In 25 months the Millennium will be with us, but all over Ireland small offices are still happily working with old computers, using Windows 3.1 with Microsoft Works, or Word Perfect on Amstrads bought in the 1980s.
But many of them have only 789 days to enjoy the data before - maybe - it goes away. The first problem is with the computer itself - particularly old ones still running Windows 3.1.
"Your PC may not even start on January 1st, 2000, or January 3rd, 2000," says Alan Cooke of System Dynamics, a Dublin company which specialises in the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem.
Computers use three levels of software:
The BIOS is the software that lets the chips run the computer;
on top of that is the operating system - on PCs it's usually Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 or DOS, for example;
on top of that again lie the programs that use the operating sys- tem - word-processors such as Word or Word Perfect, accounting and spreadsheet systems including Excel, payroll packages like JBA, Internet software like Eudora, Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.
On older computers - or "legacy systems", as the techies charmingly put it - there may be problems with the BIOS, which probably relies on code written in the old days, when year dates were still expressed as two digits (95 rather than 1995) to save vital space. So you may not even be able to get a beep out of your computer once the century clicks over.
But what about the software? "If your machine can function in the year 2000, you may not even notice the problems," Alan Cooke says. "With Windows 3.1 and 3.11 the problems are with File Manager - dates are wrong for filenames that you create. If you're looking for files by date it can be a problem."
In systems such as Lotus, he warns, the computer setting the date to one not recognised by the programs could mean they clamp shut - believing the licence to be a century out of date.
Microsoft's Web site has articles on the issues faced by some of the company's programs, including all versions of Access and Excel, Word 6.0, Works 1.x and 2.0, and some Visual C++ versions. Some software, including the Windows 95 operating system, has fixes on offer - but it's not recommended that you use them.
"The recommendation comes from Microsoft themselves, that you don't necessarily apply this fix, because it's not fully tested and may have a knock-on effect with other modules," Cooke says. One common suggestion is to try setting the clock of your computer to a few minutes before the turn of the century to see what happens. Microsoft rather drily suggest that this be done only on a test system, not one you're using for production.
"If you have any software (leased or demo) that has time limits, this test could trigger the software to expire and be permanently disabled," they point out.
Most software is gradually coming out in Y2K-compliant versions, so that the more recently you bought your software the more likely it is to survive the Millennium. "Most of the common packages are OK at certain levels," Cooke says. "Corel Word Perfect is OK from version 7 on, JBA [accounting] System 21 is OK, but the previous version may have problems, Tetra's latest versions are OK, but some of the older versions are not, though upgrade paths have been made available."
If you've been keeping up with software releases, you're safe enough. "The chances are that most small businesses have not. They'll find something that works, they like what they have, and see no reason to change because it does everything they like to do," says Mr Cooke.
Small businesses are also more likely to be using old machines whose BIOS is out of date. "There are what they call `flashes' that you can get that fix that BIOS," he says, "but it's very specific to the BIOS you have." Most of these flashes are available on the Web, and it's a question of going looking for them. "The flash is an executable file that you download. The storage routine that's keeping the basic information on date and time is the piece of executable code that you have to zap with the flash."
What you need to do, to find out if there is such a flash for your computer's BIOS, is to phone the maker - Amstrad, Toshiba, Dell or whoever - and ask where to get it. "Typically, they'll send you to the Web," Cooke says. One problem with old software is that companies are increasingly unwilling to support their early software releases. "That's what companies are using the year 2000 for. It's an ideal opportunity to say `the following versions are not compliant, so we're not going to support them after a certain date'."
If you're an impoverished writer living on the tip of a Magillicuddy Reek and have just finished the Great European Novel on the laptop you saved your year's dole for, you probably shouldn't panic, Mr Cooke says. "The chances are that text documents like that in Word will still be accessible." On the other hand, maybe you should panic - "The machine they're currently running on may not be running."
Dodgy chips were still on sale up to the middle of last year. "In fact, in the US, Data Dimensions, the company whose solutions we offer, tested six new Pentium machines recently, and four were OK, but two were using old chips somewhere along the way, and actually failed the test - and they were 200MhZ Pentiums."
Lucille Redmond is at: lucred@iol.ie