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Your PC is just a computer. It can't do anything bad if it's just sitting there.
   technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

On the first day of Y2K, don't shift into panic mode


Dec. 26, 1999

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©1999, Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©1999, The Syracuse Newspapers

   You wake up on New Year's Day, the first morning of the new millennium, and your computer is making funny noises. Or the little green drive light is blinking real fast. Or there's a strange message on the screen. Or ... or something seems to be terribly wrong and you can't quite figure it out.
   What do you do?
   If your answer is "PANIC," cheer up. You've got company. Millions of other computer users around the world are worried about Y2K problems, too. And you can bet that most of them don't have a clue about how to handle a problem that seems related to the Year 2000.
   So settle back with a cup of coffee or a mug of tea and find out what you should do after the year, decade, century and millennium roll around. I'll make this as simple as possible.
   The most important thing is this: Your PC is just a computer. It can't do anything bad if it's just sitting there. If you're worried about something it's doing, walk away from it. Leave it alone for a while. Turn it off if you think something bad will happen.
   Next, PCs that are fairly new won't have a problem with the date. Unless you have a PC made five or more years ago, it probably will know that the year 2000 is not the year 1900. So stop worrying about that part of the problem.
   If your PC is old and you haven't done anything to fix it, you win the procrastinator's prize -- the award will be sent out some time next month, or maybe the month after that -- and you should look at the date in your screen to see what Windows comes up with. Move your mouse pointer over to the clock at the far right of the System Tray and hover over the time. Windows will show the date.
   If the year is correct, relax. Go do something useful and come back later. If the year is not shown as 2000, go to the Web site run by the company that made your PC or call the company's toll-free number and ask what to do. The primary responsibility for the Y2K compliance of the computer you bought from XYZ Corp. rests with XYZ Corp.
   While you're waiting for the manufacturer or store to help you, do something smart. Change the date to 2000. It won't hurt anything. Double click on the clock (using the left mouse button) and type in 2000 in place of the wrong year.
   What you should NOT do is assume that your PC will blow up or do something weird just because the year is wrong. Change it to the right year and find out what the people who made your PC will do to fix it.
   All of you who went away because the year was correct can come back now. Everybody has to listen up. We need to talk about the weather.
   You heard me right. Where I come from it can rain just about any day of the year. Now suppose I look out the window and see that it's raining (or maybe snowing) on New Year's Day. Aha! A Y2K problem!
   Of course it's not. It's just the weather. We all know that.
   So put your brain in gear and apply the same principle to computer problems. Your computer can make a funny noise any day of the year. (It's probably just the fan.) Your PC can stumble during bootup at any time. The floppy drive can get sticky whether the century changed or not.
   You get my point. Don't blame normal problems on the Year 2000. They happen all the time. If you see a problem, give it a 90 percent "been-there, done-that" rating before you assume you've been hit by the Y2K bug.