UC Berkeley Year 2000 Information Departmental and Personal Computers: Find and Resolve Y2K Problems
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This page was last updated early during the year 2000 and some or all of its content may thus no longer be current or accurate.

Site Map

Looking for Y2K information on a topic other than personal computers?
Find it in the site map to the entire UC Berkeley Y2K Web site Go.
The following is a complete listing of all of the pages on this Web site. Many listings also include full tables of contents:

OverviewGo
What kinds of Y2K problems will you need to resolve? Go

Readiness ChecklistsGo
Macintoshes Go
PCs running DOS Go
PCs running Linux Go
PCs running Novell NetWare Server Products Go
PCs running Windows 3.1x Go
PCs running Windows 95 Go
PCs running Windows 98 Go
PCs running Windows NT 3.5.1 Go
PCs running Windows NT 4.0 Go
Workstations running Unix operating systems Go

Y2K Computer AdvisoriesGo
About the Y2K Computer Advisories Go (October 13, 1999)
Top three potential Y2K problems on your computers Go (November 12, 1999)
Statistical programs Go (November 30, 1999)
Windows 98 Go (December 9, 1999)
Microsoft Office 97 Go (December 15, 1999)

Organizing Your DepartmentGo
The goal: protecting your department's key functions Go

1. Create a Y2K Project and assign resources to it Go
1.1. Form a project Go
1.2. Assign overall responsibility for the project Go
1.3. Assign staff to the project Go
1.4. Join campus mailing lists for peer-to-peer Y2K help Go
1.5. Identify computers eligible for Y2K services through annual subscriptions Go
1.6. Consider whether to "contract out" some of your work Go
1.7. Delegate appropriate tasks to your staff & faculty Go
2. Inventory your hardware & software Go
2.1. Identify what inventory data you'll need Go
2.2. Select tools to help you gather inventory data Go
2.3. Start early Go
2.4. Anticipate challenges in obtaining access to some computers Go
3. Prioritize which computers to work on first Go
3.1. Set priorities Go
3.2. Decide what giving a computer "priority" means for your departmental efforts Go
3.3. (Optional) Communicate to your department which computers are being given priority and why Go
Related documents
Prioritizing: Identifying Your Critical Computers & Software Go

Software ToolsGo
Overview Go
Tool types Go
Recommended Tools Go
References Go

Specific IssuesGo
Recovering from problems
Recognizing and Recovering From Y2K Problems During the Year 2000 Go
Your PC's date is set to 1980, 1984, or some other incorrect year Go
Norton Disk Doctor reports "invalid Dates" or "invalid Time Stamps" Go
Your Web browser reports a "certificate authority expired" error Go
Campus-specific concerns
Campus Researchers: Specific Y2K Computer Concerns Go
Statistics and mathematics programs Go
Computers integrated with or attached to research equipment Go
Y2K requirements of federal funding agencies Go
Hardware
The Y2K Hardware Problem Affecting Many PCs Go
About the Y2K hardware problem in many PCs Go
Overview of the problem Go
Why this problem can occur: a technical description of PC BIOS problems Go
Impacts of this problem: what can happen if your PCs are set to the wrong date Go
Finding Y2K hardware problems in your PCs Go
Option 1: Check with your PC vendor(s) Go
Option 2: Perform manual testing Go
Option 3: Use software tools to perform automated testing Go
Resolving PC Y2K hardware problems before they occur Go
Option 1: Use an up-to-date PC with an already-compliant BIOS chip Go
Option 2: Retire your older, non-compliant PC Go
Option 3: Let your PC's operating system correct the date Go
Option 4: Install a small piece of software to correct the date Go
Option 5: Manually reset your PC's date Go
Option 6: Synchronize your computer's date over the network Go
Option 7: "Flash" your computer's non-compliant BIOS chip Go
Option 8: Install a BIOS upgrade card Go
Option 9: Replace an older PC with a newer, Y2K compliant PC Go
Option 10: Remove and replace your PC's BIOS chip, RTC chip, and/or motherboard Go
When your PC's date goes "blooey": correcting PC Y2K hardware problems after they occur Go

Some other important Y2K issues affecting PC hardware Go
Nearly all PCs' real-time clocks (RTCs) fail Y2K tests. Does this matter? Go
Are there BIOSes which can't retain dates in the year 2000 and beyond? Go
Are there BIOSes which don't properly recognize the year 2000 as a leap year? Go
What is the "Crouch Echlin" (or "TD" or "time dilation") effect? Go


Making a Startup Diskette for a PC Go
If you're making a startup diskette under Windows NT Go
If you're making a startup diskette under Windows 95 or 98 Go
If you're making a startup diskette under DOS, Windows 3.x, and certain other PC OSes Go
Operating systems
The Windows Automation Libraries Determine How Dates Entered With Two-Digit Years Are Handled Go
Application programs
Custom Applications: Finding & Resolving Y2K Problems Go
View information from the Departmental Customized Applications Subcommittee Go
Tools and techniques for resolving problems in customized applications Go
Commercial Off-the-Shelf Applications: An Overview of Y2K Compliance Issues Go
What are "Commercial Off-the-Shelf" application programs? Go
What's the difference between Y2K "compliant" & "non-compliant" applications? Go
How do vendors determine which of their applications are compliant or non-compliant? Go
What percentage of our application programs are likely to be non-compliant? Go
Commercial Off-the-Shelf Applications: Finding & Resolving Y2K Problems Go
Is there an explanation of Y2K "compliance" for application programs? Go
How can you find Y2K problems in your application programs? Go
How can you resolve Y2K problems in your applications? Go
Should you check further once a vendor has declared an application "compliant"? Go
Commercial Off-the-Shelf Applications: Resources for Identifying Y2K Compliance Go
Vendors' Web sites Go
Other vendor contacts (e-mail, phone, fax) Go
Software tools which report on compliance status Go
Summary lists of compliance status Go
Databases of compliance status Go
Peer help Go


Y2K Compliance Status of Selected Off-the-Shelf Applications Used at UC Berkeley Go
Compliance status of application programs not listed below
[Compliant] Absolute FTP
[Compliant] Acrobat Reader
[Compliant] ADSM
[Compliant] Aladdin Expander
[Compliant] BetterTelnet
[Compliant] Citrix ICA Clients
[Compliant] Corel WordPerfect Suite
[Compliant] CorporateTime
[Compliant] CRT
[Compliant] EndNote
[Compliant] Eudora Pro
[Compliant] Exceed
[Compliant] F-Secure SSH Tunnel&Terminal 		[Compliant] Fetch
[Compliant] FileMaker Pro
[Compliant] Free Agent
Host Explorer
[Compliant] Installer VISE
[Compliant] KeyServer
[Compliant] McGill TCP3270
[Compliant] MeetingMaker
[Compliant] [Non-compliant] Microsoft Internet Explorer
[Compliant] Microsoft Office 		[Compliant] MT-NewsWatcher
[Compliant] NetCloak
[Compliant] Netscape Navigator & Communicator
[Compliant] ProCite
[Compliant] SAS products
[Compliant] SPSS products
[Compliant] tn3270 for the Macintosh
[Compliant] Virex
[Compliant] Virex Administrator
[Compliant] VirusScan
[Compliant] WebSTAR
[Compliant] WS_FTP LE
Why you shouldn't rely solely on this list
Legend to symbols


Be "Y2K Savvy" When Using FileMaker Pro Go
Steps you can take to minimize Y2K risks when using FileMaker Pro Go
Apply the vendor's Y2K-related updates to FileMaker Pro 3.0, 4.0, or 4.1 Go
Upgrade FileMaker Pro 2.1 and earlier versions to version 3.0 or later Go
Always enter dates with four-digit years Go
Enable "strict" four-digit-year validation for critical date fields Go
Problems to watch out for when you're using FileMaker Pro Go
Make sure that dates entered with two-digit years aren't assigned to an incorrect century Go
Watch for two-digit-year dates which "switch centuries" when edited Go
Watch for dates which "switch centuries" when imported from a text file Go
Be on the lookout for "dates" stored in Text fields Go
FileMaker Pro's complicated rules for handling dates with two-digit years Go
Data files & data sharing methods
Why You Should Enter Dates With Four-Digit Years Whenever Possible Go
Why you should tell your programs which century your dates fall into, not the other way around! Go
How do your programs decide to which century to assign a date with a two-digit year? Go
What if a program doesn't allow you to enter dates with four-digit years? Go


Data Files: Finding & Resolving Y2K Problems Go
Overview: About Y2K problems in data files Go
Keeping Y2K problems out of your data files Go
Finding Y2K problems in data files Go
Resolving Y2K problems in data files Go


Data Sharing Methods: Finding & Resolving Y2K Problems Go
Overview: About Y2K problems when sharing data Go
Finding Y2K problems in data sharing methods Go
Resolving Y2K problems in data sharing methods Go
Date formats & standards
Changing Your Operating System's Default Date Format To Use Four-Digit Years Go
How to change your OS's default date format Go
Advantages of changing your OS's default date format Go
Limitations of changing your OS's default date format Go
Disadvantages of changing your OS's default date format Go


Standards for Representing Dates Go
Advantages of representing dates with four-digit years Go
Standards for representing dates with four-digit years: mm/dd/yyyy and yyyy-mm-dd (ISO 8601) Go
Disadvantages of representing dates with four-digit years Go
Security issues
"Y2K" Viruses, Worms, and Trojans Go
Protect your computer with anti-virus software and ongoing updates Go
Follow safe computing practices to help prevent the spread of viruses and worms Go
What are "Y2K" viruses, worms, and trojans? Go
What "Y2K" viruses, worms, and trojans have been identified to date? Go
Resources for learning more about "Y2K" viruses Go


Some Web Browsers Will Display Security Certificate Error Messages After December 31, 1999 Go
Web browser upgrades and patches that can resolve this problem Go
Tools that administrators of secure Web sites can use to recommend Web browser upgrades to their site visitors Go
Error messages that some Web browser users will see Go
For more information Go

Recharge ServicesGo
Services Offered to the General Campus Go
Departmental On-site Computing Support (DOCS) Go
Departmental Technology Solutions (DTS) Go
Central Computing Services (CCS) Go
Services Offered Within the College of Letters & Sciences Go
Letters & Sciences Computer Resources (LSCR) Go

Peer HelpGo
Mailing lists for discussion of Y2K issues at UC Berkeley Go
Mailing lists for computer support user groups at UC Berkeley Go
Mailing lists & discussion groups beyond UC Berkeley Go


Find something unclear? Missing? Incomplete? Inaccurate? Or even praiseworthy? Send us feedback about this Web site!

This site is provided by the campus Year 2000 Departmental Computers and Administrative Equipment Subcommittee at the University of California, Berkeley.

Copyright 1999 by the Regents of the University of California.
Disclaimer: The University assumes no liability if the information on this page is used for other than University purposes.