How to Check a Personal Computer for Year 2000 Readiness

The following steps are suggested to determine if a personal computer (PC) will roll over to the year 2000 correctly.

The test presented here requires a bootable DOS floppy diskette. This is a safer method to test your PC's system clock because it leaves the data and programs on your PC's hard disk unaffected. If you boot to your C: drive, you may end up loading Windows® 3.1 or Windows® 95 and other applications from your startup routine. Using a bootable diskette will ensure the integrity of the data and programs on your PC's hard disks. The test script presented here will check your PC's ability to transition to the year 2000 and recognize it as a leap year.

Do not perform the tests by changing your system's BIOS Setup screen.

1.    Create a bootable test diskette.   To do this, insert a blank floppy diskette into the PC's A: drive.

• Computers with DOS only: At the C:\> DOS prompt, type FORMAT A: /S.
• Computers with Windows 3.1: Start File Manager, then click on Disk, Format and check Make System Disk.
• Computers with Windows95: Right-click on [Start] button, left-click on Explore, right-click on 3 1/2" Floppy A:, then click format type to Full and check Copy System Files.

2.     With the bootable diskette created in Step 1 still in your PC's floppy drive, shut down your system (close Windows) and power off your PC. Don't just hit the reset button or warm-boot (Ctrl-Alt-Del).

3.    Turn on the power to your PC, and allow the PC to boot from the diskette.

4.    At the A> prompt, type date and press the [Enter] key. At the Enter new date (mm-dd-yy): prompt, type 12-31-1999 and press the [Enter] key.

5.    After changing the date, the current time will be displayed. If not, type time and press the [Enter] key. At the Enter new time: prompt, type 23:55:00 and press the [Enter] key.

6.    Turn off the power to your PC and wait at least 10 minutes. If you don't, DOS will appear to transition correctly to the year 2000. However, once you reboot the PC, it will display the incorrect date if your system's RTC has the flaw described above.

7.    Turn the power back on and wait for the boot process to complete.

8.    At the A> prompt, type date and press the [Enter] key. If Sat 01-01-2000 is displayed, your PC's BIOS passes the test.

9.    At the Enter new date (mm-dd-yy): prompt, type 02-28-2000 and press the [Enter] key. This will test your system's ability to recognize the year 2000 as a leap year.

10.    After changing the date, the current time will be displayed. If not, type time and press the [Enter] key. At the Enter new time: prompt, type 23:55:00 and press the [Enter] key.

11.    Power off your PC again and wait at least 10 minutes.

12.    Turn on the power to your PC. At the A> prompt, type date and press the [Enter] key. If Tue 02-29-2000 is displayed, your PC's BIOS passes the leap year test.

13.    To conclude testing, at the Enter new date (mm-dd-yy): prompt, enter the correct (today’s) date. At the Enter new time: prompt, type the current time (in military time), e.g., 2 p.m. is 14:00:00.

14.    Remove the bootable diskette from the floppy drive and power off your PC.

Adapted 1998-10-30 from U.S. Government Small Business Administration, 1998-08-28 webpage by:
Bob Schultheis, natural resource engineering specialist, University of Missouri Extension, E-mail:  schultheisr@missouri.edu

Webpage maintained by: Bob Schultheis Natural Resource Engineering Specialist Email comments to: schultheisr@missouri.edu Last revised: 07/09/2009

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