Y2K Guide: Anatomy of a Millennium Bug

[Robert J. Tiess]

Y2K FOR TODAY ~ "Anatomy of a Millennium Bug"

This morning I added a section to my Y2K guide entitled "Anatomy
of a Millennium Bug," which shows, through some of my own old C++
code, how certain programs will be *immune* to BIOS flashes and
Real Time Clock device drivers and continue to be potential
problems after December 31, 1999.  These "millennium superbugs,"
as I've come to call them, are not easy to get at, and this is
an easy code example compared to the complex applications out
there in great number, running as you read this....

Links:   http://members.tripod.com/~rtiess/y2k.htm
         http://members.tripod.com/~rtiess/now.htm

If you have not yet conducted Y2K compliancy tests at your library,
do so as soon as possible. There are several free diagnostic tools
available from IBM, Symantec, and others.  Links to these and other
resources can be found in the guide.  There is no excuse for anyone
not to know about this.  Information and solutions are out there.

This problem is real and must be addressed.  For example,
subscription CDs on older PCs may return expiration messages and
fail to run in light of the 1999 - 1900 rollover.  Contact--or have
your tech staff contact--your current software and hardware
manufacturers, visit their websites, and try to determine what steps
need to be taken, if any.

Way too many people I have spoken with have done nothing with their
systems.  The fact that you may have a newer system does not
automatically exempt you.  It's more than just a matter of BIOS
chips, believe me.


Good luck,
Robert

rjtiess at warwick.net
http://members.tripod.com/~rtiess