What is Y2K?

 
When the majority of today’s computer systems were first created, the designers had to decide how to define dates in computer data.

This date value was defined then by assigning a number to the day, month and year that it represented.

The programmers decided (to save space in bytes in memory) to define the year field using a 2-digit rather than a 4-digit representation.
 
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, at the time legacy (or mainframe) system programs were being written, computer memory was in short supply and very expensive.
 
Two-digit year representation was a logical and available choice. Most computer designers believed that their computer programs would become obsolete well before the turn of the century.

Why we have problem now?

Many of the larger ‘mainframe’ computers in which these computer programs reside are still in use.
 
Many of the original programs and corresponding data were brought along from one generation of machine to another.
 
Large number of software and hardware companies is still using the abbreviated two-digit year data format well into the 1990’s.
Will affect different countries, industries, companies, agencies, individuals and families in different ways.

How To Address Y2K

For a corporation and for a government or government agency a Year 2000 Project manager has to be assigned. He will be in charge of the entire initiative.
 
To properly assist this person, an appropriate and sufficiently large support staff must be allocated.

It is our duty to raise awareness of the Year 2000 Problem in our communities. Let your Head ( Pengarah, Dekan, Ketua ) know that we take this problem very seriously and we must take appropriate action.

  Embedded Chip Year 2000 Problem  

Embedded chips are microprocessors (small computers) that are found in single, isolated devices like cellular phones, microwave ovens and pacemakers, and automated systems such as elevators and security systems.
 
Their responsibility is to regulate the basic functioning of these machines -- from making sure that pacemakers keep on ticking, to controlling when security alarms go off.
 
Many of these embedded chips contain date references to help them perform certain basic tasks essential to their proper functioning. For example, a pacemaker would likely have an internal, computerized device that records, monitors and then logs heart activity. While the monitoring and recording parts are not time sensitive, the logging part would be done using a date field – usually using the non-Year 2000 compliant two-digit representation.

Year 2000 Problem in Personal Computers

Every PC comes equipped with a set of computer programs called the BIOS (Basic Input Output System), which is permanently stored in a memory chip. The BIOS controls the machine’s vital functions every time it is switched on.
 
PCs also have a battery-powered clock that keeps an accurate check of the time and date, regardless of whether the PC is switched on or off. The clock feeds the date and time to a ‘special’ memory chip (called a CMOS chip) which stores information vital to the PC’s working while the machine is switched off.
 
The BIOS on many ‘new’ PCs is designed to switch the century date stored in the CMOS from 1900 to 2000 if it finds that the clock has changed from ‘99’ to ‘00’. But if the PC is left on, the BIOS may not intervene. The computer is likely to crash before anyone realizes that something is wrong.
 

There are three time keeping players in a PC.

1. BIOS ( Basic Input Output System )

    
   Provides the interface between the operating system and the PC hardware. Sometimes stores the ‘century part’ of the year (ie. the ‘19’ in the year ‘1998’). Works when the computer is turned on.

2. RTC ( Real Time Clock )
    

   Maintained in a battery-backed computer chip, the RTC battery-backed computer chip, the RTC functions as a running clock and a keeper of two-digit year values ( the ‘98’ in ‘1998’ ). Works when the computer is turned on or off.

3. CMOS ( Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor )

If any of the above three parts malfunctions, or if the interface between the parts does not work properly, the personal computer will not be able to process Year 2000 dates. Add to this the problem that software that resides on the PC may not be Year 2000 compliant, and what we have is the potential for some serious Y2K headaches. So get your computers checked.

Download FREE Y2K BIOS Test

Just create a boot disk (see your computers documentation on how to create a startup disk)  and copy the zipped files to the boot disk. Boot your system from the new disk.