Is Your Bios Compliant?

I guess the first question that you might be asking is, "What is a BIOS?" Well, first, let’s recap what the Y2k bug is all about. This Y2K bug is a result of earlier software developers saving memory when designing programs. To do this the developers would store the dates as two digits for instance January 1, 1999 would be 01/01/99. That was ‘all fine’ because the computer would automatically put the 19 in front of 99 to make it 1999. But now that the millennium is approaching, the realization that the 19 can not be placed in front of the year anymore is setting in and it is not ‘all fine’ anymore. Well, the BIOS is the hardware that keeps up with the date in your computer before you ever install any software on it. There are many programs out there you can download to test your system’s BIOS, so you can find out your own BIOS Y2k compliance status.

A couple of these sites you can go to are http://www.cnet.com and http://www.nstl.com.

This article will provide instructions for accessing the C/NET website. After accessing this webite you can click on the Y2K link on the page. This will take you to the Y2K software page where you can download various programs that can be used to test your system’s BIOS. These programs can be found on the Y2k download section of the page. Although there are many software packages out there to test the BIOS, the program that Computer Services used during our Y2K testing phase was the Ontrack Y2K Advisor. Although this was the software chosen by the Computer Services department, you are not obligated to use the same software to test your machine. Computer Services does not endorse nor assume liability for the use of any specific software package . If you decide to use the Ontrack test, here are a few pointers that will help you out:

  1. Get a blank floppy disk and place into your floppy drive.
  2. Click on the Ontrack Y2k Advisor URL to take you to its download page.
  3. Click on the ‘Download Now’ URL.
  4. Select ‘Run this program from its current location’ and click ok.
  5. When it asks, "Do you want to install and run Y2kdisk.exe from www.ontrack.com?" Click Yes.
  6. Click Continue.
  7. Click Yes to License Agreement, if you agree after you have read and understood them.
  8. Make sure your disk is still in the floppy drive and click start.
  9. Click done when finished.
  10. Now you will need to shut down your computer and then restart it with the floppy disk still in the floppy drive.
  11. You will need to follow the on screen instructions which walk you through the test.
  12. Upon completion of the test you will be able to print out the report of your test by printing the file ‘Y2klog.txt’ on the floppy disk. A) Windows 95/98 – Click Start à Programs à Accessories à Notepad. Open the a:\Y2Klog.txt file and print it out. B) Windows 3.1/WFW 3.11 Click on the accessories program group icon and double click on the notepad icon. Open a:\Y2klog.txt and print it out.

This report will show you the tests that were run on your computer and a few suggestions about what steps, if any, you could take if your computer is not compliant.

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