8. How exactly do year 2000 issues affect a PC system?
There are three parts of every PC system that can be affected by year 2000 issues:
Hardware (Real Time Clock and BIOS)
The most common hardware problem presented by the year 2000 is associated with a PC's Real Time Clock (RTC) and Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). It is sometimes called the BIOS "rollover problem."
Software
Operating System
The computer's operating system is the software foundation for all other software programs of the computer system. The operating system gets its information about the date and time from the RTC and BIOS, and then typically passes date/time information on to software programs. For this reason, it is important that the operating system be ready for the year 2000.
Software Programs (Standard and Custom)
Both off-the-shelf programs and custom software programs must be assessed for year 2000 issues. Some software programs have internal calendars that could potentially miscalculate the leap year or misinterpret a two-digit date. Custom programs (macros, custom mathematical formulas, and custom programs developed in Visual Basic for Applications to enhance an Office application) can also contain a number of potential year 2000 issues. Personal (Data) Files
Spreadsheets, documents and database files need to be assessed for year 2000 issues if they contain years that are described in two (rather than four) digits.
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