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Year 2000 program fix for certain types of non-compliant PC's |
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WHAT IS THE RTC_2000? | |
| RTC_2000 is a program that may enable certain non-compliant PC's to function after 1999.12.31. |
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WHY IS IT NEEDED? | |
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Certain non-compliant PC's will allow the clock to be set manually beyond 1999.12.31.
However, since the BIOS on these machines does not allow the RTC to work properly after
1999.12.31, this requires that the PC date is set every time the PC is turned on. |
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| The program is design to be used by PC's that allows for manual adjustment of the date after 1999.12.31. |
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| Uncertain whether your PC is Year 2000 compliant? Try the NSTL YMARK2000 program. |
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HOW DOES RTC_2000 WORK? | |
| The RTC_2000 will set the system date in relation to the Real Time Clock. It will move the system time by default 12 years ahead of the RTC while keeping the original setting of the RTC. It supports moving the year ahead between 2 to 24 years. |
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| The RTC_2000 is placed in the AUTOEXEC.BAT of the system. Every time the machine starts, the RTC_2000 will move the internal system clock 12 years ahead of the Real Time Clock. The clue is that the Real Time Clock is left ticking away in 19xx. The Real Time Clock will never know that the rest of the world has moved to the 21st century. |
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The RTC_2000 will run something like this : Original date in Real Time Clock (RTC) : 1988.08.24 Setting the internal system date : 2000.08.24 Resetting the Real Time Clock : 1988.08.24 |
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| As you can see, the Real Time Clock is in 1988, while the internal system date is set to 2000. RTC needs to be reset back to 1988 since setting the system clock will also set the RTC to the same date. |
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INSTALLING RTC_2000.EXE | |
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1) Download RTC_2000.EXE 2) Place the RTC_2000.EXE in root C:\ 3) Edit AUTOEXEC.BAT and place RTC_2000 at the top of the file. 4) Set DATE to today's date MINUS 12 years. Example: 14.08.1987 5) Restart your computer At reboot the system date is moved 12 years ahead. |
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| The RTC_2000 may be run in a DOS windows, and may be run multiple times without moving the year ahead more that it should. |
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OTHER WAYS TO RUN RTC_2000 | |
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RTC_2000 => Sets internal date 12 years ahead (default) RTC_2000 8 => Sets the internal date 8 years ahead RTC_2000 0 => Displays current RTC date RTC_2000 HELP => Further information RTC_2000 DEBUG => Displays debugging information |
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| Be aware that the date should be move ahead by a multiple of 4 years to accommodate for leap year. |
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HOW DOES IT INTERFACE WITH WINDOWS? | |
| It does not directly interface with Windows. Windows will read the internal system date (which has been set by RTC_2000) and work according to this date. |
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| Windows does, however, set both system date and Real Time Clock when you try to view the date. By doing so, the Real Time Clock will now be in 20xx when the RTC_2000 runs at next reboot. To avoid RTC_2000 to move the year ahead from 20xx (set by Windows) it will keep track of the original year first encountered in the RTC. If the year has changed by more than one year, it will reset the RTC year to the original year. |
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WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS? | |
| This is NOT a 100% fix of the Year 2000 problem, but may work in some instances. Any program reading the RTC directly will therefore malfunction. |
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| Certain non-compliant PC's will reset when the RTC is moved beyond 1999. RTC_2000 will only keep track of year. Any reset of month and day will cause the system clock to reset as well. RTC_2000 is therefore not designed to handled this form of non-compliancy. |
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| It is generally not recommended to use any program fix to solve the Y2k problem for any PC running any form of a critical process. This goes for RTC_2000 as well. |
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| Furthermore, the RTC_2000 is developed to work in day-by-day operations. It may not work properly at each year-end roll-over. Each roll-over requires a manual verification. |
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| RTC_2000 requires the PC to be rebooted at least once a year, i.e. it requires RTC_2000 to run a least once a year. This will enable the RTC_2000 to adjust itself after a new year. |
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ERROR SITUATIONS | |
| Once installed, the RTC_2000 will overwrite the system date each time the RTC_2000 program is run. On occasions, based on a particular non-compliant BIOS, the internal RTC is set in state in which the RTC_2000 cannot evalaute correctly the true year. |
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In such a situation it may be necessary to reset the RTC before
reinitiation the RTC_2000 date conversion. This may be done
as follows;
- Set DATE to today's date MINUS 12 years. Example: 01.01.1988 - DEL C:\RTC_2000.DAT Next time RTC_2000 is run, the conversion will be based upon 1988.01.01, i.e. system date will be set to 2000.01.01. |
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| If this situation reoccurs, the RTC_2000 is not able to handle your non-compliant BIOS. Sorry... |
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DISCLAIMER, TERMS AND CONDITIONS | |
| Since all BIOS systems are so different, it is impossible to forsee all possible situations or to accommodate for all different BIOS versions operating today. |
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| RTC_2000 is NOT developed to work with all BIOS system in operation. If it works - so much for the better. If it doesn't - try something else. |
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| The RTC_2000 program must be thoroughly tested ON EACH PARTICULAR MACHINE to ensure that it works properly. The program is no matter what run at your own risk. |
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| Neither the author Eirik Kim Pedersen nor Transvision Software are in any way, shape or form responsible for any erroneous setting, processing or presentation of the system date/time or the Real Time Clock of any system caused either directly or indirecly by the use of RTC_2000.EXE. |
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| Transvision Software has no obligation to correct any function that may perform erroneously on any particular piece of hardware. |
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DOWNLOAD THE RTC_2000.EXE | |
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By downloading the program, you accept the
terms and conditions in which this program is provided. The RTC_2000.EXE program is available here (15 104 byte file size). Version 1.30 / Release date 1999.09.01 |
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| This program is shareware, and may be used by anyone. It may be freely distributed provided there is no charge and no alteration of the program code. |
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| Shareware means a free trial period. If it works and you like it, and you wish to use it, you are recommended to pay a nominal fee. In this case there is a suggested fee of US$10.00 for each PC. |
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