May 1999 Meeting Report
by Howard L. Bonar
Secretary, Alaska Computer Society
The May 1999 meeting of the Alaska Computer Society was held at its regular location at Providence Hospital starting at 7:05 pm.
Questions and Answers
The first part of the program was the question and answer session. A member reported that the BIOS password on his Toshiba lap-top computer got trashed somehow and he is not able to access anything on his computer. One suggestion was to get the FCC identification number off the tag and then check with the manufacturer to see if they have an over-ride password that will allow access to the system.
There was a spirited discussion of the experiences people have had with the Beta version of Microsoft Office 2000. One report was of the setup not allowing installation on E drive because there was insufficient space on the C drive. The reason was that a lot of shared files are added to the C drive Windows directories.
When Office 2000 was loaded onto an NT system with Service pack 4 installed, it automatically logged on to Microsoft to register the program. Another reported that when he uninstalled 2000, it took his Office 97 with it.
The consensus was that this is indeed a Beta version with a lot of unresolved problems in it. If you can get it to work, it offers a lot of nice features, but you must proceed with caution and be sure that all of your important files are backed up before you start. If at all possible, do not install on your production machine.
Meeting
The official meeting started at 7:20 pm. President Gene White introduced the board members, SIG (Special Interest Group) leaders and volunteers present.
Howard Bonar reported on the Clipper SIG which meets at 6:00 pm on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the SIG leaders home where the meeting starts over pizza and beer. All computer related subjects are covered and demonstrations of program tools and utilities are an important part of the meetings. The last meeting included a demonstration of Windows 98 and the use of dual monitors in a programming environment. Sliding an open window from one monitor to another showed the potential for this feature in making a more user-friendly desk top.
Ron Hammett brought up the need for careful scheduling of ACS meetings and classes at the AARP Information Center as they are now starting to have evening and weekend classes.
Announcements
Howard Bonar reported on the ACS booth at the Infocom99 at the Egan Center on April 27-29. Winners of the one year ACS memberships were Ruby A. Ketola, Fred Gorsch, and Paula Lindsey. Winners of the PC speaker kits were Jeff Robertson, Daniel Peterson, and Richard Lothamer.
Special thanks to the volunteers that had helped man the booth for the three day affair. They were: Al Kaneta, Al and Joyce Schuerger, Bronwyn Hillman, Ed Stondall, Ed Caldwell, Ellen Stanley, Fred Erickson, Katsumi Kenaston, Leroy Williams, Matt Childs, Peggy Brockman, Ray McDonald, and Sharon Dunckle. It was a pleasure to work with all of them. We had the opportunity to present the ACS story to quite a few people and are hoping that some good will come from the effort.
Ed Caldwell provided a computer with those great Alaska pictures as screen savers. With them and the slide show prepared by Dawn Scott, we had an interesting display on screen for the visitors.
Howard also reported on the Older People's Action Group (OPAG) request for a volunteer to take over their computer training classes. OPAG is a non-profit agency whose mission is to help people over 50 get training and skills necessary to gain employment in today's complex society. Computer classes are scheduled to run approximately 20 hours per week. The schedule is split between morning and afternoons to offer flexible accessability for clients. If anyone is interested, please contact Howard for further details at 333-2493.
Al Schuerger asked for help in fulfilling the AARP Tuesday Evening from 5:00 to 7:00 pm training on Basic Computer.
Door prizes awarded to members were T-shirts provided by the Mercury Data Group and two ACS mugs.
The Presentation
Mr. Sam Dickey of the Anchorage office of the Small Business Administration talked to us about the Y2K problem, what we can expect, and what we can do to minimize the impact on our lives and businesses.
He explained how the problem came into being and told a number of anecdotes about how the problem will affect various businesses and facilities. He said that time is running out and it is already too late for many firms to avoid serious problems when the deadline hits at 12:01 am on 1/1/2000.
Problems with Y2K can originate at several levels. In the applications, the data, the operating systems, and the hardware. All PCs have a real time clock (RTC) that keeps track of the current time and date. Problems will arise if and when the BIOS cannot read the RTC data. MAC doesn't have the problem because they started out using the four digit numbers for the century. They may have their full share of software problems however.
According to some industry experts, remediation estimates run from $400 to $600 billion dollars. Some say as much as $1 trillion. Not only is there a great monetary cost but availability of components, software, and technical help to do the upgrades is a serious problem. It's much too late to start early. A lot of money and effort has already been spent but much more needs to be done.
There are a large number of resources available to help deal with the situation and SBA is committed to doing all it can to help. They maintain a comprehensive website which provides a great deal of information and useful utilities as well as links to many other sites which also can be of assistance. A recent search with Yahoo revealed 36,000 hits on the Y2K issue. Included is a lot of software, information on procedures, advice, and firms and agencies available to help you.
WHO'S AFFECTED.
We will all be affected one way or another. You can do a self assessment of your status with the aid of software and information available on the Internet. A good starting place is at www.sba.gov. Click on the [Y2K] icon to go to their comprehensive collection of information and software and links to other sites that deal with the issue.
HAVE A PLAN
You are not apt to be successful if you do not attack the problem in a systematic fashion. First and foremost is "Have a Plan". Set priorities on what you will fix first. Along with your plan of action, include a Contingency plan that lists all the possible problems if things don't work out and what you will do to deal with them.
As you go forward with your program, review and update your contingency plans.
Focus on minimizing disruptions to your business.
FIVE-STEPS TO ACHIEVE YEAR 2000 READINESS.
1) Awareness - Educating and involving all levels of your organization in solving
the problem. Users of equipment and programs are the ones most likely to be aware of potential problems. New employees must be educated when they join the firm.
2) Inventory - Create a checklist which identifies all of the different computer- based systems, components and equipment that contains microchips. Prioritize each item according to how critical it is and what impact it will have if it fails or provides wrong data. Freeware database programs are available for tracing PC Inventory compliance.
3) Assessment - Examine how severe and widespread the problem is in your business and what needs to be fixed. Starting with the most critical items on the inventory, determine which systems are date-sensitive and if they will fail when the century changes. Software and testing procedures are readily available to help you make the determinations. Before you do anything, check the web site of the manufacturers of your equipment and software. See what they have to say about your setup. Do they have hardware and software patches available for your equipment?
4) Correction and Testing - Carry out your plan for meeting the challenge. Testing is critical as it should verify that the systems operates properly when the date changes. Before testing licensed software, ensure that the warranty and the license covers the test. If the test causes a failure, you may have violated the warranty coverage.
5) Implementation - Place the upgraded systems in your production environment.
As part of the process, develop an installation and contingency plan. List all of the programs, files, and equipment that is required for your critical processes.
To make it all work, ensure that you have available the resources needed to do the job. As part of your contingency plan, define consistent actions to minimize decision making in the event of business interruptions.
Same-brand computers all bought at the same time with the same configuration may still have differences in the way they react to the Y2K problem. They may have different components plugged into them. Older computers will have different kinds of problems. In many cases, the most prudent course of action is to just to replace them.
Most Microsoft products are not fully compatible. You can check the status of your software by logging on to www.microsoft.com/technet/year2k for information on all Microsoft products and to download patches.
If you have upgraded from Win 3.1 to win95 to win98, you may have a problem. The available patches may not work properly. You may have to delete everything and start over fresh by just loading the latest version.
The National Bank of Alaska has prepared a step-by-step procedure to test your computer system. Copies were passed out at the meeting and more can be obtained at the bank. It provides a simple method of testing your PC to see if the system clock and BIOS will be a problem. You must check with the makers of your software to determine its status.
Good Sources of information and links to other sites are:
Do it now.
| End of May 1999 Meeting Report | Page last updated 2000-09-17 |