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Y2K - ARCHIVE!As January 1st, 2000 rapidly approaches, its arrival will be met with both excitement and anxiety. Countless millions of devices in use today still contain software and/or firmware that rely on a two-digit number to define the year. When these systems encounter January 1st, 2000, many may jump to the conclusion that the year is now 1900, or some year other than 2000. The job of finding and fixing all such systems before the year 2000 is daunting to say the least, however, the potential consequences of not fixing the problem can, in some cases, only be described as horrendous.This location on our web site has been created to convey information about DORC’s Y2K compliance plan to both our customers and vendors. As anyone working with Y2K compliance will know, most companies around the world are sending out letters, forms and questionnaires to their vendors requesting Y2K compliance information. Unfortunately, all of these letters, forms and questionnaires are slightly different – some even misrepresent themselves as an inconspicuous questionnaire, when in actuality they are a legal contract holding vendors legally responsible for any Y2K problems. Filling out all of these various forms is extremely time consuming and takes time away from actually solving any compliance issues. This web page will therefore become DORC’s primary source of information about the Y2K compliance status of our company and it’s products. There are two major issues to be dealt with in order to achieve Y2K compliance. The first is that all products shipped to customers are or can become compliant, and the second is that our internal systems are compliant, in that there will be no impact on our ability to provide products and services on or after January 1st, 2000. All hardware and software products manufactured directly by DORC® are (and have always been) Y2K compliant, however, like most companies DORC® incorporates products from many third party vendors within it’s systems. Of all the out-sourced products we supply, only the Micron ® computer systems, Microsoft Windows® and Microsoft Office®, pose a potential Y2K compliance risk.The following is a list of our products and their Y2K compliance status: ZX-1 – All models and configurations were and are Y2K compliant. ZX-1 mini – All models and configurations were and are Y2K compliant. ZX-1 micro – All models and configurations were and are Y2K compliant. ZX-1 nano – All models and configurations were and are Y2K compliant. ZX-1 PMS & ZX-1 mini PMS – Windows 3.11 ® Operating System – minor compliance issues with both Windows 3.11® and computer BIOS’s.ZX-1 PMS & ZX-1 mini PMS – Windows 95 ® Operating System – minor compliance issues with some computer BIOS’s.ZX-1 mini PMS – Windows 98 ® Operating System – All models were and are Y2K compliant.ZX-1 micro PMS – All models and configurations were and are Y2K compliant. All of DORC’s currently shipping products are Y2K compliant. Only a very small percentage of products we have ever shipped are even potentially at risk of a minor Y2K problem. Since Microsoft ® itself does not certify Windows 3.11® as fully compliant, it is impossible for DORC® to certify that it’s products that were originally shipped with the Windows 3.11® operating system are compliant. Although Microsoft does not certify Windows 3.11® to be Y2K compliant, it suggests that the non-compliance issues may be as simple as having to manually edit the date on January 1st, 2000. For more information on Windows 3.11® compliance, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/technet/topics/year2K/.Over the years, Micron ® has changed motherboard and BIOS versions dozens of times to keep up with the latest computer technology. Many of these early BIOS versions are not fully Y2K compliant, however, in many cases Y2K compliance can be achieved with a simple BIOS upgrade. Micron® has created an excellent web site for checking the Y2K compliance of all it’s motherboards and BIOS’s. Simply record the BIOS version of your computer, which is displayed every time the computer boots up, and go to http://www.micron.com/yr2000/, to verify it’s Y2K compliance status. The Micron® web site also offers a wealth of general information on the Y2K problem, and recommends several third party software and hardware solutions.Depending on your particular system configuration, DORC® makes the following recommendations to ensure a smooth transition into the next century: Windows 3.11® based systems Verify the compliance status of your particular motherboard and BIOS at http://www.micron.com/yr2000/. An alternative option is to have DORC® upgrade both the hardware and software of your system to the latest Windows 98 ® configuration. This Y2K compliant upgrade gives you all of the latest features of our current systems, and reduces measurement time from approximately 14 seconds, to less than 2 seconds! The upgrade includes exchanging your existing computer for a new PII 500Mhz system with 64Mb Ram, 6.4Gb hard drive, CD ROM and floppy drive. The frame capture, display, interface cards, operating system and DORC® PMS software are also replaced during the upgrade. Please contact DORC® or your local representative for pricing and scheduling information.Windows 95® based systems Should you discover that your motherboard or BIOS is not compliant you can follow Microns ® recommendations for achieving compliance with you existing computer, or alternatively, you may wish to take this opportunity to have DORC® upgrade your computer to the latest PII 500MHz, Y2K compliant configuration. Although compliance can usually be achieved without upgrading the computer, DORC® is continually adding more features to it’s software, some of which are quite processor intensive and would certainly benefit from a faster computer. Please contact DORC® or your local representative for pricing and scheduling information.
DORC's internal Y2K issues Computer Network and software It is important to remember that January 1st, 2000 will arrive exactly on schedule, and that there is no possibility of any company being granted a few extra months or weeks to achieve total Y2K compliance. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to confirm that DORC® is working diligently to ensure that all aspects of the Y2K problem are being addressed, and that the transition into the next century will be as transparent as possible for both DORC® and it’s valued customers. Should you have any specific questions regarding the Y2K issue that are not covered in this section of our web site, please do not hesitate to contact us at the address below or via e-mail at y2k@dorc.com.
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