Speakers Jim Austin (the UUA's Director of Information Services) and Barbara Santorella (the UUA's LAN Manager) presented a highly informative workshop on the issue of the "Y2K bug" and how it can affect the computers used by congregations. The Y2K issue is of importance to all computer users and especially to organizations that depend on technology for crucial functions, such as finances.

Said Austin, "There are four main areas of a computer system that are subject to Y2K-noncompliance: low-level hardware, system software, application software, and data." Low-level hardware includes the system clock chip and the system BIOS (which allows the computer to start up and manages most hardware-related functions). System software includes the computer's operating system (such as Windows 98 or MacOS 8). Application software consists of all of the programs used to create documents on a computer (such as Word, Excel, or Quicken). Data consists of database and spreadsheet documents and the formulas and code that the user inputs as part of those documents.

Hardware
Austin recommended that users trying to determine the Y2K-compliance (or lack thereof) of their computers "start at the very lowest level" – hardware. Macintosh computer users can actually skip this step because Macs have no problems at this level. Austin said the easiest way for PC users to diagnose their computer's Y2K compliance is to download the free NSTL test from http://www.nstl.com/. This test is the standard used by major computer makers to determine Y2K compliance.

"As a general rule, if you bought your computer after 1997, it's compliant at this level," advised Santorella. However, many older computers may require another test separate from the NSTL test called a "manual rollover test", which consists of the following steps:

• Using Windows, make a bootable system diskette.
• Start the computer using the boot disk. It will boot into DOS. In DOS, use the date and time commands to set the system clock to December 31st, 1999, 11:58 PM (23:58 on the computer's 24-hour clock).
• Turn off the computer and wait at least 3 minutes.
• Turn the power back on, allowing the system to again boot the inserted diskette.
• Use the date and time commands to note if the date is now January 1, 2000, with a time of 00:xx (where xx is about 2 minutes less than the time between when you set the time to 23:58 and the time you check it).

If the date changed correctly, your low-level hardware is fully Y2K compliant. If not, there is another hope – you can do a manual test to see if you will have to set the date once, after the year changes to 2000.

• Boot the computer using the system boot disk again, if it isn't already there.
• Use the date and time commands to set the date to anything after January 1st, 2000.
• Switch off the computer.
• Switch the computer on again and use the boot disk and the date and time commands to see if the date was retained.

If your computer passed the manual test but not the rollover test, you'll need only to correct the date after the year 2000 begins to make up for your clock chip's Y2K-noncompliance.

If your computer failed both tests, you need to check your vendor's website for either a patch for config.sys to use software to fix the hardware problem or a permanent BIOS upgrade which make your low-level hardware Y2K-compliant. If neither of these is available, your only recourse is to buy a new computer.

System Software
On the system software level, PCs are again the more troublesome. Apple claims that Mac operating systems are Y2K-compliant, but it recommends OS upgrades anyway. PCs with Windows 98 should be OK also, but there are still problems that Microsoft has not yet resolved. For Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, a file manager update is required (this can be found on Microsoft's website). Windows NT requires a Service Pack 4+ update for compliance (which also can be found on the Microsoft website).

Applications
Information on Y2K-compliance for individual applications is usually available on the vendor's website. However, there are also Y2K sites containing information on software from many different vendors. Austin recommended Y2K info sites.

Austin also recommended using general Y2K info sites (like the one found athttp://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/special/y2k/features/main/index.html) to determine what is meant by compliance. Each vendor may have its own definition of compliance. For example, Word 6 is billed as compliant, but it doesn't sort tables with dates with 2-digit years correctly, and when it imports text with dates with 2-digit years, it may interpret it incorrectly. Access 2 has similar problems.

Data
Data, the final area of vulnerability, can be the hardest to analyze accurately. Santorella noted that, "The lowest level stuff is pretty straightforward; it's when you get to the higher-level stuff that it gets tricky." Documents like spreadsheets and databases require users to input formulas of their own devising, and if someone inputs a formula using dates with 2-digit years, they would successfully defeat any Y2K-compliance that the database/spreadsheet application had. However, there are programs that exist which will let you check the design of databases or spreadsheets. They often are part of a package of Y2K tools, including a database of compliant and noncompliant applications which will scan your computer and a function that will scan your databases and spreadsheets for noncompliant formulas.

Other Concerns
Aside from computers, many electronic devices use microchips that may or may not be compliant. Austin recommends that you call the manufacturer to check all important hardware, such as thermostats and alarm systems, for Y2K compliance. Another useful step might be to call vendors and service organizations to make sure that their jobs won't be interrupted by Y2K issues.

All in all, Austin noted, with the proper attention, "it's a manageable problem."

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