Microsoft (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd announced that Microsoft
has identified and fixed minor year 2000 issues in the
Microsoft Windows 98 operating system. Customers can download
the free Windows 98 Year 2000 Update from the Windows
Update Web site. You can also order the CD by calling toll
free 1-800-88-3249. Internet Explorer 5 Beta Users Please
Note: The Windows 98 Year 2000 Update for Internet
Explorer 5 beta versions is available only on Windows Update.
No fulfillment CD is available for this version.
The issues identified pose no risk of data loss or PC
damage, and customers would be unlikely to encounter the
issues during normal daily use of their computer.
"Microsoft understands the critical nature of the year 2000
issue and is committed to diligently testing its products and
promptly providing information and solutions to its customers
if issues do arise," said Rich Kaplan, director of the
platforms infrastructure group at Microsoft, in a press
release issued about the update.
Year 2000 Issues Pose No Threat of Lost Data or PC
Damage
While the year 2000 issues discovered in Windows
98 result in the incorrect display of dates in 2000 in certain
rare scenarios, they pose no risk of data loss. Most customers
would have an extremely small chance of ever running into
these issues in their normal, daily computer use.
Below is a complete list of the issues that the Windows 98
Year 2000 Update addresses:
- Date Rollover: If a system is booting at the
precise fraction of a second when the date rolls, the system
clock may display an inaccurate time or date. The occurrence
of this would be extremely rare because the exact time frame
varies from machine to machine and lasts typically less than
1 second.
- Date/Time Control Applet: If a user opens the
Date/Time applet in the control panel and sets the date to
February 29 of a leap year and then uses the up and down
buttons to change years, February 29 might be displayed even
for non leap years. This is simply a display problem,
however. The user cannot apply this incorrect date.
- Dialer.Exe Log: When a user makes a phone call
using the Phone Dialer applet, the log file created after
completion of the telephone call displays the year portion
of the call date incorrectly.
- DOS XCOPY: When using XCOPY in real mode with the
optional parameter /D:date, xcopy does not accept years
entered as two digits, except for the years 80 through 99.
The message "Invalid date" is displayed. When using xcopy in
protected mode (from within Windows), two-digit dates are
accepted but are recognized as being within the 20th century
(for example, 02/05/01 is seen as 02/05/1901).
- Java Virtual Machine: Some year 2000 issues have
been reported in connection with Java virtual machines based
on the Sun Microsystems Java Development Kit (versions 1.1.1
to 1.1.5). For example if a Web site uses Java and makes use
of the java.txt.SimpleDateFormat class library, and the user
enters four digits for the year, the date functions may
truncate the year and use only the first two digits.
- Lagging IP Lease Dates: If a user logs onto a LAN
on or after March 1, 2000, and runs Winipcfg from the Run
command or Ipconfig from the DOS VM, the DHCP client reports
the IP lease date as having been obtained on the previous
day.
- Microsoft Foundation Class Library: After the
year 2000, programs that use the COleDateTime function may
improperly parse a date. For example, 02/05/2000 may display
as 2/05/100. To view an example of this after the year 2000,
from Programs\Accessories\System Tools users can run System
Information (msinfo32.exe) and save the file. Users should
then open this info extension file and from the File menu
select Properties. The date stamp may display the improper
date.
- Microsoft Wallet: When entering credit card
information in versions of Microsoft Wallet that precede
2.1.1383, users must enter the month, day, and year for
expiration dates beyond 2000. Otherwise, information may be
parsed incorrectly. For example, entering an expiration date
of 5/01 could be parsed as May 1, rather than May, 2001.
Users can correct this by installing Microsoft Wallet
version 2.1.1383 or later or by downloading the Windows 98
Year 2000 Update.
- Programming to Data Access Components: If a
programmer codes to ADO or OLE DB, and uses data access
components such as adDate, adDBDate, Dbtype_Filetime,
chooses to use an international date format with periods as
separators, and specifies a year by two digits earlier than
60, then the date may be translated as a time.
- Regional Settings Date/Time Picker: If Regional
Settings in the control panel is set to use two-digit years,
then the date/time picker function may not return the proper
date. Only two digits are accepted at a time. To ensure
proper handling of dates, the user can either set Regional
Settings to four-digit date handling or download the Windows
98 Year 2000 Update.
- WordPad Custom Properties: If a user selects
properties, custom on a WordPad or Word document, the custom
date setting will not accept 2000 as a valid entry when
entered as "00". All two-digit dates are assumed to be in
the 20th century and if the time zone is set to Far East,
the date properties will lose a day when the year is entered
as 2000.
Update Widely Available
Microsoft
is making the Windows 98 Year 2000 Update available through
several channels to make it as easy as possible for customers
to update Windows 98. To assure that all Windows 98 customers
are aware of the update, Microsoft is sending e-mail to all
registered Windows 98 users beginning December 7. The Windows
98 Year 2000 Update is available now on the Microsoft
Windows Update site. In addition, Windows 98 users who
have downloaded the Critical Update Notification from Windows
Update will be automatically notified of the year 2000 update
when they next log onto the Internet.
Customers who wish to order the patch can call
1-800-88-3249. The patch is available at RM35 (fee
covers Freight & Delivery Charges).
In addition, Microsoft is making the update available to
OEMs and will include the update on the Microsoft Select CD
for corporate customers. Some Microsoft vendors will offer the
CD-ROM at select retail locations as well.