- Year 2000, continued...
Everyones problem...
This is not just a big business problem.
It affects essentially every small business personal computer user too.
Y2K is not a "bug" or a "virus". It is a design flaw
affecting hardware and software and there is no such thing as a quick one-time
fix. There is no simple one-size-fits-all solution either, since every PC
configuration is different.
Monitoring
your software will be an ongoing process as suppliers and programmers uncover
new glitches and post remedies on the Internet. Do not delay testing your
complete system. You can expect access to the Internet to slow down and
technical resources to be in scarcer supply as time runs out.
You should be guided in your decisions by your
assessment of how badly your business could be damaged by a lengthy disruption
of your computer systems and from what you learn from your Year 2000 System
check-up.
We can not overemphasize the importance of starting
this process at once and not to underestimate the seriousness of the issues
nor the time and effort required by you to address them adequately.
Warning
It is not realistic to expect a simple one-time fix by buying new hardware
or purchasing & installing a Y2k software package prior to January 1, 2000.
An in-depth analysis now can reveal the hidden issues that may emerge both
before and after January 1.
- Why addressing the Y2K Problem is Vital to your
Business
PC time/date difficulties with the Year 2000 are both varied and pervasive.
it is impossible to predict whether the effect on a particular business
will be a minor annoyance or a major shutdown, or loss of data. It is inescapably
a problem of global dimensions and the cost could run to over £100
billion to fix it. The impact on individual businesses is harder to measure
and depends on how time/date critical are the activities being performed
on their computers. Accounting, Banking and Stock Control applications would
appear to be in the high risk category.
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- Year 2000 System Check-up
Practically every personal computer in use today is susceptible, even new
PCs. All aspects of a complete system need to be thoroughly tested, since
Y2K date errors can be present in hardware, operating system, application
programs or datafiles. Further complicating the issue is the possibility
of viruses, CMOS battery failure (causing your system to revert to pre year
2000 settings) and even other programs and shared data.
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Step 1 Back up
your critical data
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- Step 2 Follow your hardware manufacturer's
instructions (usually published on the Internet) for testing your hardware
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- Step 3 Check your operating system version
and obtain the latest software patch from the Internet
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- Step 4 Upgrade your Anti-virus software
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- Step 5 Identify your installed application
software and upgrade to Y2K compliant versions as necessary. Install
Y2K monitoring software to provide ongoing assistance over the Internet,
if possible.
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- Step 6 review your critical datafiles
(including accounting, inventory, spreadsheet, payroll records) for
Y2K compliant file content. Note: Record all software fixes or patches
for reference in case you ever need to reinstall in the future in case
the files become corrupted or updates deleted by mistake.
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