some words for the wise[Fwd: Y2K Results in DOS 6.22]

this is well written and especialy the end applies to us all.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Y2K Results in DOS 6.22
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 09:25:44 -0500
From: "Lloyd G. Rasmussen" <lras@LOC.GOV>
Reply-To: "Lloyd G. Rasmussen" <lras@LOC.GOV>
To: BLIND-L@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU

I wish I had sent this out a couple of days ago.

I have a spare 386 PC at home, built by a local shop in 1992 with an AMI
BIOS and DOS 6.22, which happily runs WP 5.1 Plus, and many other
programs.
 I conducted my own Y2K test on it recently.  I set its clock to a few
minutes before midnight, December 31, 1999, then turned it off.  Twenty
minutes later I turned it back on.  The time was correct, but the date
was
January 4, 1980, which is the first Saturday in the base year of those
PC's.  Date also prompted: "enter date, (mm-dd-yy): to which I responded
"01-01-00". This set the date to January 1, 1980, which isn't much more
helpful than January 4.

Then, at the Date prompt, I tried to enter "01-01-2000" but it wouldn't
take this entry, because it had a four-digit year.

 I next, from the DOS prompt, did a full command line:
Date 01-01-2000
and it accepted this entry and properly set the clock.  I turned the PC
off
and rebooted, and the correct date persisted.  So now I know what to do
to
get that particular computer to be Y2K compliant.

When we boot up, whether on Saturday, Sunday or Monday of the new year,
we
all ought to check the system time and date before doing much else.
Windows 95 and 98 have a clock applet, available from Start, Settings,
Control Panel, Date, which can be used to reset the date and time using
your screen reader, arranged like the vertical wheels of a digital
clock.
If you shell out to DOS 7 from Win95,  at least, it also seems to only
accept two-digit years, so if you set your date that way, you may have
to
employ the procedure I outlined above.

I expect many e-mail systems and web sites to be down for various
amounts
of time, at various times, this weekend.  Please don't flood the
listservs
with "where's all the mail" messages.  If there is any insanity, it
shouldn't take more than a day or two for things to sort themselves out.
But if you have your e-mail program sorting messages by the "date sent"
field, you should check both ends of your mailbox lists, just incase
some
really** old or misdated messages come through from someone.

Have a blessed new year.
Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Staff Engineer
National Library Service f/t Blind and Physically Handicapped
Library of Congress    (202) 707-0535  <lras@loc.gov>
<http://www.loc.gov/nls/>
HOME:  <lras@sprynet.com>   <http://lras.home.sprynet.com

Received on Thursday, 30 December 1999 09:57:33 UTC