Disclaimer:
The information below is simply my advice. Computers are a very complicated piece of
machinery and everything you do to them has the infinite potential for good or bad. I take
no responsibility for any repercussions that may result from the opinions I have written
below.
Updating Windows95/98 Computers for Y2K
The Y2k Computer Bug is obviously a very complicated problem. Looking through the
Microsoft published fixes for the Windows95/98 operating system I didn't really see
anything so critical to the operating system that going without it would mean catastrophic
failure, however, my advice would be to ere on the side of caution and apply the fixes
anyway.
Note: For users that store a lot of time sensitive data on their PC (like financial
data, calendars, database applications) I’d definitely advise getting the Microsoft
Y2k fixes as soon as possible.
Here’s a basic list of what needs to be done:
- Make sure your PC Hardware is Y2k Compliant.
- Make sure your operating system is Y2k Compliant.
- Make sure your applications (the ones that process your time sensitive data) are Y2k
Compliant.
- Upgrade to the latest version of Netscape or Internet Explorer (why not? They’re
free!)
Make sure your PC Hardware is Y2k Compliant.
The best way to find out the Y2K Compliance of computer hardware is to access the
manufacturer’s web site. I’ll guarantee that they’ll have some sort of link
to Year2000 related information. There are also several freeware test programs available
to test the basic hardware of your PC. Most of these programs are free and easy to use.
Make sure your operating system is Y2k Compliant.
The Y2k fixes for Windows98 and Windows95 are surprisingly similar. In essence both
products are very similar in design. For both operating systems I’d suggest applying
the Microsoft provided Y2k patches (instructions included below).
Technical Note: For you network administrators out there you might want to check out
the DHCP fixes. They don’t look like anything major, but then again some of my
colleagues say they might be a problem. Most of the fixes though, like the digital
certificates used with the personal web server, look pretty useless. For users with time
sensitive data some of the fixes may be relevant.
Applying Fixes to Windows95:
- Install w95y2k.exe.
Applying Fixes to Windows98:
- Install Windows 98 System Update.
- Windows 98 Year 2000 Update: The 1st Y2K update for Windows 98 users
- Windows 98 Year 2000 Update 2: The 2nd installment in the Y2K update
- Go here
for the above updates.
