This is probably too simple a solution, but would altering the date on my home PC back to 1990 at the end of this year prevent it from crashing because of the Y2K problem? Having to alter the date each time I create a document seems a small price to pay until I purchase a new computer later. I would be glad to hear your thoughts on this issue.
V. GARRETT Hong Kong This is not a solution. Sadly, many people think it is. Last year a small business (its owner wrote to this column to complain) paid a Y2K 'consultant' to check - and fix if necessary - its simple PC-based network. The consultant did nothing but what you mentioned, and was paid for it.
If that is not an example of bad consulting, I do not know what is. If your PC is not Y2K-compliant, the problem is most likely to be with the built-in system software, known as the Bios, that controls the basic functions of your PC. Going into Windows' Control Panel and setting back the clock 10 years is not going to help fix a Bios problem.
If your machine is going to crash, it will crash . . . but this is a common myth. A standalone PC will not cease to function on January 1, 2000. Instead, applications that use a date - such as accounting programs that manage payrolls and e-mail - may act funny, produce wrong results and some could crash, depending on how they handle errors.
Your hardware will, in all likelihood, continue to function and you will be able to continue running your basic home computing applications - word processor, photo-editing and desktop publishing - with a minimum of fuss.
Setting back the system clock could end up causing more trouble than you anticipated. Scheduling software and other applications that use reminders and alarms would be useless as they would be out of sync with the actual date. E-mails would go out with the wrong dates - or not go out at all, thinking they are in the past - which would annoy the recipients and cause confusion.