Every personal
computer relies on a battery-powered internal digital clock (Real Time Clock or
RTC) to keep track of the time and date. But the
RTC only keeps track of the last two digits of the year (for
example, 1999), not the century. It is generally the BIOS (Basic
Input/Output System) of the computer that oversees the century
digits of the date (for example, 1999).
Depending on your computer, the
clock and BIOS may or may not be capable of knowing the correct
date when the year 2000 arrives. If your PC hardware does not know
the correct date (sometimes called a rollover
problem), that error will affect other aspects of
your computer system.
The hardware part of your PC is
essentially the foundation upon which everything else is based. Your
first priority, then, is to find out if your computer's hardware is
ready for the year 2000. If it is not, you will need to take action
to make it ready.
Now let's take a look at your PC's
SOFTWARE. |