8. How exactly do year 2000
issues affect a PC system?
There are three parts
of every PC system that can be affected by year 2000 issues:
Hardware (Real Time Clock and BIOS)
The
most common hardware problem presented by the year 2000 is
associated with a PC's Real Time Clock
(RTC) and Basic Input/Output System
(BIOS). It is sometimes called the BIOS "rollover
problem."
Software
Operating
System
The computer's operating
system is the software foundation for all other
software programs of the computer system. The operating system
gets its information about the date and time from the RTC and
BIOS, and then typically passes date/time information on to
software programs. For this reason, it is important that the
operating system be ready for the year 2000.
Software Programs
(Standard and Custom)
Both off-the-shelf programs and
custom software
programs must be assessed for year 2000 issues.
Some software
programs have internal calendars that could
potentially miscalculate the leap year or misinterpret a two-digit
date. Custom programs (macros, custom mathematical formulas, and
custom programs developed in Visual Basic for Applications to
enhance an Office application) can also contain a number of
potential year 2000 issues. Personal (Data) Files
Spreadsheets,
documents and database files need to be assessed for year 2000
issues if they contain years that are described in two (rather than
four) digits.
Additional Terms of Use
|
