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IBM PC Systems: Ready for the Year 2000 Challenge
Applicable to: World-Wide
IBM PC Systems: Ready for the Year 2000 Challenge
The Year 2000 challenge spans the entire information technology (IT) industry and includes any system, equipment, product or program that represents the calendar year with two digits rather than four. An example is referring to the 'class of Æ98' instead of the 'class of 1998'. Systems programmed with two digits may miscalculate date-dependent transactions when the year 2000 begins.
IBMÆs broad range of personal computing (PC) products can form the foundation of powerful and affordable solutions to help you successfully transition your computing environment to the 21st century. IBM recognises that many of our PC customers, ranging from an individual home user to a systems specialist of a large corporation, are seeking to understand the Year 2000 challenge and identify practical strategies to address it. This information is dedicated to helping you determine a strategy that is best and easiest for your PC environment.
There are multiple facets of the Year 2000 challenge for you to consider. Evaluating your IBM PCÆs hardware is one of them, but by no means the only one. It is particularly important for you to assess the application programs and the operating system software that run on your PC.
This year 2000 information applies only and specifically to IBM hardware content and does NOT apply to any software content, whether you acquired or created the software on your own, or the software was pre-installed or otherwise provided by IBM with the purchase of the IBM hardware product. It is also important that you contact your operating system and application software developer directly to ensure a complete assessment of your PC environment.
For more general information about the Year 2000 challenge, refer to IBMÆs overall Year 2000 web site at http://www.ibm.com/year2000.
IBM has dramatically improved function and performance of IBM PCs since the first product was introduced in 1981. While IBM PCs have always been capable of correctly processing date information as data, newer IBM PC models are better able to update their internal clock for the millennium change.
How your Computer keeps time
All IBM machines since the AT model contain a digital clock in the hardware. The clock battery maintains the date even when the machine is powered off. Operating systems (such as Microsoft Windows 95 and NT) rely on the PC hardware clock to set their own date and time services each time the system is started.
The hardware clock automatically updates the last two digits (1998) of the date with each passing year. Consistent with PC industry standards, however, the task of updating the first two digits (1998), called the century digits, is left to the system BIOS, Basic Input/Output System.
Legacy IBM PCs
For most IBM PC models introduced before 1996, the BIOS did not include the ability to update the century digits of the hardware clock for the millennium change. Therefore, the hardware clock's century digits may be incorrect after the Year 2000 occurs (e.g., 1900 instead of 2000). When these PC models are later restarted, the operating system may set its own date incorrectly. As a result, software programs may make mistakes when performing date-dependent tasks.
Some current operating systems may try to directly update the hardware clock's century digits for the millennium change. If you desire specific information about your operating system, you should contact the operating system developer directly.
We recommend that users take the simple step of resetting the system date on their older (AT and later) IBM PC on or after January 1, 2000. This will reset the hardware clock for the new century. The following section, 'Strategies to help you meet the Year 2000 Challenge', can guide you through these steps. Once reset, the hardware clock is capable of keeping the correct date when restarted.
For some older models, BIOS updates are available, which improve the PCÆs ability to update the century digits of the hardware clock.
Year 2000 Ready IBM PCs
For most new IBM PC models introduced since 1996, the BIOS can automatically update the century digits of the hardware clock correctly when the system is restarted after the Year 2000 occurs. All current IBM PC models have this capability. IBM designates these models as 'Year 2000 Ready'.
On many Year 2000 Ready PC models, the BIOS can automatically update the century digits of the hardware clock correctly if the machine is powered on during the century transition. Some operating systems, however, de-activate the BIOS timer service after starting the system , preventing this automatic BIOS function from working.
Even if the BIOS is not able to immediately update the hardware clock while powered on during the millennium transition, software programs available on the market today should not be affected if they are Year 2000 ready and follow good programming practices. Year 2000 ready operating systems are expected to keep and update the date correctly after startup using their own services. Year 2000 Ready application programs are expected to obtain date information from the operating system or BIOS service routines, not from the hardware clock directly. If a program does take date information directly from the hardware clock, it might make mistakes when performing date-dependent tasks. If you desire specific information about your operating system or application programs, contact the software developer directly.
We recommend that users take a simple step on or after January 1, 2000 to enable their Year 2000 ready IBM PCÆs hardware clock to reset for the new century. Just turn the system off and then back on again, or restart the operating system.
When IBM introduced the PC/AT model, the hardware real-time clock became part of the system. This hardware clock meant that users no longer had to enter a date each time the system was turned on. Any system since the PC/AT, can have the hardware reset manually.
Manually Resetting the Date on your PC
If your PC has an operating system that is Year 2000 ready, you simply may need to manually reset the date at the turn of the century for your PC to function properly. Select the operating system below that supports your PC and follow the instructions for manually resetting the date:
Manually Resetting the Date in Windows NT
In a Year 2000 ready operating system, the date can be manually reset Windows NT by following the simple steps below. If you are resetting the date in a PC server or PS/2 server, you need to reset the date in a DOS stand-alone environment. See "Manually Resetting the Date in DOS".
1. Click on Start
2. Select Programs
3. Click on MS-DOS prompt
4. At the prompt C:\Windows> type DATE [month]-[day]-2000 and press 'ENTER'.
EXAMPLE: C:\Windows> DATE 1-1-2000
This will synchronize all the timers in the PC.
5. At the MS-DOS prompt, type 'EXIT' and press 'ENTER'
This procedure must be done ON or AFTER January 1, 2000 and needs to be performed only once.
Manually Resetting the Date in Microsoft® Windows Æ95
In a Year 2000 ready operating system, the date can be manually reset in Windows Æ95 by following these simple steps:
1. Click on Start
2. Select Programs
3. Click on MS-DOS prompt
4. At the prompt C:\Windows> type DATE [month]-[day]-2000 and press 'ENTER'
EXAMPLE: C:\Windows> DATE 1-1-2000
This will synchronize all the timers in the PC.
5. At the MS-DOS prompt, type 'EXIT' and press 'ENTER'
This procedure must be done ON or AFTER January 1, 2000 and needs to be performed only once.
Manually Resetting the Date in DOS
On or after January 1, 2000, follow these simple steps to manually reset the date in DOS:
1. Boot to the DOS operating system
2. At the prompt C:\> type DATE [month]-[day]-2000 and press 'ENTER'
EXAMPLE: C:\. DATE 1-1-2000
This will synchronize all the timers in the PC.
This procedure must be done ON or AFTER January 1, 2000 and needs to be performed only once.
Manually Resetting the Date in OS/2 WARP Version 3
In a Year 2000 ready operating system, the date can be manually reset in OS/2 WARP version 3 by following these simple steps:
1. Double click on OS/2 System
2. Double click on Command Prompts
3. At the prompt C:\> type DATE [month]-[day]-2000 and press 'ENTER'
EXAMPLE: C:\> DATE 1-1-2000
This will synchronize all the timers in the PC.
4. At the C:\> prompt, type 'EXIT' and press 'ENTER'. This will return you to OS/2.
This procedure must be done ON or AFTER January 1, 2000 and needs to be performed only once.
Manually Resetting the Date in OS/2 WARP Version 4
In a Year 2000 ready operating system, the date can be manually reset in OS/2 WARP version 4 by following these simple steps:
1. Double click on OS/2 System
2. Double click on Command Prompts
3. At the prompt C:\> type DATE [month]-[day]-2000 and press 'ENTER'
EXAMPLE: C:\> DATE 1-1-2000
This will synchronize all the timers in the PC.
4. At the C:\> prompt, type 'EXIT' and press 'ENTER'. This will return you to OS/2.
This procedure must be done ON or AFTER January 1, 2000 and needs to be performed only once.
Manually Resetting the Date in Microsoft® Windows 3.1x
In a Year 2000 ready operating system, the date can be manually reset in Microsoft® 3.1x by following these simple steps:
1. Double click on the 'MAIN' folder
2. Double click on the 'MS-DOS' prompt icon
3. At the prompt C:\Windows> type DATE [month]-[day]-2000 and press 'ENTER'
EXAMPLE: C:\Windows> DATE 1-1-2000
This will synchronize all the timers in the PC.
4. At the C:\> prompt, type 'EXIT' and press 'ENTER'. This will return you to Windows.
This procedure must be done ON or AFTER January 1, 2000 and needs to be performed only once.
Another option you can take to prepare for a successful transition to the 21st century is to determine whether a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) update is available from IBM for your IBM PC. For some models, updating to the latest level of BIOS can improve the PCÆs ability to update its hardware clock after the Year 2000 occurs.
IBM provides a resource called the IBM Year 2000 Product Readiness Database at http://www.pc.ibm.com/year2000 which can help you determine whether your particular IBM PC model can benefit from a BIOS update. This database can also inform you whether your machine is considered to be "Year 2000 Ready".
The IBM Year 2000 Product Readiness Database generates a report with specific information about your IBM PC model. Read the "Now, Moving On" section for more information about interpreting the report results and obtaining BIOS updates.
The IBM Year 2000 Product Readiness Database will generate a report with specific information about your IBM PC model, for customers with web access.
Once a report has been generated, the database will provide you with one of the following three assessments:
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Ready
The explanation accompanying the database describes the criteria IBM uses to consider whether a hardware system is "Ready". For IBM PC models, a "Ready" designation means that the BIOS will automatically update the century digits of the hardware clock correctly when the system is manually rebooted after the Year 2000 occurs. |
Ready *
If the database report indicates that your PC is "Ready * ", then your model can meet the criteria to be considered "Ready", but only if you update your PC to the level of BIOS identified in the report.
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Not Ready
If the database report indicates that your PC is "Not Ready", then in order to avoid the PC providing potentially incorrect date information, it will be necessary to manually reset the hardware clock after the Year 2000 occurs, using the operating system's command line interface.
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BIOS
If a BIOS update is available for your system, updating to the most current level may improve the ability of the BIOS to update the hardware clock for the Year 2000. This is particularly true if your PC model is designated "Ready * " in the database.
IBM PC Year 2000 Evaluation Tool
IBM has provided a software tool which quickly evaluates PC hardware one system at a time, to assess how the hardware clock will respond to the Year 2000 transition. Some users who have many different IBM PCs may find that it is faster to use this IBM PC Year 2000 Evaluation Tool , before using the IBM Year 2000 Product Readiness Database to generate a complete report. To obtain this Evaluation Tool, please visit the IBM Personal System's Group Web site at http://www.pc.ibm.com/year2000.
IBM Year 2000 Device Driver
IBM has developed a IBM Year 2000 Device Drivers to support several operating systems and is an option for you only if your PC is running one of those operating systems: MS DOS, PC-DOS, Windows 95, O/S2 WARP v3.0, and O/S2 v4.0, and Windows NT. Once downloaded and installed, the device driver is designed to automatically update the century digits of the hardware clock correctly if the machine is powered on during the century transition. It also designed to ensure that the century digits of the hardware clock are correctly updated when the machine is rebooted after the Year 2000 occurs. To obtain a Year 2000 Device Driver , please visit the IBM Personal System's Group Web site http://www.pc.ibm.com/year2000.
The Year 2000 Product Readiness Database provides information about whether your IBM PC model can benefit from a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) update. If you have not referenced the database, we strongly suggest you do so before moving on. Please visit the Year 2000 Product Readiness Database at http://www.pc.ibm.com/year2000. Click on Tools and Strategies.
If a BIOS update is available for your system, updating to the most current level may improve the ability of the BIOS to update the hardware clock for the Year 2000. This is particularly true if your PC model is designated "Ready * " in the database.
Visit the Files Download Library on the IBM Personal System's Group web site, at http://www.pc.ibm.com/support and in the search box provided, enter the BIOS level that the Year 2000 Product Readiness Database indicated your system needs for updating. The files library will find that BIOS level so that you may download it.
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