J. A. Powell, Jr.
In the last Computer Corner column I briefly touched on the Y2k problem. This is also known as the Year 2000 problem. To quickly recap, back in the old days of computers, some six or seven years ago, years were designated using just two digits. For example, 1998 would be stored in the computer as 98. What is the problem? Well, does the year 02 mean 2002 or 1902? The computer may think that the answer is 1902.
At the end of next year, any computer that is not Y2k compliant will not know what year it is and may not give the correct answers. Should you be worried about this? The answer is a definite absolute maybe. In the last column, I have opined that the people preaching the most doom and gloom about Y2k are the ones wanting to sell you something. Gold and survival gear companies are screaming that the world financial system of computers will crash leaving us without any money. They claim that we all will have to go to the woods and live on nuts and berries. Gold will be the new money. Baloney! The banks have been planning for this for at least 10 years. The banking system is not going to collapse.
On the other hand, your computer system maybe susceptible to failing. In my last column, I stated that we probably will not have a problem next year. I believe that I mis-spoke myself. I failed to take into account that some on you may be using computer equipment that came over on the Mayflower. If you have up to date computers and software, then you may have no problems. If your computer is no more than 3 years old it should be able to handle the rollover to the year 2000. Your software is another matter. Even modern up to date software may have a Y2k problem especially if it is from a small company.
If you are still using the operating system that predates Windows, you are in for the most problems. DOS before version 5.0a is not Y2k compliant. Most DOS based software is not compliant. So if you are using DOS calendaring system or a DOS case management system or a DOS accounting system you may have trouble heading your way. It is more than likely that your software will either quit working on January 1, 2000 or, even worse, give you wrong information. For instance, if you keep statute of limitation dates on your old computer, you may have to make some unpleasant calls to your malpractice carrier after the turn of the century.
To fix these problems, you will have to get off your wallet. The only way to be sure that you are not in danger is to update your old computer equipment and outdated software to versions that the manufacturers certify are good into the next century. You can check to see if your computer or software is good by going to the manufacturers web site. Most manufacturer will tell you if their product is good. For example, Microsoft's Y2k web site is www.microsoft.com/year2000. Check your software before it is too late.
One of the worst Y2k problem areas does not involve computers! It seems that cemeteries have to deal with double grave markers that will go out of date next year. There are many grave markers covering two plots. One of the plots is the grave of a spouse that died and the other is reserved for the surviving spouse. When the grave marker was engraved, the stone carver, who is paid by the number of characters he carves, put "19" on the surviving spouse side of the marker with the idea that the last two digits of the year could be entered later. No one believed that granny would out live grandpa by 20 years and into the next century. Truly a problem engraved in stone.
I get many questions about networking from members in the bar, so I have decided to restate what you need for networking your computers. There are two basic types of networks: peer to peer and server based. To add to the confusion, both types can be mixed together.
A peer to peer network lets everyone on the network share their computers with others. The best thing about this type of network is that it is cheap because it comes free with Windows 95/98. The bad things about it is lack of security and if a computer crashes that is being shared then others that are attached to that computer may lose what they are working on. With a shared computer that is being used for day to day work, the chances of a crash are greatly increased.
A server based system dedicates a computer to do nothing but provide access to files, printers and a few specially designed applications to users on the network. The server is usually located in a closet where all of the network wiring is concentrated. The advantages of a server is just the opposite of the peer to peer. A server based system is best for networking more than 5 users.
The components needed to build your network have dropped in price. Each computer needs a network card. This should be an Ethernet that will switch between 10 mps and 100 mps. Mps is the speed of the card. You need wiring that meets the Cat5 specifications. Be sure that the plugs and connectors are Cat5 also. Finally, you need a hub. The hub connects all of the network wires together and allows everyone to connect to the others. If you can afford a 100 mps hub by all means buy it. It will make your network run 10 times faster than the old hubs.
If your network is a peer to peer, all that is needed is to tell Windows 95/98 that you have installed a network. If your network cards are plug and play, Windows probably detected the card when you turn it on. Next, you only need to share your printers and hard drives.
If your network has a file server, you will need to install the software for the server. There are 2 brands of server software: Netware and Windows NT. Huge arguments have erupted as to which is the best by the eggheads who live and breath computers. (Yes, there are people who are much worse than me when it comes to computers.) Both systems are designed to handle thousands of simultaneous users without slowing down. Both systems are very fast. I doubt that anyone reading this column will ever outgrow either system.
Which system should you choose? At one time, we used Netware but changed to Windows NT for several reasons. Netware is very stable and rarely crashes but when it does crash it is very difficult to restart the server. Netware takes a long time to restart when nothing is wrong. Most of the time I had to run an inscrutable program called Vrepair to fix the hard drive before restarting the server. Vrepair can take hours to run. After the last crash and enough cussing to shame a sailor, I decided to give Windows NT a try.
Windows NT looks just like Windows 95. It is very easy to use and configure. It does not seem quite as stable as Netware but when it does crash, it easily restarts and is back running in just a few minutes. Netware would crash about once a year whereas Windows NT crashes about twice a year.
I believe that for the average network, Windows NT is the better choice. It is much easier to use and when it gets down to the nitty gritty, ease of use gives us the time to practice law and not play Bill Gates.