Software to Squash the Millennium Bug in Your Data Files

A lot of people don’t realize that their data files might be more vulnerable to the “millennium bug” than their hardware or software.

I became aware of that recently when I ran Norton 2000, a $49.95 package from Symantec that checks for year 2000, or Y2K, compliance on Windows 95, 98 and NT systems. Unlike some Y2K compliance programs, Norton 2000 goes beyond checking the hardware and operating system and checks your application software and data files.

My hardware checked out fine. I found a minor, fixable problem with Windows 98 and minor problems with a couple of applications.

But I found lots of data files that had two-digit year codes that could cause problems after Dec. 31, 1999.

When it comes to the data files on my PC, I don’t have anyone else to blame for the problems. During the last 15 years I created some spreadsheet and database files that called for a two-digit (i.e., 87) instead of four-digit (1987) date code. Like a lot of other people who used or programmed computers at the time, I wasn’t thinking about Y2K back then.

It’s a good idea for you to check your data files and to consider changing years to four-digit codes. The reason I say consider is that you might not have to change the codes at all if you no longer use the file or the date isn’t a critical component of the file. I discovered when I ran Norton 2000 that I didn’t even know I still had a lot of old files with two-digit date codes.

In most cases they were databases that I didn’t need any more, so rather than fix them I just deleted the files, clearing wasted hard-disk space.

Of course, you should also be sure that your hardware, software and operating systems are also Y2K compliant. Norton 2000, IMSI’s Survive the Millennium Bug and Network Associates’ Year 2000 Toolbox all perform tests to make sure that your systems are prepared.

Norton 2000 begins by doing a system date test to be sure that your machine will roll over to Jan. 1, 2000, handle the leap year on Feb. 29, the non-leap year in 2001 and the leap year in 2004. It then scans your operating system and all of your application programs to determine if any are non-compliant.

If it finds some, it attempts to give you as much detail as possible, including the software maker’s Y2K Web page. I found out that my copies of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Outlook 97 weren’t up to date in regard to the Y2K issue.

The program pointed me to the appropriate Microsoft Web page, where I was able to download “patches” to fix the problems. Another option, for Microsoft customers, is to simply visit https://www.microsoft.com/technet/topics/year2k/ and look up each of your products. Most software companies have similar Web pages.

Lawrence J. Magid can be reached via e-mail at larry.magid@latimes.com.