IS YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPPED FOR THE YEAR 2000?

Byline: Rich Colley Guest Column

Somewhere in one of those Stanley Kubrick movies dealing with space in the years following 2000, a shrouded apparition tells the voyagers that ``something wonderful is about to happen.''

Well, if you're going to go where no man has gone before, the passing of Dec. 31, 1999, may not affect you. But if you're on planet Earth, the Times Square New Year's ball is going to squash millions of computers and even more programs.

Should you, the home and small-business user, worry?

Yes. And no.

Nothing like a direct answer. Actually CEOs, military chiefs of staff, programmers, banks, stock markets and scientists are all scratching their heads. They will be adversely affected. In fact, that type of user (mainframe, custom-programmed, databased and long-term) will be financially set back to the tune of billions of dollars. They know it, too, and the smart ones are scrambling to rewrite old code and restructure their data.

Now what about us? Small-business or home user, run a few workstations, own a desktop, plot checkbooks and stock holdings with Quicken, and keep our correspondence with any one of dozens of word processors? Will we suffer?

That depends on how new your systems are. The box that hums next to your desk is dumb. Doesn't even know what time of day it is unless we tell it. All that information resides in the CMOS, which is accessed on boot-up by (in most late-model PCs) pressing the ``Delete'' key when prompted (watch the boot-up screen; it's there). Some older PCs use a different key combination to access the ``setup'' screen (in which CMOS and BIOS settings reside).

The specifics of your individual computer are all maintained here, by a program that runs on a battery when your PC is shut down. And by ``programs'' that are either old or new, which really seems to be the crux of the situation.

New BIOSes, new personal programs, new operating systems, virtually any new PC product was designed in the past six to 18 months. Those programmers knew to watch out for 2000 and have programmed accordingly. They know it's a bug that will bite worse than Mike Tyson and cost even more.

So, want to test your PC to see if its BIOS is old or new? Here's how.

First, let me suggest that if you are using an old 386, even an early 486, you probably won't be happy with the results of this test. Your old BIOS wasn't programmed to know the year 2000 existed. We'll run this test from the C-prompt, but you could (if you know how) alter the time in the CMOS using ``setup'' on boot-up.

At c:/, type ``date'' and you will see the current date and a prompting to enter the ``new'' date. Using the presented format, type Dec. 31, 1999, and hit ``Enter.'' Then, at the prompt, type ``time'' and type 23:58 hours. Hit ``Enter'' again and then POWER OFF the computer! Don't leave it running; just shut it down.

Go have a sip of coffee and pray to the god of PCs. After a few minutes, at least three or four, come back and turn on the PC. Go to the c:/ and type ``date'' again. What is the date? If you get ``01/01/2000,'' three cheers. Your physical PC will handle the year 2000.

If it doesn't say that, well, we've got a few years left. You will most likely upgrade. But don't dump the PC on some unsuspecting charity.

So, how did you do? Ready for 2000? Or the junk heap?

Here's one last thought: You really only have to replace your motherboard. Keep your CD, floppy drives, even the box and power supply (although I like the new power on new motherboards).

You can make that old 486 into a new Pentium able to take on the changing millennium without a shudder. Careful testing and planning will make the transition much easier. Buy new programs and run them on a new motherboard (that's where the BIOS lives), and you won't be singing, ``Shall older data be forgot . . .''