Gary North's Y2K Links and Forums - Mirror

Category: Personal_Computers

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(Links to documents appear after the summary.)

They tell us that desktop computers won't be affected. They tell us wrong.

There are about 250 million PC's out there. If they run on DOS, they aren't 2000-compliant. If they run on Windows 3x, they aren't 2000-compliant. If they have not had their BIOS chips replaced, they aren't compliant. If they are running any piece of software that is not compliant, they aren't compliant. Think of a spreadsheet that isn't compliant, but which still keeps running . . . wrong.

How many physicians are running DOS-based systems to feed Medicare with patient information? Today, they send this computerized information to the U.S. government's 70 private Medicare contractors, all of whom have been told that they will be fired as soon as the new Medicare computer is up and running. ("But before you go, get our software 2000-compliant." As Dave Barry says, I am not making this up.)

It is law in the United States that all Internal Revenue Service quarterly payments be submitted by computer in the year 2000. What if these PC computers are not compliant? Most of them won't be. (This won't matter, of course, since the IRS's mainframe computer will not be compliant, either.)

What happens to world productivity when 230 million out of 250 million PC's either shut down or start scrambling their programs? What happens to networks? What happens to insurance companies and banks that rely on PC's to input data?

Well, it really won't matter, since all of the banks will have been bankrupted by massive bank runs in 1999, followed by the closing of insurance companies. (If you can't write a check, you can't pay your insurance premiums.) But as a hypothetical question, it's worth asking.

My one hope is that Word Perfect 5.1 for DOS will still run, even though it will date all new and revised files incorrectly. I use WP 5.1. If 5.1 fails, Western Civilization is not worth defending, as far as I'm concerned. (Other categories: "Noncompliant Chips," "Compliance," "Domino Effect.")

Updated - Subject

24-Feb-97   Data Corruption on PC's Threatens All PC's
24-Feb-97   Your Desktop PC's Software Is Vulnerable
25-Feb-97   How to Fix Your Personal PC for Free (Maybe)
04-Mar-97   Testing Your PC for Year 2000 Compliance
07-May-97   Microsoft's Legal Position: No Year 2000 Warranty
17-May-97   Two Key PC Languages Are Non-compliant
20-May-97   Macintosh Software: Not Always Compliant
26-May-97   Half of New PC's Fail: The BIOS Probem
05-Jun-97   Even Brand-New PC Software Fails 2000 Test
05-Jun-97   Test Your PC for Free!
05-Jun-97   270 Million Noncompliant PC's
24-Jun-97   Mac's or PC's: The Main Problem is Software
01-Jul-97   No Common Standards: You're on Your Own, PC Owner!
28-Jul-97   Will Every Business Take These Steps?
30-Jul-97   Corrected Date: Not If You Turn Off the Machine After 1999
07-Aug-97   No Reliable Fixes Until 1999, Says Expert
11-Aug-97   Intel Gives Its Assessment
11-Aug-97   What About Macintoshes?
11-Aug-97   A Web Site Devoted to PC's and Y2K
22-Aug-97   British Engineers Describe the Y2K Problem for Micros
25-Aug-97   A Checklist for Your PC's Software
25-Aug-97   Check Your PC's Spreadsheet (Not Very Easy)
25-Aug-97   Check Your PC's Database
25-Aug-97   Another Free Software Product to Test Your PC
27-Aug-97   Cringely Returns! And He Doesn't Trust Microsoft
17-Sep-97   NASA Discovers Truth: Most PC'S Are Not Compliant
25-Sep-97   New PC's Noncompliant, Says Nuclear Regulatory Commission
03-Oct-97   93% Noncompliant (Pre-1997), Bad Spreadsheets
14-Oct-97   Correct Your PC: A Freeware Product
03-Nov-97   Intel Warning: Our PC Systems Are Not Compliant
04-Nov-97   Free Software That Tests Your PC's BIOS
04-Nov-97   PC Business Programs Are Not Compliant, Yet Are Crucial
08-Nov-97   PC Software Is Not Compliant
18-Nov-97   A Business Debacle on Your Desk, Says Major Computer Publication
18-Nov-97   Strategy to Deal With Noncompliant PC's in Business
18-Nov-97   Most Old PC's Will Not Be Replaced by 2000
02-Dec-97   Are Microsoft Products 2000-Compliant? Critic Says No
02-Dec-97   Problems with Microsoft Products
03-Dec-97   Army Posts Y2K Test Results for PC's, Brand by Brand
30-Dec-97   PC Software: Comprehensive Failure Lies Ahead
31-Dec-97   BYTE Describes the Typical Company's Problem
08-Jan-98   Which PC's Aren't 2000-Compliant? Army Supplies a List
16-Jan-98   Macintosh: Hardware Is OK, Software May Not Be
23-Jan-98   Microsoft Will Set Up Y2K Site; Admits Noncompliance
05-Feb-98   Problem Areas for PC Users
09-Mar-98   PCs: Test Them All. Here's How....
11-Mar-98   Spreadsheets and Other PC Development Tools
07-Apr-98   Where to Get Help for Your PC's
15-Apr-98   Microsoft's Y2K Site: Yes, We Have Minor Problems
06-May-98   Millennium Problems Lurk in Macintosh Software
13-May-98   Spreadsheets: Data Inside Them Use Two-Digit Century
16-May-98   Huge Task to Fix Desktops -- So Many of Them
21-May-98   Where to Get Help With Your PC
23-May-98   PC's in Large Companies' Distributed Systems
29-May-98   Compaq Challenged; Had Claimed 2000-Compliance
29-May-98   Compaq Says Its Technical Flaw Doesn't Really Matter
09-Jun-98   PC's Will Bite Many Businesses: Bankrupt Customers
10-Jun-98   Y2K and Your Spreadsheet: A Repair Guide


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