When do you need to be concerned about personal files that have dates entered with two (rather than four) digits for the year? Of particular importance are any files that use dates that will later be involved in some type of calculation. This might include financial spreadsheets, database files, or any file in which a specific date triggers something important to happen.
As a rule of thumb, it is best to consistently use four-digit years in all files that are important to you or to others. Since two-digit year shortcuts risk inaccurate interpretation, many risks can be eliminated by changing the way that you specify dates.
In summary, getting ready for the year 2000 means that you will need to consider ALL the parts of your computer system: its hardware, software, and personal (data) files.
Now that we've explained HOW the year 2000 challenge may affect personal computers, let's develop a plan for you and your own PC. |
