Personal Computers (PCs) - Operating Systems

Several operating systems are available for PCs. The ones reviewed below are the most common available today. In order that these operating systems provide the correct year beyond the year 2000, both the hardware and operating system must be compliant. In addition, it is still necessary that you test your individual applications even though the hardware and operating systems are okay.

DOS - IBM version 3.3 or later. This version allows the entry of 4 digits for the year in the Date function.

MS-DOS 6.22. This version is compliant with minor issues. MS-DOS recognizes dates beyond the year 2000. It does not display the full year, but will sort files correctly. MS-DOS will not accept 2-digit date changes for the year 2000 and beyond. To enter the correct date, a 4-digit year must be entered to the DATE command. See the Microsoft Year 2000 web page for additional details.

OS/2 - OS/2 Warp 4 is currently Year 2000 ready.

Microsoft Windows 3.x (FAT16) - This version is year 2000 compliant with minor issues. It will allow for year values up to 2108. Compliant BIOS versions must be used or the date must be set manually. Previous versions of Windows are not considered to be Year 2000 compliant. The minor issue involves setting the date to 2/29/2000 in the Control Panel. This cannot be done with the mouse; it must be done from the keyboard.

Microsoft Windows 95 - This version is year 2000 compliant with minor issues. The Windows 95 file system (FAT16) will allow date values to 2108. The Windows 95 file system (FAT32) will allow date values to 2108 also. The Windows 95 runtime library (WIN32) will allow date values to 2099. A revised Windows File Manger is needed to display dates beyond 2000. A download patch is available on the web site. Two Find File problems can occur for years beyond 2000. Please see the Microsoft Year 2000 web site for details.

The source of the above information was the respective vendor’s Internet home page. The URLs for these sites are:

Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/year2000/

Hewlett-Packard (HP) Personal Computers -
Hardware (IBM clones)

HP has already addressed the year 2000 transition in its Vectra PCs. All Vectra PCs introduced since the end of 1995 handle the rollover to the year 2000 without any problem. These Vectra PCs are:

Apple Personal Computers

IBM Personal Computers

Note: The following information is extracted from the IBM document, The Year 2000 and 2-Digit Dates: A Guide for Planning and Implementation, Sixth Edition

In original Pcs and Xts, the hardware did not have an internal real-time clock. Therefore, the time and date had to be manually set each time the machine was booted. Beginning with the AT, personal computer systems maintain two dates: one date in the hardware component, and one in the operating system software (for example, DOS or Windows). The date in the operating system software is created by converting the date in the hardware component.

All IBM machines since the AT have a century byte in the hardware; it is used by the basic input/output system (BIOS) to determine the century. However, that century byte does not typically roll over by itself at the end of 1999. You will have to reset it manually using either the Setup program (provided either on floppy disk, hard disk system partition, or via a BIOS program) or use the DATE command found in either DOS 3.3 or later or OS/2. Once reset, the state is maintained (by the clock battery) while the machine is powered off. This is the same procedure used to re-enter the date when the battery (which supports the timer) loses its charge and is replaced.

All new models of IBM PCs announced in 1996 will automatically update the century byte.

For IBM Pcs purchased in the first half of 1996 and earlier models, some might require your use of a command or CMOS update utility to change centuries, however, some might not require any change.

DESKTOP PC HARDWARE

Hardware Type: PC and XT, all models - No internal clock. You must enter the date when you re-boot the system.

The following Hardware types require the Century byte to be set manually: XT286, all models; AT, all models; PS/1; PS/2; PS/55; APTIVA, all models before 1996; 2144-xxx; 2168-xxx

COMPAQ Personal Computers (PCs) - Hardware

The Year 2000 problem with personal computers is a combination of hardware, firmware and software. The elements involved are the ROM BIOS, the Real Time Clock (RTC) and the application software. Compa q has started to resolve the hardware and firmware problem as noted in the tables below.

Note that with any computer software, the hardware and operating systems may be year 2000 complaint, but the application may still be susceptible to the problem. Testing is the primary method for determining the application's year 2000 situation.

Compaq computers will handle the year 2000 problem by testing the 2 digit year and if it is less than "50" the century will be set to 20. Note that this only occurs at startup. If the machine is left running over the rollover from 1999 to 2000, the century bit will not be updated.

To determine the date or version of the ROM, run INSPECT, then view the ROM information. SoftPaq solutions mentioned below are available on Compaq QuickFind and the various Compaq online services.

Portables:

Armada 4100 - If the ROM is less than Version 586J_012397, flash the ROM with SoftPaq SP2826 or later.

Armada 1100 - System ROM needs to be dated January 97 or later. SoftPaq under development.

Contura 400/410 - If the system ROM is less than Version 4K_051796, flash the system ROM with SoftPaq SP1652 or later.

Contura 420/430 - If the system ROM is Less that Version 4K2_042996, flash the system ROM with SoftPaq SP1651 or later.

LTE Elite - If the system ROM version is less that 09/12/96, flash the system ROM with SoftPaq SP2341 or later.

LTE 5000 Series - If the system ROM is less than Version 5.50, flash the system ROM with SoftPaq SP2452 or later.

Presario 1000 - No action required.

Commercial PCs:

Deskpro 2000, 4000, and 6000 - No action required.

486 and Pentium Deskpro/ProLinea 486G Family - If the system ROM is less than Version 486G_082996, flash the system ROM with SoftPaq SP2442 or later.

486 and Pentium Deskpro/Prolinea 486Y Family - If the system ROM is less than Version 486Y_082996, flash the system ROM with SoftPaq SP2441 or later.

486 Pentium, and Pentium Pro Deskpro XL 486W Family - If the system ROM is less than Version 486W_030996 Rev. A, flash the system ROM with SoftPaq SP2169 or later.

486 and Pentium ProLinea E 586Z Family - If the system ROM is less than Version 586Z_042496, flash the system ROM with SoftPaq SP2168 or later.

Consumer Desktop PCs:

Presario 3000, 4000, 6000, 8000 Series PCs - No action required.

The above information is from the Compaq internet homepage.

Microsoft Office Software

Microsoft has made a major change in their attitude about the Year 2000. This change is reflected in a new web page that provides information about their products and how these products handle the year 2000. Below is a summary of the web information to assist you in using Office related Microsoft applications.

Be sure to review Microsoft’s Year 2000 web page for more detailed information. Other Microsoft products not covered below are also on the web page. The URL for the new web page is:

http://www.microsoft.com/year2000/

The components of Microsoft Office include WORD, EXCEL and PowerPoint. In some Office versions, ACCESS is also included. In addition to these components, this paper will include MS Project.

WORD

Previously Microsoft has indicated that WORD was Year 2000 compliant. Now they indicate that WORD for MS-DOS v 5.0 is not compliant. If the system date is set to a year of 2000 or greater, the document will be saved with invalid "creation date" and "revision date" fields.

WORD 6 is compliant with minor issues. Sorting of dates within a Table using only two digit years may cause problems. You are encouraged to use 4-digit year fields because of this problem.

WORD 95 is also compliant with minor issues. The issue here is the same as with WORD 6 above.

WORD 97 is compliant. WORD 97 stores dates as 4-digit year fields. If you use 2-digit years in a Table, the SORT will consider the values 00-29 and being year 2000 and values 30-99 as being year 1900.

EXCEL

EXCEL 5.0, EXCEL 95, and EXCEL 97 are all compliant. But, be sure to note the following differences if 2-digit shortcut dates are used. EXCEL 5.0 and EXCEL 95 use ‘20’ as the pivot year. This means that EXCEL will interpret 00-19 as 2000 dates and 20-99 as 1900 dates. EXCEL 97 uses ‘30’ as the pivot year, so that 00-29 will be interpreted as 2000 and 30-99 as 1900 dates.

PowerPoint

PowerPoint v 4.0 is compliant with minor issues. The minor issue involves opening a PowerPoint 95 or 97 file with PowerPoint 4.0. Dates after 1999 may be displayed with a preceding ‘1’. A work around is available from the Microsoft Year 2000 web site.

ACCESS

ACCESS 2.0 is not compliant. Two digit year formats are all considered to be 1900 dates. For dates in the year 2000 and beyond, 4-digit year formats are required.

ACCESS 95 and 97 are compliant. ACCESS 95 may need a DLL file update to handle 2-digit year fields correctly. The file is available from the web site. Please see the Microsoft Year 2000 web site for details.

Project

Conversion History Files

The handling of history files for a system that is being converted to handle the year 2000 must not be overlooked. The existing programs that handle these files will be modified to handle 4 digit years or they will not work when the year 2000 arrives. That creates a potential problem when that modified program tries to access historical data files. To convert all existing history files to have 4 digit year fields would be a very large effort. So what are the options to deal with this situation?

1. You could modify the programs that will read these files so that the programs would use a form of "Windowing". This is a technique that reads 2 digit dates and applies a century designation based upon a pivot date. What this means is that if you chose "50" as your pivot date, then years 50-99 would have a "19" put in front of them. 2 digit years of 00-49 would have "20" added to the front. In this instance the dates on your historical files must be between 1950 to 2049. This technique works when you know there will not be any dates prior to the pivot year.

2. You could consider the history files no longer necessary and get rid of them and start building history files with the converted system which will create new files with 4 digit years.

3. The history files could be converted to all 4 digit years to conform to the converted master files. This would mean developing special conversion programs to read in the current history files and write out new files converting the 2 digit years to 4 digit years. This will likely be expensive in computer and personnel resources.

4. Another option is to have programs that read, extract and print records "as is" from the history files. This situation would require any dates to be manually interpreted. Dates could not be used very effectively as a means of extracting records.

Embedded Systems

Embedded systems are systems that are controlled by a computer chip or a desktop computer. Examples of these types of systems are building air conditioning and heating, security access systems for buildings or parking lots, and voice mail systems. Each of these systems needs to be checked to make sure they will function properly in the year 2000. This type of situation has already occurred in New Zealand where several smelting plants shutdown in 1996 because the controlling computer systems did not recognize the leap year. This problem is a date-related type of problem such as the year 2000 problem. The following discussion will point out why you should look into each of the systems in your building that may affect employees at the rollover from 1999 to 2000.

Badge readers

These systems generally are used as access control. They can be inside buildings or used in controlling parking lots. If the computers controlling the badge readers do not recognize the year 2000, then you may find that deactivated badges now work or that all active badges are suddenly locked out. This could occur if the date for deactivation is for the year 1999 and at rollover to 2000, only two digits are checked. Ninety-nine would then be greater than the year of 00, the computer then believes 99 is in the future, and the badge is not deactivated. This same type of situation can occur if activation is based upon a date and the reader believes that the 99 is in the future and now it will not allow access to the badge in the year 00.

Environmental Systems

Many environmental systems in buildings are set to recognize weekends in order to shut down air conditioning or heating for dollar savings. The wrong year can mean the controller thinks it’s a different day causing wrong off and on decisions.

Elevators

Some building elevators control access to certain floors of the building during weekdays and certain hours of the day. These systems can also be programmed for holidays. In the event the controlling computer loses track of the date, the elevators may shutdown entirely or allow access to controlled areas to anyone getting on the elevator. These situations cause people inconvenience at best or a security problem at the worst.

Security Systems and Cameras

If these systems require a date or the cameras put a date on the pictures they take, then they must be checked. If the date is incorrect, the pictures being taken may not be considered to be accurate. Other elements of the security system may have the same problem with a bad date as the badge readers above. In either case the integrity of the security systems may be compromised. You will have to determine what exposure you will have in the event a bad date is used within these systems.

Video Recorders

Video recorders may not be able to handle the year 2000. Be very careful if you consider testing these yourself. There have been cases where the machine could not be reset to the proper date after testing found that the machine would not handle the year 2000. If you are purchasing a new recorder, be sure to ask if it will handle the year 2000 or you may have to buy a new one in just 2 ½ years.

Application Testing Considerations

There are some tests that you should perform on your applications concerning the Year 2000.First, the machine and operating system you are running on must be Year 2000 compliant. This currently includes the Unisys mainframes, Macintoshes and some IBM and IBM compatible PCs. Testing is not simple or easy. Good testing takes effort, thought and some tedious work in some cases. A good understanding of the application is important when putting together a comprehensive test plan. But, there are some tests that should be run concerning the Year 2000 that you should be aware of. Below are some of the things that you should consider when preparing for your Year 2000 testing.

1. What is the "event horizon" for your application? This means "when will the year 2000 start impacting your system?". For some systems, this is already happening. If the system is trying to handle a future date that falls after December 31, 1999 and it is not capable of dealing with 4 digit years, then it will probably cause you problems. This may be obvious to some system owners, but not so obvious for others. Why is this important? This means that your system may have problems before the year 2000 if it tries to handle future dates and is not set up to deal with them after 1999. Some tests that can help show up problems would be to set the date forward to 1998 and test, then set the date to 1999 and test again.

2. Set the date to January 1, 1999 and run some tests. This will check to see if perhaps the system has some special handling for the year 1999. For systems that looked at 2 digits, they sometimes had special handling for records with "99" and not just considering it as the year 1999.

3. Test with date set to January 1, 2000. This will check to see if the system handles the turn over from 1999 to 2000.

4. Test with the date set to February 29, 2000. This will test date edits that verify the correctness of months and days within months. The date of February 29, 2000 is valid since the year is a leap year. Some programs may not catch this. For programs that compute day of the year, thisshould be day 60.

These are some special test cases to see if your system will function into the year 2000. Don't forget to test your system after it has been modified for the year 2000 to be sure it still works today the same as it did before the changes.

For application systems running on the IBM mainframe, there is now a product available that will allow a programmer to set up a future date for a particular job, regardless of what the system date is. This will allow some limited unit testing to be conducted before the operating system is fullyYear 2000 compliant. If you have any questions about this product, please ask your Lockheed Martin AS&P person about it.

In addition to setting the date of the system ahead for year 2000 testing, it may also be necessary for your application to have some of the data changed to reflect the year 2000. This requires your knowing how particular dates are handled within the systems and how future dates can affect the results of the process. This data includes history files, transactions, data entry records, reports, output files and any special run-time date records.

In planning your Year 2000 tests, you should give careful consideration to what results you expect from each test. For each transaction or record being processed, indicate what should result if the system operates correctly. This takes a lot more time at the start of your testing, but cansave time later on. When you are reviewing the results of your tests, you will be able to spot major problems pretty easily most of the time. But, there will be times when the expected results will be different from the actual results. Here you will need to go back over the situation to make sure that what you expected was correct. If it was, then the program needs a modification to produce the correct results and the test re-run. Now you can compare actual to expected results much quicker and usually more accurately. This aspect of test planning is one of the most difficult things to do at first, but turns out to be one of the most important things you can do to get good results from your testing.

Testing Personal Computers for the Year 2000

Some of the early models of the personal computer may not have the capability to set or roll over the system clock beyond the year 2000. The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) may not be aware of the century digits. Below are some tests to perform on your PC to check the Year 2000 readiness of your machine.

Important Note: Before you run any of the following tests, make sure that your machine is NOT hooked up to a LAN or that you are not logged onto the LAN. If there is any question in your mind about this aspect of the testing, please contact your departmental LAN Administrator. Let them know what you are planning to do and they will make sure your PC is not connected to the LAN during your tests.

In addition to disconnecting from the LAN, you should have a backup of any important data file, and even better yet, a backup of your entire system, that resides on your hard drive before you perform the following tests.

In order to find out if your PC is Year 2000 compliant or not, perform the following steps:

To test if the system clock can be set beyond the year 2000:

1. Set the system clock to 2000/01/01, 00:01:00
2. Check the date
3. If the date is set correctly, power off, power on, and then re-check the date.
4. Test the system clock automatic update function.

To test the system clock automatic update function when the power is on:

1. Set the system clock to 1999/12/31, 23:58:00
2. Keep the power on
3. Wait until the clock reaches the year 2000
4. Check the date
5. If it is set correctly, power off, power on, and re-check the date.

To test the system clock automatic update function when the power is off:

1. Set the system clock to 1999/12/31, 23:58:00
2. Power off
3. Wait until the clock reaches the year 2000
4. Power on
5. Check the date

Miscellaneous PCs - Hardware (IBM clones)

Below are listed some additional PCs and their stated Year 2000 compliance.

NEC Technologies, Inc.

The Image 433 models and newer are compliant. NEC feels that these should be checked to make sure, and if not, contact them for a new BIOS update. For early models with Pentium chips, BIOS upgrades should be available. To see if upgrades are available for the BIOS in the model you have check on the NEC web page at http://www.nec.com, and perform a site search on "BIOS upgrade".

Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc.

Toshiba has concluded that all notebook computers containing BIOS version 5.0 and higher will function correctly when the date change occurs. Below is a listing of current machines that have or can be upgraded to BIOS version 5.0 or higher.

AST Computers