I would like to start a bit of a multi-logue on prepping for the Year 2000 situation - hope some of you will engage.................
I am working on a summary letter that will go to my "boss" on the situation at the Mt. Cuba Observatory, where I work part time. And am expecting to start it out along the following line(s):
An early (first?) step in the process is to identify the potential Y2K pitfalls as they relate to your situation. Generically, it might look something like:
A. Computer/systems related
1. Hardware/firmware (e.g. BIOS, embedded processors)
2. Operating system(s)
3. General applications
4. Your enterprise specific applications
B. Non-systems related - basically infra-structure
1. Your power supplier
2. Your other utilities suppliers (e.g. gas, water)
3. Your phone/network supplier
4. Your enterprise vendors and suppliers
C. Your role as a supplier
1. Who is critically dependent upon your enterprise
2. What will they expect from you in validating your Y2K compliance
3. What resources back you up (e.g. insurance, business or professional associations)
For those of you involved in real-world Y2K efforts, I would appreciate comments on, and fleshing out, of the above.
[in future issues, I'll continue on this topic - with a fervent hope that I can incorporate some input and thoughts from others in the club - or who might be reading our newsletter] You can email Emil Volcheck with your comments.
Tests run on the MLCUG PC
First, we ran a small utility to test the year 2000 compliance of the hardware (BIOS). The PC passed the test (the first PC I have tested that did!) - a good showing.
Note: as a part of this year 2000 check, we also ran a short utility, called WIN95Y2K.EXE, from Microsoft, that updated two files (winfile.exe and command.com) to make them Y2K compliant. This utility is available on the club BBS for any Win95 user that wants to improve the Y2K compliance of their operating system.
Below you will find the links mentioned at our meetings concering the Y2K issue.