Y2K: Clocks oblivious to century change

By Chris Barton

When it comes to whether your PC will survive the date change from 1999 to 2000, there is no more vexing issue than the real-time clock.

It turns out that nearly all real-time clocks, even those in new computers, are a few bytes short of a century. They will not know when it's 2000.

But many will tell you that the real-time clock (RTC) - the battery powered chip that keeps time when your computer is switched off - doesn't matter a fig.

What's really important, they say, is your Bios (basic input output system) - the firmware inside your CMOS (complimentary metal oxide semiconductor) chip that asks the RTC for the time when your PC starts up.

Get your Bios to understand that "00" means 2000 and not 1900, and you can rest easy. That's because most software takes its timing information from the Bios, not the RTC. Problem solved.

Download a software "patch" for free from the Internet. Install it and your PC celebrates the new millennium like any other day.

If only it were that simple. Unfortunately there's one or two spanners in the works.

Some software packages bypass the Bios and get time direct from the RTC.

Examples include Unix, Xenix, some voicemail software and a whole bunch of custom-made software. Why? Beats me.

Then there's the matter of how prudent it is to rely on a patched piece of software to keep you PC going - especially "terminate and stay resident" fixes.

Software like this can easily get deleted or removed from your startup file (autoexec.bat). Getting a proper Bios fix is definitely a better solution - but that's not always easy. You must track down the manufacturer and sort out which version is right. More recent "flash" Bios's can be fixed by loading a 2000 aware version directly to the CMOS chip. But for older Bios, generally those made before 1991, it's more complicated - hence the widespread use of patches.

Increasingly a number consultants working in the Y2K fix arena are turning to hardware for a more permanent solution. Bruce Stewart, managing director of Computer Specs, says: "If your car fails any of the tests on a warrant of fitness, it doesn't pass. Nearly all computers fail the RTC test, but they're deemed okay. You can't use software to fix hardware."

Computer Specs recommends replacing the entire motherboard of your PC with an RTC that's got enough bytes to see the century coming. But fully-compliant motherboards are expensive and not that common either. The alternative is a Bios board - which corrects the RTC. The boards take up a standard expansion slot in your PC and will work in anything from a PC with a really old 80286 chip to those using the latest Pentiums.

It should be pointed out however that a hardware fix, while a lot more secure than a software patch, still doesn't automatically fix the software in your PC.

Old software and old files with two-digit date formats can still muck things up.

Worse still, software isn't fixed nearly as easily as hardware. It's a laborious process of checking which versions you have and then checking with the manufacturer to find out if an upgrade is necessary.