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What is the Year 2000 problem ? The 'millennium bug', as it is sometimes known, relates to the inability of electronic equipment to cope with dates beyond the year 2000. Where is it a problem ? Some computers, software, even tiny computers built into everyday equipment, are incapable of understanding dates beyond the year 1999. Mainly this is due to the fact that they store dates as two digits instead of four. Thus the year '00' may be interpreted as 1900 or 1980. Systems are still being sold today which have this 'timebomb' built into them. It is a big problem in software, where even a simple spreadsheet that you have written yourself may have a 'millennium bug' even if the spreadsheet package itself doesn't. What could be the consequences ? Imagine a program that calculates a person's age and from this their insurance contributions. Someone who was born in 1955 is 45 years old in 2000. The computer, to work out the person's age, subtracts their birth date from the current year. 00 minus 55 = -55. The computer cannot cope with negative ages &endash; why should it &endash; and so, dropping the negative sign, the person's age is reported as 55. Their insurance contributions go up as a result. Or perhaps they get an overdose of drugs from the doctor. The aspect that we should be concerned with is 'how can I reduce the effect of this problem on my business'. It affects us all, even if we don't directly use computers. Is it just in computers ? No, it is a potential problem in any system with a 'microchip' that processes dates. This includes burglar alarms, fax machines, telephone answering machines, credit card machines, mobile phones, lifts and timers. Are you sure your key suppliers and customers will have resolved all of their problems in time? What about your bank or pension fund? Some major banks have said that they might not lend money to businesses that aren't actively addressing the millennium problem. Don't we have plenty of time yet ? No, what is often forgotten is that the year 2000 issue can raise its head as soon as any date beyond 31st December 1999 is entered into a system. This could be when you enter the end date of your financial year, end date of a project or enter an advance booking in a diary. Surely the PC problem is easy to fix ? Larger organisations, in fact any which have more than a simple network of a few PCs, should already have a year 2000 compliance programme underway. This is because the systems must be fixed by the end of 1998 as that is the last time there is a chance to test to see that everything works OK across a year-end before the big one. The amount of work involved is huge. Smaller organisations need to ensure that their hardware and software is going to cope and that they don't re-introduce millennium bugs at a later date. Where is the potential problem with the PC hardware ? You may have heard people talking about your PC itself being a potential problem. Your PC's clock and its BIOS (the built-in operating system) can potentially have a number of problems with the year 2000. Testing for and fixing these problems is time consuming and unless you know exactly what you are doing you may damage or erase files from your PC. Is 2000 a leap year ? Yes it is. Some PCs will not recognise 2000 as a leap year and may even incorrectly count 2001 or 2002 as leap years. What about off-the-shelf software ? Most bought software is OK. You can check with the manufacturers to see if it is year 2000 compliant But beware &endash; if you have used the software you may have introduced a millennium problem, for instance by storing dates as numbers. Anything that you have produced (spreadsheets, databases, plans) that contain or use dates must be tested. Use four digit years from now on because even the applications within Microsoft Office interpret the century in different ways. Using four digit years is the best way to avoid ambiguity and if a problem arises it will be obvious. How do I tell Windows to use a four digit year ? You will need to tell Windows to display all dates in four-digit year format. Do this as follows: From 'My Computer' double-click the Control Panel Double click the 'Regional Settings' icon On the 'Date' tab, change the Short Date Style to dd/MM/yyyy This will allow you, in most applications, to enter a date with a two digit year. The date will then be immediately re-displayed with four digits, thus verifying that it has chosen the correct century. What should I ask my suppliers ? You should seek assurance from your key suppliers, your bank and any other organisations upon which you are dependent in order to satisfy yourself that they have the problem in hand. After all, if you are unable to do this then you can't reassure your own customers. Will EMU be a problem if I don't trade overseas ? European Monetary Union will affect most UK businesses. EMU involves the introduction of the Euro as a currency and some multinational corporations with large operations in the UK will be switching to using only this new currency. This means that if you want to trade with these companies, you will have to pay them in Euros. What next ? If you would like a full copy of the report, of which this is a summary, please call The Office on 01235 865522. The Office supplies the 'Millennium Bug Toolkit', which will fix any problems with your PC hardware and scan all of your software for millennium compliance. The tests that it performs go beyond those stated in British Standards document PD 2000-1: Year 2000 Conformity Requirements. Installing the Toolkit on your PCs and heeding the information given in the report will go a long way towards satisfying your customers and your bank that you are taking a responsible view of the problem. The Toolkit will: 1. Run 10 definitive tests on your PC to establish whether or not it is millennium compliant. 2. Offer to install a fix on non-compliant hardware. 3. Allow unlimited re-testing of your PC's compliance status. 4. Ensure that your PC handles leap years correctly.
The Software Scan will: 1. Do all the Tester / Fixer (above) does, PLUS 2. Look at ALL the program files on your PC. 3. Offer a total compliance statement on ALL of them. (We give you the manufacturer's statement about the compliance of their product, the manufacturer's advice about upgrading if appropriate, and the source of the information for you to check it out). If you have programs which are not in our database, simply post us the floppy (or email it) and we will continue to review without charge until you are 100% happy. INDEPENDENT REVIEWS: 1) Leading UK Consumer Magazine WHICH , November 1997 Best buy guide: ". . .according to these tests, The Millennium Bug Toolkit had the best clock tests". ". . Extremely thorough test, and a reliable fix"
2) Tecfacs Millennium Bug Toolkit came top with a maximum score of 19/19. From all products tested, Tecfacs recommends our product: "The Millennium Bug Toolkit performs the most tests of any of the software packages tested. The software is simple to use and comes with a straightforward menu system. The software comes with a comprehensive instruction manual and a booklet which makes recommendations on the best solution for your PC from the results of the tests"
3) Robert P. Halpern, Ph.D. http://www.pleion1.com "The Millennium Bug Toolkit™ is a terrific piece of programming and the best solution I've seen to one of the biggest testing jobs we've ever faced" "the first tester software I've seen that treats this problem in a manner I would accept if I were the CIO making the decision"
SATISFIED COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS: "We are using this product to test and fix over 7000 PCs for a major international company. It is very easy to use. The Millennium Bug Toolkit gives total assurance to our corporate customers." Graham Sharp, Able Group Ltd (IT Asset Management Services). +44 (7000) 662000 (UK: 07000 662000). "We are pleased to be able to offer this first-class product as part of our millennium service to major clients. The excellent reviews and our own testing give us complete confidence in the Toolkit's testing and fixing capabilities". Robert Gareb, Uniwell (Australia) Ltd. +61 (2) 9365 3092
Sample Client Base
For between £15 and £58, depending upon which version you need, the Millennium Bug Toolkit offers a lot of peace-of-mind for a small investment. Andrew Lush http://www.theofficegroup.co.uk
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