It's almost here, a completely new millennium. Will it be disaster? Or is this just fiction and is the whole thing just one big fantasy so that hardware companies can earn some big bucks out of it? And what about 1999? And what's up with September 9th 1999?

Unprepared computer systems and software that use two digits (for example: 1998 is read by the software or hardware as 98) for the current date will go from (19)99 to (20)00. If, for example, a hardware device changes from the year 99 to 00 two possible problems can occur: The device reads the year 00 as 1900, or the device doesn't understand that the year after 99 is smaller, 00, because it expects that the next year should be a larger number.

But, there is another problem. Some programmers used the year 1999 (99) and/or September 9th 1999 (99/9/9) as a number for testing their software. What will happen when that date will actually arrive? What will the software do if it's not prepared for these dates?

That's kind of difficult to say. If hardware/software is not prepared, and not ready for these dates, unexpected things can happen. And that's exactly one of the dangers of the millennium problem (for easy reading I'll call the 1999, September 9th 1999 and the year 2000 problem together the millennium problem).

A question I've been asked many times is "why?". I understand that some people, especially those who do not work with computers often, wonder how it is possible that a simple year change can cause so much trouble. To give you an example of a reason: Imagine 20 years ago somebody created a program. He/she did not check it for millennium bugs, because he or she believed that within those 20 years before 2000 arrives the software will have been either changed or updated. The program turned out to be perfect, and it was being used in all sorts of other software packages. Since it was only a small part of the other software packages nobody really thought about it that it might cause problems in the year 2000.

This is just an example, but this could be the cause of a millennium problem at the moment.

Personally I believe large networks are going to experience the most problems. It's the chain reaction I believe is going to cause the largest millennium problem. For example, imagine a large network. All PC's are connected to each other and every PC owner on that network has been told to check their PC and software for millennium bugs. On one PC, a small network application has not been checked and turns out to not be millennium proof. The entire network shuts down because of this one small application on this one PC on this enormous network. Again, this is just an example. At this moment anyway.

Before going into what you can do at home to prepare for the new millennium first a checklist of possible apparatus and other things that might be affected by the millennium problem. This is not a complete list!

• Computers (BIOS etc.)
• Software
• Databases
• Alarm systems, security systems
• Clocks, watches
• Microwaves
• Stereos, radios, VCR's, TV's
• Airconditioners
• Car radio's, security systems
• Refrigerators
• Telephones, answering machines, fax machines, mobiles, beepers
• Time controlled garden sprinklers, time controlled devices

How I prepare for the new millennium? I'm trying to get everything checked and done before September 1999. I am double checking all things in my house I believe are vulnerable to the millennium problem, checking my software, and I even bought a new PC (not only for this reason). Although my new PC is said to be millennium proof, I took an extra 2 year on-site (next business day) warranty. Just in case. I also prepare by buying some extra batteries and candles in case of a power failure etc. Last but not least: I am not going to fly on September 9th 1999 and December 31st 1999! I am going to sit at home, and see what happens at 0:00 01/01/00.

So, what can you do? I can't tell you how you can check all your apparatus, hardware and software to be 100% sure that they will work in the new millennium. However, I can give you some hints/suggestions on how you can check for possible bugs.

1. Check with the company you bought your computer from to find out if your system is millennium proof.
2. Check with the company you bought your software from to find out if your software is millennium proof.
3. Buy software that checks your system for the millennium bug. Some Y2K protection software can also be downloaded from the Internet. MPSmits.Com has a special page with downloadable Y2K related software. Below is a list of some of the companies that build special Y2K protection software.
   • About Time Group, Inc.
   • NSTL, Inc.
4. Create a checklist for yourself with all apparatus in your home you can think of. Keep this list up-to-date and check all these apparatus for the millennium bug. If you don't know how to check the apparatus for the bug, contact the company you bought the apparatus from.
5. When you buy new apparatus, make sure it is guaranteed to be millennium proof.
6. Better safe than sorry: backup all your data from your PC.
7. Read newspapers, magazines etc. and see what the latest news is about the millennium problem.
8. A lot of countries have special organizations at which you can get information about the millennium problem. If you have any questions, ask them. They are there for you.
9. If you own a business, hire somebody who is specialized in the millennium problem. Let a professional check out all your systems and software.

Be sure to check new software too! For example: Windows 98 has a millennium bug! However, it does not appear to be serious. If somebody boots his/her machine at 11.59 and X seconds, X depending on the speed of the hard drive or processor, the date can jump two days forward or one day back in this one second. Although not really serious in my opinion, it IS a millennium bug.

The final test for the millennium bug will follow soon. On 23:59:59 December 31st 1999 that is.

(Article written by Marcel P. Smits in 1998)