The following Y2K material has been kept available by MITRE for historical purposes only and has not been updated unless noted.
MITRE - Y2K - Test Your PC System Clock
Test Your PC System Clock
Be
Careful When Testing Out Your System's Ability to Handle Year
2000!
You should back up everything before attempting this
since some programs create reference files and they will probably
fail to work after you have run this experiment.
The problem will arise when the date is reset to
the present and the program tries to use reference files from
years in the future (or years in the past if the rollover failed).
Additionally, some software uses date checking for licensing purposes
and they may expire the license and not allow access after you
have set dates into the future.
Source: IBM, Copyright 1995, 1998 The Year 2000 and 2-Digit Dates: A Guide for Planning and Implementation,
Fourth Edition, GC28-1251-03, 2.5 Chapter 6. Testing Techniques for
Year 2000 Changes.
Some older models of the PC may
not have the capability to set or roll over the system clock beyond
the Year 2000 because the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) is
unaware of the century digits. Refer to "IBM Personal Computer
(PCs) - Hardware Timer Setting" on page A-43 for PC-specific,
internal clock setting information. Some suggested scenarios for
testing for Year 2000-readiness of your PC system clock follow. (Since the Year 2000 is a leap year, some feel that you also do leap year testing of the BIOS.)
Test if the System Clock Can
Be Set Beyond the Year 2000
Set the system clock to 2000/01/01,
00:01:00
Check the date
If the date is set correctly,
power off, power on, and then recheck the date
Test the System Clock Automatic
Update Function
When the power is on
Set the system clock to 1999/12/31,
23:58:00
Keep power on
Wait until the clock reaches
the Year 2000
Check the date
If it is set correctly, power
off, and recheck the date
When the power is off
Set the system clock to 1999/12/31,
23:58:00
Power off
Wait until the clock reaches
the year 2000
Power on
Check the date
Test the Time Update by the Operating
System
After suspension of a time-sensitive
program
Set the system clock to 1999/12/31,
23:58:00
Suspend a time-display program
without a 'wake-up' timer
Keep the power on
Wait until the clock reaches
the Year 2000
Resume time-display program
and check the date
After Suspension and Wake-Up of
a Time-Sensitive Program
Set system clock to 1999/12/31,
23:58:00
Suspend a time-display program
with the 'wake up' timer set at 2000/01/01, 00:01:00
Be
Careful When Testing Out Your System's Ability to Handle Year
2000!