to have the tape drive installed internally. Then it can even be setup to do the backups automatically.
And of course there are other brands can can do the job as well, such as Seagate. And there is the Zip drive which will also backup your system.
Note: Please don't fail to backup your system registry—if you do, you will have major problem.
Computers: Run a diagnostic program on your home computers to make sure they are Y2K compliant. Diagnostic programs are available at computer stores or for download at:
Software: Check with
manufacturers of frequently used software programs to find out
whether they are Y2K compliant.
Operating systems: Windows 98 is compliant, but
Windows 95 and Windows 3.1 are not. (Patches can be downloaded
from Microsoft's
Web site to fix the problems.)
Apple says all of its
computers made since 1984 are fully Y2K compliant.
Web browsers: Netscape Communicator 4.0 and
beyond are fully compliant; so are Netscape Navigator 2.02, 3.0.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows and Macintosh are
fully compliant. Internet Explorer 3.0 for Windows has some minor
problems. Internet Explorer 3.0 for Macintosh is still in
testing; compliance uncertain.
Other popular software: Intuit, makers of the
popular financial software, Quicken, www.intuit.com/support/year2000
Norton, maker of utilities and antivirus programs, www.symantec.com/y2k/y2k.html
Financial preparations: Make backup paper
records of all your financial dealings. Include payment records
for credit cards, bills and loans Have enough travelers checks or
cash on hand to get you through a long weekend, more if you feel
concerned your bank might not be year 2000 compliant.
Automated home systems with embedded chips:
Check with manufacturers of garage doors, elevators, heaters and
coolers. Find out whether they include calendar systems and, if
so, whether they are Y2K compliant
Home medical devices: Ask your doctor. Insist on
an answer. (Note: Items such as heart monitors, pacemakers and
infusion pumps don't have calendar functions, but computers that
collect information from them might not be compliant.)
Emergency kit: Put together a kit containing
flashlights (with fresh batteries), food that doesn't need to be
heated, and enough bottled water to get you through a few days,
just in case the power in your area temporarily goes out.
Is Your Office Y2K Ok?
Three Steps to Becoming
Y2K OK
1. Self-Assessment: Assess your
personal and business vulnerability. This includes computers as
well as electronic equipment that use time-sensitive embedded
electronic chips. SBA's Y2K web site explains how to take this
test. Just go to www.sba.gov and click on
theY2K icon.
2. Take Action Now: Don't wait! Expert help will likely
become more expensive and harder to find as The Year 2000
Deadline nears. Fix any problems you uncover now. Test and
document your results. Ask your vendors for assistance. Check
that your vendors, attorneys, CPA, bank and other partners you
depend on are also Y2K compliant.
3. Stay informed: Logging on to various Internet Y2K
sites is an excellent way to stay current SBA's web site is a
good place to start !
For more information, contact the SBA
at (304) 623-5631.
Article contributed by Jayne Armstrong, SBA District Director in
Clarksburg.
SBA Y2K http://www.sba.gov
This article is from PC Week (http://www.pcweek.com/).
Visit this page on the Web at:
http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/news/0706/10moem.html
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OEMs tone down Win 98
warnings
By John G. Spooner,PC Week Online and Mary Jo Foley,
Sm@rtReseller
July 10, 1998 1:43 pm ET
PC vendors appear to be backing away from statements made late
last week that certain PC users should delay upgrading their PCs
from Windows 95 to Windows 98.
OEMs, including Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Dell
Computer Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and
IBM, posted information on their Web sites telling users, in
certain cases, not to
upgrade their PCs and, in other cases, to wait for Windows
98-ready BIOS software and device drivers before upgrading.
Several major manufacturers have now changed their tune as a
result of pressure from Microsoft Corp., according to sources at
the OEMs.
Toshiba early this week pulled the information it had posted
regarding Windows 98 from its support Web site. A warning had
told owners of several Toshiba notebooks not to upgrade to Windows 98 until an
upgraded BIOS that supports Advanced Configuration and Power
Interface is posted to the support site.
Though the BIOS software is not yet available, Toshiba took down
the information. A spokeswoman at the Irvine, Calif., company
said Toshiba is rewriting
the information and will repost it later.
Toshiba isn't alone. HP posted a warning on its Web site saying
that a feature on Brio desktop models can cause "severe" problems under Windows 98. (HP officials said, however, that most other HP PCs
have not shown problems with the operating system.)
HP said wording that addresses the problem on its Brio support
Web site--which reads, "Using the Selective Application
Setup option of the HP Product Recovery CD-ROM under Windows 98
may seriously corrupt your system. Your system may not be able to
restart successfully"--will be changed today.
One of the most vocal PC vendors about Windows 98 upgrade issues,
so far, has been Dell, of Round Rock, Texas. The company, which
last week mailed a letter
to a large number of customers asking them to check its Web site
before upgrading, has also toned down its
warning somewhat.
"I have a passion for letting users know what issues are in
the PC space," said Carl Everett, senior vice president of
Dell's Personal
Systems Group, who as an Intel Corp. executive was involved in
the legendary PR debacle surrounding a math coprocessor bug in
early Pentium chips. "We don't see [the information on our
Web site] as a warning. We provide as much information as
frequently as possible [to customers]. It's certainly considered
an extension."
Still, OEMs continue to
advise users to wait to download updated drivers or before upgrading to Windows 98. Many of them, however, have yet to post the updated
drivers and BIOS software.
In related news, Gateway Inc. announced it will walk users
through the upgrade process with a CD-ROM that automatically
installs the appropriate drivers and other software before they
upgrade to Windows 98.
Microsoft did not return calls by press time.
Additional reporting by John Dodge
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 1998 ZDNet. All rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole
or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of
ZDNet is prohibited. ZDNet and the ZDNet logo are trademarks of
Ziff-Davis Inc.
How about that!!
That's neat how you got my email to your web site. I've told my kids not to try to update to Windows98. They have 486's & would probably crash their machines. We'll wait for Windows2000. Ruth
— . M Y . O P I N I O N . —
My personal opinion is that I really like Window 98, but . . .
First, other than the 32bit hard drive option, I see little difference from Window 95.
Secondly, if you decide to upgrade to Windows 98, make sure that you have a good full backup of your hard drive before you start.
Thirdly, if you decide to upgrade to Windows 98, you will probably need a flash bios upgrade first.
Finally, for the above reasons, if you decide to upgrade, it is probably best to have it done by a professional computer technician.
James
P. Hale, CEO
The Computer Technician
THE YEAR 2000.PROBLEM (Y2K)
Have you heard about the "Year 2000 problem?" If not, you certainly will in the next couple of years.
The problem is that much of today's computer software will be unable to handle the change of dates when we enter the year 2000. Experts have made dire predictions of commerce grinding to a halt as computer systems throughout the world break down, unable to process transactions.
Things won't be that bad, because companies are already working on the problem, but you should be aware of the potential impact on your business.
The problem arises because most computers record dates using only the last two digits of the year, assuming that the first two digits are always "19."
For example, a date in 1998 is stored by the computer as "98." Unless changes are made, computers will read the year 2000 as "00," and assume that this refers to the year 1900. So if a company enters a payment as due in the year 2000, the computer will read this as 1900 and assume that the date has passed.
Imagine how often computers are used to record the dates of bank deposits, bond maturities, hotel and airline reservations, and accounts payable, and you begin to see the scale of the problem.
The good news is that major business and software companies are already working hard to fix the problem. For large companies with custom software, such as banks, utilities, and airlines, the fix will take thousands of hours and cost millions of dollars. They have to search through thousands of lines of computer code to find every place where a date is used, then make the necessary changes.
If you're a smaller company using standard
business software, you should be able to rely on the software
vendor to fix the problem in a future release. Companies such as
Microsoft and Intuit (seller of Quicken) have already announced
plans to issue fixes.
Meanwhile, you should inventory all your software to see what
might be affected and schedule time to install new releases as
they are issued.
By Smith, Cochran & Hicks, CPA's
— . M Y . O P I N I O N . —
It is definately time to upgrade your computer to Windows 95/98 (Windows95 with patch from Microsoft) and upgrade to programs designed to work with Windows 95/98.
My personal opinion is that the year 2000 (Y2k) problem with personal computers is not as big as it seems.
First, the newer personal computers, made in the last few years do not have this problem.
Secondly, Windows 95/98 (Windows 95 with patch from Microsoft) programs get their time and date from the operating system, Window 95/98, which operates with all four digits for the year. So there is no problem with programs that are designed for Windows 95/98.
Thirdly, since this problem can only be solved with software, via bios, card or on the hard drive, it is a software problem. The problem to look for therefore is with MS Dos 6.2 and below and Window 3x (Windows 3.1 and Windows 3.11) based programs. MS-Dos 6.22 is Year 2000 compliant. Windows 3.1 and Windows 3.11 is compatible with a patch from Microsoft.
Fourthly, (1) make sure all of your MS Dos and Windows 3x based programs are upgraded for the Year 2000 problem—with four digits for the year. (2) Or upgrade to Windows 95/98 and use programs designed for them. (3) Or install a Year 2000 upgrade card. or click here for other information, opinions and solutions..
However, the Year 2000 upgrade cards I saw cost double what a new mainboard cost. The BIOS (the root of the problem) is a chip on the mainbord. If the price of the Y2K upgrade card exceeds the cost of a new mainboard, and your computer is not a Pentium, it would be a very good time for you to upgrade to a pentium mainboard. This however would cause a need for a new processor and in much older computers, a change in memory simms.
Finally, any upgrade plan should be geared toward the specifications for the additional goal of upgrading to Windows 95 (Windows 95 with patch from Microsoft) or Windows 98.
Reminder, the root of the problem is the BIOS, or the clock in the bios and the bios is a chip on the mainboard.
There is also software to test your system for Year 2000 Problems. To download free software to test for Y2K problems and possible solutions, click here http://www.simcomcity.com/files/ac2000x.exe. or http://www.suttondesigns.com/NetsaversCenter/Y2K/download.html
To save yourself from a lot of head and heartaches, I recommend taking it to a trained, licensed, insured professional for testing, evaluation and upgrade.
Y2K Upgrade is in Three Distinct Stages
1. The BIOs must be tested and software upgraded if necessary.
2. The Operationg System, Windows 95 and Win 3x must have software patches.
3. Individual programs must be check for Y2k compliance and upgraded or patched if necessary.
Note: Everything needs to operated with four digits for the year and also needs to be able to recognize leap years.
James
P. Hale, CEO
The Computer Technician
By now, anyone who reads the paper or watches
television should be well and truly confused about whether Jan.
1, 2000, will find the computerized world in flames and
civilization destroyed, or merely a little off-kilter and shaken.
The original space-saving decision to use only the last two
digits of the year in computer programs is coming back to haunt
us as we approach the year 2000 -- which many programs will
interpret as 1900.
Governments and businesses the world over are scrambling to fix
the problem, which involves literally millions of lines of
computer code. It's a huge, expensive undertaking, a race against
time that many will win and some will lose.
But what does all this mean for regular folks who don't happen to
control vast computer networks or oversee national monetary
policies? What should they be doing to prepare themselves?
The problem breaks down into two main areas: things we have
direct control over and things we don't. If the automated teller
machines don't work for a week, you can't get in there and fix
them, but you can make sure you've got enough cash on hand to get
you through. At home, you can make sure that all
your electronic devices are ready for the year 2000 -- "Y2K
compliant," in the jargon of programmers -- and that you
sail as smoothly as possible into the future.
USA TODAY'S Elizabeth Weise takes a walk through
a typical consumer's home, pointing out some
appliances and systems to look into.
Inventory
To start, follow the same steps as everyone from IBM to the Mayo
Clinic: Make an inventory of everything that might be affected by
the so-called "millennium bug" and then
do the three Rs of Remediation: Repair, Replace or Retire.
Walk through your home and garage, taking note of
everything that uses electricity. The list will be long, but the
good news is that on it will be few things to worry about. While
many of the electronic products throughout our homes
have clock functions to keep track of the time it takes to make a
pot of coffee, wash a load of dishes or pop a bag of popcorn,
most of them don't have calendars, the source of possible Y2K
problems.
The only home consumer electronics most people need
to worry about are most newer VCRs and older computers: the VCRs
because only the new ones keep track of what year it is, and the
old PCs because they're less likely to know that 1999 is followed
by 2000. Also, some older date-stamping cameras and camcorders
might have trouble. But most newer models are generally Year 2000
compliant, says Elaine Kolish of the Federal Trade Commission,
whose Bureau of Consumer Protection has been looking into
possible difficulties consumers might face.
To find out if your VCR is compliant, set the date to Dec. 31,
1999, 11:58 p.m., and wait two minutes to see what happens. If
the date flips to Jan. 1, 2000, you should be fine.
If it doesn't, there are several ways the error could show
itself. The date might read Jan. 1, 1900, 1999 or something else
entirely.
An incorrect date doesn't mean an appliance won't work. Cameras
and camcorders will just get the year wrong. That probably isn't
a problem for most people, notes Kolish, though she adds,
"if you were counting on filming baby's first steps or a
graduation or wedding, you might want the right day."
Chances are, if your VCR is an older model, it won't make the
switch. Come year 2000, you could lie to it and tell it it's
still 1999. Given the number of blinking clocks on VCRs across
the country and the fact that most of us just record a day ahead
anyway, most people will probably be able to do everything
they've been doing, well into the 21st century.
If you have any doubts, contact the manufacturer. As we draw
nearer to New Year's Day 2000, companies are posting Y2K
information on their Web sites and making information about
product readiness available by fax and mail.
If you don't get satisfaction, yell loud and long, urges Kolish.
"Consumer complaints can be a valuable source of push.
Manufacturers may be underestimating the value of this
information to consumers," she says.
Computers
With computers, it's very important to make sure your system is
ready for 2000. Those bought in the last year should be fine,
though it never hurts to check.
Older computers can be checked with testing programs available at
your local computer store. Symantec, maker of the popular Norton
Utilities, is releasing Norton 2000 this month. Look for more
programs to hit the stores as we get closer to the millennium.
(The Federal Reserve Board has a Web page on the topic at www.bog.frb.fed.us/y2k/pctesting.htm. Free programs are also available through the National
Software Testing Lab at www.nstl.com/html/ymark_2000.html or from Viasoft at onmark.viasoft.com).
These programs are safer than simply forwarding your computer's
internal clock to Dec. 31 of next year, because if your computer
isn't Y2K compliant and gets confused, it might be
difficult to get it back to a correct date. Also, some software
programs might interpret the 18-month leap as evidence that your
warranty has run out.
Users of Apple computers don't need to worry about any of this;
since the introduction of the original Mac in 1984, Apple's
machines have been fully Y2K compliant. But for
those who have questions, the Apple Web site has a section (www.apple.com/macos/info/2000.html) with full information and two testing methods.
Computer software
A bigger problem is likely to be software. Some programs are
offering free upgrades or patches online, some are working on
them, others require you to buy the latest release.
Microsoft's Y2K page (www.microsoft.com/y2k) lists every program the company sells. Not
surprisingly, Windows 98 is fully Year 2000 compliant. Windows 95
is compliant "with minor issues," and requires a
downloaded patch, according to the site.
Those still running Windows 3.1 will have to download a patch,
and look for problems associated with Leap Year 2000, which 3.1
can miss in certain circumstances, the site says. Note also that
as older machines tend to be running 3.1, the machine itself
might not make the shift into the new century.
Word 97 is fully compliant, while Word 95 and Word 6.0 is mostly
compliant for both Windows and Macintosh. Patches are available
to fix "minor problems" in both.
For users of Intuit's Quicken financial programs, Quicken98 is
ready, except for the online banking segment, which the company
expects to have working soon, says spokesman Mark Heisten.
Earlier versions of Quicken are being tested, and Intuit expects
to have computer patches available in October that customers can
download to fix any Year 2000 problem.
At Norton, maker of utilities and anti-virus programs, a list of
Year 2000-compliant software is available at www.symantec.com/y2k/y2k.html. Versions 4.0 and higher of the Norton AntiVirus
program for Windows are compliant, as are versions 5.0 and higher
for the Macintosh. Norton Utilities 2.0 and higher are fine for
machines running Windows 95 and Windows 98, versions 8.0 and
higher are fine for Windows 3.1 and DOS, and for Macs 3.5.1 and
higher should have no problems.
Among Web browser programs, Netscape Navigator 2.02, 3.0 and
Netscape Communicator 4.0 and beyond are all compliant, according
to the company's Web site.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows and Mac is
compliant. IE 3.0 is compliant for Windows with some minor
problems, according to the company's Web site, while Microsoft is
still in the testing phase for IE 3.0 for the Mac.
Financial issues
Most credit card companies started dealing with possible Y2K
problems a few years back when the first cards having '00 as
their expiration date crashed some systems. By next year most
problems at major financial institutions should be sorted out,
according to Kolish, who says the FTC has been meeting with the
Financial Association of America for more than a year.
Still, it's not a bad idea to make sure you keep paper copies of
important transactions for the last six months or so of 1999. If
you have a mortgage on your house, you might also want to request
a letter showing your payment schedule and amount paid so far.
That way, you won't miss a payment if your mortgage company's
computers crash and you don't get a reminder on time, or if their
records are faulty due to computer problems. Being able to
produce records will make your life easier if any of the
financial institutions you deal with do have problems.
"Protect yourself so that you can show that you've been
making payments, what your loans are, how much you've paid,"
says Kolish.
Banks and money
The Federal Reserve is already planning for an increased need for
cash in case of technical problems in January, 2000. The agency
is estimating that America's 70 million households will withdraw
$450 to pay for necessities such as food and gas in case there
are problems. As a backup to the $460 billion in circulation, the
Fed plans to add $50 billion to the $150 billion in cash reserves
next year.
As for how much cash to keep on hand come New Year's Day 2000,
people should need to take out no more money than they would for
a long weekend, suggests John Hall, a spokesman for the American
Bankers Association.
He urges customers to read everything their bank sends them on
the Y2K problem, so they'll know where their bank
stands. He seconds Kolish in encouraging customers to keep paper
records of all transactions for the last few months of 1999.
Although information is highly unlikely to disappear, keeping
paper records will speed things up for customers if a bank's
computers do go temporarily down and tellers have to revert to
older methods.
Embedded chips
Something you might not think of in getting ready for the Y2K
transition are the embedded computer chips in your home
-- in garage door openers, elevators, automatic sprinklers and
heating and cooling systems.
Like other chips inside home appliances, most of
these won't be affected by what the year is; they simply count to
60 before closing a garage door or water the lawn every night at
11 o'clock. But some newer chips have maintenance programs that
keep track of how often they're maintained.
If Y2K issues weren't taken into account in the
chip's maintenance program, the year 2000 might roll around and,
as FTC's Kolish notes, "they'd think 'I haven't been
inspected in 100 years, so I'm shutting down.' "
If you live in an apartment or a condominium, check with the
owner or the condo association to make sure all
computer-controlled systems are tested well before New Year's
Eve. And if you own your own home, now might be a
good time to check with the manufacturers of systems that might
contain such embedded chips.
But people who depend on elevators need not worry they'll come
crashing to the ground on Jan. 1.
Elevators aren't affected by changes in year, and even if the
power goes out the brakes will still work, says Peter Kowalchuk
of the Otis Elevator Company in Farmington, Conn.
"The safeties are electromechanical and their operation is
decided by speed. If the elevator speeds up or slows down, it
trips the lever and the elevator stops," Kowalchuk says.
But the computerized building monitoring systems that run some
elevators might cause problems. These networks allow building
managers to control everything from one central computer -- and
not all those computers are Year 2000 compliant.
A failure of those computers wouldn't cause elevators to crash,
but they might calmly send themselves to the ground floor and
refuse to go anywhere until they've been serviced -- meaning
people who live on upper floors might get more exercise than they
expected on their way home from New Year's parties.
Medical devices
For those who count on home medical devices, the
best advice from doctors is "Ask."
"A lot of times I would imagine the answer's going to be 'I
don't know,' " says Laura Penland of SAIC, a scientific and
technical consulting firm that's working with several medical
centers on Year 2000 compliance. If medical personnel say that to
you, your reply should be "Then find out," she adds.
"The biggest way to prevent trouble is awareness."
The kinds of medical devices patients take home do
fine, says LeeAnne Wrenn, project director of medical device
compliance at Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest
health maintenance organizations. Heart monitors, pacemakers and
infusion pumps generally don't have date functions in their
chips.
The computers that analyze the data these devices produce may
have problems, but that doesn't present any direct danger to the
patient. For example, some home heart monitors
store data and then automatically transmit it to the doctor's
office.
Gary Thompson, director of information services at Scripps
Health, which runs several hospitals and clinics, has found that
most medical devices less than seven years old will present no
problems.
While the first week in 2000 might not be the ideal time to
schedule elective surgery, all three say they expect to be ready
for anything, with shelves stocked and shifts double-staffed,
backup generators at the ready.
Be prepared
If you're the worrying kind, an emergency kit with flashlight,
candles and enough nonperishable groceries for a week or so will
go a long way toward calming fears -- besides, it's stuff you
should have on hand anyway.
By doing these simple things to start preparing now, chances are
you'll have nothing to worry about on Jan. 1, 2000 -- except
maybe a hangover.
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
Computers: Run a diagnostic program on your home computers to make sure they are Y2K compliant. Diagnostic programs are available at computer stores or for download at:
A Bios Upgrade
In the light of the concern for "The Year 2000 Problem", a Windows 98 upgrade may be is a good idea. The root of "The Year 2000 Problem" is the bios.
Definition: The BIOS (basic input/output system) is software or firmware embedded in chips on the circuit board which determines compatibility. Examples of these are IBM, Compaq, AMI, Award, and Phoenix. The brand and version of your bios comes up on your screen when you boot or start your computer.
To upgrade to Windows 98, your computer must be already Year 2000 compliant, or you will have to upgrade it anyway to install Windows 98. The date and time and other computer settings are set in the CMOS and stored in the Bios. In short, the cure all for many of the major current computer concerns is a bios upgrade. Most of the computers made in the last few year can be upgraded with software. And many bios manufacturer and programmers provide bios upgrade software free, they also make the software available for download on their web site.
But again, upgrading the bios installs a new CMOS and therefore the settings have to be re-detected and sometimes renders the hard drive unreadable. So, make sure you backup your hard drives before you begin upgrading the bios or you risk losing all the data and programs on your computer.
I recommend you have the bios upgrade and Windows 98 upgrade done by a professional. It would save you a lot of regrets, heartaches, data loss, time and money.
James
P. Hale, CEO
The Computer Technician
Small Business, Use it or Lose it
— Mom & Pop Businesses vs. Chains —
-Joel Bassett
James P. Hale
First posted on Aug. 19, 1998
With just 500 days remaining, the coming of the year 2000 looms almost mythically, largely because of a decision made decades ago by computer programmers. Left uncorrected, the Year 2000 computer flaw, commonly referred to as Y2K, could threaten the world's electrical grids, financial markets, water supplies and air-traffic control systems. As the deadline gets closer, government and businesses around the world are racing to fix the problem -- but they're running out of time.
Countdown begins:
USA TODAY special reports
Year 2000 Software Windowing Solutions
by Craig Stevens, http://www.suttondesigns.com/NetsaversCenter/index.htm
Solving the Year 2000 Problem with Windowing
Most organizations face a complex and expensive challenge as we approach the year 2000 ... databases, master files and applications will produce incorrect results if not corrected NOW to properly handle dates.
The Year 2000 problem surfaces when dates are used in comparisons, calculations, or to control processing flow. Dates also appear in reports, on checks, and in file transfers.
Estimates are that between 2% and 3% of all code inventory, affecting 20% of all application programs, needs to be corrected, a project that could well be the largest and most complex project ever undertaken.
Handling the Year 2000 problem
When you first look at the year 2000 problem, it appears to be pretty simple. Since the year field is too short, expanding it will correct the problem. But there are hidden complexities to this approach.
. Since many files and databases are shared, the conversion needs to be coordinated.
. Programs that read or write files with dates, but perform no date processing, need to be converted to handle the expanded file format.
. Since date fields appear on screens and reports, significant redesign and reprogramming are needed to accommodate a larger date field.
. Since files need to expand to hold the larger date fields, there is an impact on storage devices.
. Since data entry operations need to enter 4 digit years, workload increases.
. Finally, the conversion needs to consider archival data as well as current data.
Because of the complexity of the field expansion, a simpler method has been devised. The so called date windowing method uses the existing 2 digit year field along with program logic to determine the century, then corrects date related logic based on a derived century field.
This method works when the dates within an application or a program fall within a 100 year range. And, this method can be used without converting any files, changing any data entry screens, or adding any extra data entry workload.
If the date windowing method is appropriate, you can save as much as 75% of the project time, compared to a date field expansion methodology:
. files do not need to be converted (master files, transaction files, archives
. the number of programs needing correction is greatly reduced
. correction can be done a program or application at a time
. the amount of testing is reduced.
. the project plan can be simplified since data files do not need to be converted.
It's not someone elses deadline
There has never been a deadline like this. It may be the first true deadline that the IT industry can't allow to slip, or negotiate, or ignore. Mission-critical systems that are affected by the date change cannot be delivered late, and this truth will change the way we all do business.
The only way we can get through the Y2000 crisis with enough systems intact is to, first, immediately classify them into specific categories depending upon their Y2000 NEED, and then, 2nd, use a windowing solution on each urgent Y2000 application, in the order listed below:
1.Absolutely must have. These are the applications without which the business would be immediately out of business.
2.Need to have. The loss of these applications would represent a major headache for many users. Many important business functions would be hobbled, but the business would continue. Often these are the application systems that replaced backroom manual systems, so in a pinch, they could be manually reactivated.
3.Good to have. These are the systems that a small group of users insist are critical but in reality add relatively little value to the survival of the business.
4.Small-time. These are queries and reporting applications developed for individual users. For the most part, they are run only as a matter of habit.
5.Throwaway. Let's face it, your application inventory is replete with systems that haven't been run in a year or more. For Y2000 purposes, flag all systems that haven't been run in the last 12 months and deep-six them.
6.If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It's unlikely, but it is possible, that some of the mission-critical applications are already fully Y2K compliant. If so, you don't want to mess with them. Also, many mission-critical systems embrace nonessential functionality. It makes sense to identify this nonessential functionality and to defer its correction until later.
7.If it's broke, can we replace it? Sometimes it makes sense to dump the legacy application and replace it with a certified Y2K-compliant packaged solution.
8.The test is "functional equivalence". The bottom line of all Y2000 efforts is to be able to demonstrate that your systems do the exact same thing that they used to do. In other words, the ultimate goal of any Y2000 effort is to determine that the before" and "after" systems are "functionally equivalent".
9.Determine your time-line exposure. When does Y2K first start rearing its ugly head? Do you have systems that add a certain number of years to the current year to get a post-1999 year? Is it months or days into the future that will cross the century mark? Is the duration short term or long term? Only the first three months of 2000, crossing back to 1999 dates? Will you be processing data from the last five years at the end of 2000?
10.Yes, you WILL do windowing. There are two major conversion methodologies to choose from, expansion and windowing. Expansion methodology requires that all date variables be increased in size to accommodate century information. Windowing leaves date variables in their original two-digit formats. The century is determined through the use of a rule using a cutoff year. Windowing offers the primary benefit of avoiding the need to modify data files.
Any time you touch the data and/or the data definitions, you create an opportunity for bugs that will generate even more bugs through ripple effects. This is risky, particularly as time is short. The windowing methodology is therefore the best one to consider now.
The best solution exists at the most fundamental level, where computers operate in ones and zeros through object code. The programming languages that now exist were made possible by a software innovation called a compiler, which translates higher-level languages into the arcane code that actually runs the machines. Today's programmers don't even think about the object code, but attacking the problem at this basic level would avoid the need for thousands of individual solutions at a higher level.
A sound approach would examine every arithmetic operation running through object code, and, insert an escape sequence that would detour any problematical date computation to another program, where the missing century would be hooked to the two-digit year. Rehabilitated, the date would then return to the original application.
With the judicious use of windowing, one could insert logic at each place in which a date is compared or arithmetically operated on to ensure year 2000 compliance. Even better, by using an escape sequence, to call a software driver, the changes could be made DYNAMICALLY and WITHOUT THE NEED to alter the source, or to even re-compile the application!
Date windowing requires no changes to data storage, no conversion of old data, and no changes to screens or reports. Date windowing coupled with an an escape sequence as discussed, would not even require the program source code, and could be put into place, instantly!
In addition, windowed conversions are far easier to manage, because programs can be converted, tested, and migrated to production independently. The changes are isolated, and if problems do occur the old load module can be quickly restored until the error is fixed. Risk is much reduced. With windowing, typically more than half the modules are found to need no changes whatsoever.
http://www.suttondesigns.com/NetsaversCenter/Y2K/download.html
http://www.suttondesigns.com/NetsaversCenter/Y2K/Y2K-Apps.html
http://www.suttondesigns.com/NetsaversCenter/Y2K/Y2K-Links.html
Now! Get the Netsavers Y2K TSR Scanner Kit for only $ 18 exclusively for NetsaversCenter members!
http://www.suttondesigns.com/NetsaversCenter/Y2k/NetY2K/Net2YKdesc.html
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Y2K Note:
It is a good idea to turn off your computer the New Years Eve 2000 and turn it on the day after New Year Day.
— The Computer Technician
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