Y2K 'Quick Fix' For Windows (NOT!)
Dateline: 08/11/99 (updated)
The millennial countdown is still on, with roughly four and a half months to go till Armageddon. Are you Y2K ready? Part of the challenge is figuring out how you might actually be affected by the dreaded Y2K Bug. I won't pretend to advise you, but I will recommend not heeding the advice you read in forwarded emails.
One message currently circulating claims that some VCRs will be rendered unprogrammable by a Y2K defect and says manufacturers are hiding a simple solution from consumers to boost sales of new machines. (Did you really think we could enter the new millennium without a conspiracy theory?)
Another message claims that the year 2000 will be a double leap year wherein the month of February will have 30 days. Since this only happens once every 400 years (says the email), children born on that day will go their entire lives without a birthday.
Arguably, a life without birthdays is much less dire than life without a functioning VCR, but in any case this, too, is a hoax. 2000 will be a leap year with 29 days in February. Nothing to get excited about.
The latest Y2K prank to circulate by email purports to reveal a "quick fix" for non-compliant installations of Windows 95 and 98. However, while it's true that there are minor compliance problems associated with some versions of Windows, they cannot be resolved by following the misleading instructions below.
|
Subject: Easy Y2K Fix please read
I received this today and am passing it on to those of you who might want the information for yourself or friends. For those of you running Windows, this is a fix for a small Y2K problem. After running this quick little test, much to my surprise, I learned that my computer would have failed on 01-01-2000, due to a computer clock glitch. Fortunately, a quick fix is provided, should your computer fail the test. TEST: Double click on "My Computer." Double click on "Control Panel." Double click on "Regional Settings." Click on the "Date" tab at the top of the page. Where is says "Short Date Sample," look and see if it shows a "two digit" year? Of course it does. That's the default setting for Windows95, Windows98 and NT. This date setting is the date that feeds application software and WILL NOT roll over in the year 2000. It will roll over to 00. Click on the arrow button across from "Short Date Style" and select the option that shows mm/dd/yyyy. (Be sure your selection has four "yyyy" showing, not two.) IMPORTANT: Click on "Apply" and then on "OK" at the bottom. It is easy enough to fix, yet every single installation of Windows worldwide is defaulted to fail the Y2K rollover. Now you know how to prepare your computer. Make a copy of these instructions and in five minutes, your computer will be ready to roll over to the year 2000. |
Don't bet on it. Following these instructions will only modify how the date is displayed by Windows. This may resolve compliance issues with certain software products (while potentially causing problems with others), but Windows itself does not require this modification to pass the Y2K test. According to Microsoft: "Windows will store and calculate the date as 4 digits, independent of the date display selected by the customer." I.e., the "quick fix" solution is a hoax.
Unfortunately, some people will take the hoax message at face value and assume they can render their entire system Y2K compliant just that easily. It's got the potential to cause problems for a lot of folks, which makes it rather less amusing than the "double leap year" prank. If you feel the urge to forward this message somewhere, make it to the trash bin. That's where it will do the most good.
