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The A3C Connection, January/February/March 1999 The A3C Connection
Jan/Feb/March 1999 Contents What's New at the ACCC Find and Fix with Norton 2000 Email on the Road: WebMail Email on the Road: Pine 4 About the A3C Connection

Find and Fix with Norton 2000

 
Tech Tips
 Windows Everyone 

Recently overheard: "Y2K? It could be worse: we could be trying to fix it without computers."*
 
*This is silly, of course, but it's also true. This item is an "also ran" from http://www.duh-2000.com/, a Web site owned by The Ken Orr Institute, which runs a monthly contest for the stupidest thing said about the Year 2000 problem. It was submitted by Garry Gregson.

 
   
 
     
Norton 2000
  Since computers got us into this Y2K problem, it is only fair that they help us get out of it. The UIC Academic Computing and Communications Center has a service license for Symantec's Norton 2000, one of the most popular Y2K-testing software packages for PCs running Windows. Norton 2000 will give you a good start on finding and fixing the Y2K problems on your Windows PC. And the good news is that it's easy!

Norton 2000 checks your hardware, operating system, and commercial software, comparing what you have against its database of known Y2K problems. It also looks at each of your files -- both data files for specific database or spreadsheet application programs and any other file, which it attempts to treat as unformatted data -- to see whether it can find anything that might be dates. Norton 2000 creates detailed reports, explaining and ranking each error that it found, usually suggesting a fix.

One of the nicest things about Norton 2000 is the "database of known Y2K problems" that it uses, which is automatically updatable on the Internet. (The database is similar to the databases of known viruses used by virus checkers; they're generally updated on the Internet as well.) Year 2000 compatibility is, unfortunately, a moving target; Norton 2000's LiveUpdate feature will assure you that you're using the most up-to-date Y2K compatibility information.

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What Exactly Does Norton 2000 Do?
  Norton 2000 is a Year 2000 analysis tool for PCs running Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT.
  • It checks PC hardware, operating system, and all application software for known Y2K problems.

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  • It lists all installed software, separating it into three categories: applications known to have Year 2000 issues, applications of unknown compliance, and applications claimed by their makers to have no Year 2000 issues. (This list alone is quite useful.)

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  • It looks for date data in data files for Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Access, dBase, Clipper, FoxPro, and Paradox.

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  • It looks for date-related computations and variables in Visual Basic source code in Access and Excel macros.

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  • It examines just about any type of file, treating them as unformatted data files, attempting to identify all date data, both dates with 2- and 4-digit years.

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  • It also identifies "old dates," which, by default, are dates with a 2-digit year field of 30 or less.
    •  (Finding old dates is important because the "windowing" solution taken by many date-dependent applications can lead to confusion in the century in which these older dates belong. For more information on windowing, see Identifying and Correcting Dates with Two-Digit Years.)

    When Norton 2000 finds either a Y2K software problem or date data or variables, it will tell you where it found the problem, explain what the problem is, and estimate its severity by ranking it on a scale of 1 to 5, with 4 and 5 being the most severe. In many cases, it will suggest a solution, often providing a link to a Web URL to go to for a fix.

    Norton 2000 has extensive documentation, not that you'll need much help, except perhaps with interpreting its reports! It comes with the 60-page Norton 2000 User's Guide (in Acrobat PDF form), a wizard that guides you through its installation and use, and an extensive online help system. Along with briefly explaining how to use Norton 2000, Purchasing, Installing, and Using Norton 2000 gives instructions on how print the User's Guide that comes with it.

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    System Requirements

    Norton 2000 software requires Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT. Depending on your installed software and the number and type of data files you have, the reports produced by Norton 2000 might require a large amount of disk and/or swap space. Its minimum hardware requirements are:
    • 386 processor or better
    • 16 MB or more of memory
    • 48 MB or more of available swap space
    • 10 MB or more of available disk space
    • For Norton 2000 on CD (it is also available by special order on 3.5" diskettes) -- 2x or faster CD-ROM drive
    Don't have these requirements? Consider replacing your computer rather than checking it for Year 2000 compliance. But be sure to check your applications and data files after you move them to your new computer!

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    Obtaining Norton 2000

    The ACCC has made one free copy of Norton 2000 available to one REACH member from each department. (For more about the REACH program, see the ACCC REACH page at: http://www.uc.edu/depts/accc/reach/)
    Individual faculty, staff, and departments may also purchase Norton 2000 for $30 per copy; send email to software@uic.edu for details.

    The ACCC's licensing agreement for Norton 2000 allows you to use the software on any machine that you're responsible for.

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    Using Norton 2000
      Before you run Norton 2000, check your machine for computer viruses and remove any that you might find. Many viruses are triggered on or after a certain date; performing tests like Norton 2000's System Date Test have been known to trigger them. The ACCC has a site license for Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus software; for more information and to download your free copy, see Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Software at UIC.

    After you make sure your computer doesn't have any viruses, put the Norton 2000 CD in your CD drive. Norton 2000 should open automatically, and its wizard will appear to step you through installing the software and performing its three tests.

    After the wizard ends, the Norton 2000 main window will be displayed. The main window has three large buttons containing traffic light icons, one for each of the three tests. Click in the appropriate traffic light button to open the Log Window that contains the results report for that test or scan. (See Figure 1.) Chapter 3 of the Norton 2000 User's Guide, "Getting Started," explains how to interpret each scan report. There is more information, in particular for the Application and Data File reports, in chapter 5, "Interpreting Results."

    Before you exit Norton 2000, print copy of the report(s) if you want to keep them. (It's the only way, sorry!)

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    System Date Test

    The Norton 2000 System Date Test checks whether you have Windows set to use long or short date format (one that includes a 4-digit year), whether your PC will be able to rollover its system date from December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000 (many, many PCs can't do this!), and whether your operating system will correctly recognize the year 2000 as being a Leap Year and the year 2001 as not being one. (Again, many don't; many commercial software packages don't either! For more information, see The Y2K Leap Year Problem.)

    Chapter 5 of the Norton 2000 User's Guide explains what to do if your machine fails any of these tests.

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    Application Scan Results

    The Application Scan scans your installed software, compares your software to its Y2K software compatibility database, and generates a report listing all the application software it finds and giving its Y2K-compatibility status.

    Thus the Application Scan report contains an itemized list of all the applications that Norton 2000 found on your PC, specifying their current Y2K-compatibility status. Click the lightning bolt beside a problem report to go to a Web URL with more information about the problem, including, in many cases, the vendor's fix for it.

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    Data File Scan

    The Data File Scan scans your data files and generates a detailed report on your Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft Excel, Quattro Pro, dBase III and dBase IV, FoxPro, Microsoft Access, and Paradox data files. In addition, it looks at all your other files, which it attempts to read as unformatted data files. The Data File Scan report explains what's wrong in your data files and gives suggestions on how to fix them. Click on the lightning bolt icon beside a problem report to open the file in question in the application used to create it.

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    In the Application or Data File Log Windows:

    • Click + or - to expand or collapse entries.
    • Click ? for a description of a problem report.
    • Right-click anywhere on a line to see a menu of commands relating to that item.
    Where Norton 2000 can tell what needs to be done to fix a problem, it will display a lightning bolt icon. Clicking on the lightning bolt in the Application Scan log window takes you to a Web URL for more information on the problem; clicking on the lightning bolt icon in the Data File Scan log window will open the file in question.

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    Figure 1: Norton 2000 Application Scan Log

    This is part of the Application Scan Report that I got when I ran Norton 2000 on my PC at work. I use Windows NT, Version 4.0, Service Pack 3 (as Norton 2000 correctly figured out). NT 4.0, SP 3 has known Y2K issues, including its not knowing that the year 2000 is a leap year! Who'd have thunk it!

    I have clicked + to expand "Applications known to have Year 2000 issues" and I've also clicked + to expand Windows NT issues. My cursor is pointing to the lightning bolt icon for the Windows NT information; when I click on it, my Web browser will open, displaying the Microsoft Year 2000 product readiness page: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/year2k/product/product.htm

    Surprisingly, my list of "Applications of unknown compliance" includes many applications that you'd think would be "known," including Adobe Photoshop, Corel WordPerfect, and Quattro Pro. But I get them from ACCC Server Services, so they're not my problem. (And maybe that's also why they're unknown.)

    But let's check 'em out just to make sure. A quick click on the lightning bolt beside Adobe Photoshop takes me to the Vendor 2000 Web site: http://www.vendor2000.com/
    I click on Product Search, A (for Adobe), select Adobe Systems Incorporated from the drop-down list, click View Vendor Profile, select View Adobe Systems Incorporated Products, and I see that Adobe has announced that Version 4.0 and higher of Photoshop for Windows 3.1/NT/95 is Year 2000 compliant. One down (assuming I trust Adobe's statement, that is), 98 to go.

    It's going to take me a while to check everything out, but this is the way to go!

    Too Many Errors? Don't Worry!

    Norton 2000 ranks errors on a scale of 1 to 5; the errors ranked 4 and 5 are the most important. If your time is limited, you should probably plan on fixing these problems first. Some of the level 1 and 2 problems aren't really problems at all -- just comments -- and even some of the level 3 problems won't need to be fixed.

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    Customizing Norton 2000
      Norton 2000 has options settings that allow you to:
    • include or exclude files by their location and/or by their filename
    • produce condensed or detailed reports for data file scans
    • search for date issues in Visual Basic source code in Microsoft Access or Excel data
    The default is to run a condensed scan of all folders and subfolders on all local fixed drives, and not to look at Visual Basic source code.

    There are also options to limit reports to issues of selected severity, to change the default year for "old dates" (the default is 30), to quit scanning files after it's looked through a given number of bytes without encountering any 2-digit years, or to skip searching binary files altogether. (Binary files contain unprintable characters, such as .exe program execution files and .dll program libraries; the default is to include these files in the scan.)

    Use Edit -> Settings or click the button whose icon looks like a Windows window (the second icon in the third group of icons the task bar, below the menu bar) to change your Norton 2000 options. (See Figure 1.)

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    Keeping Norton 2000 Up-To-Date
      One of Norton 2000's more important features is that its database of known application Y2K issues can be updated online, automatically; provided, of course, that you are connected to the Internet when you run it. When you open Norton 2000, the wizard will offer to run LiveUpdate, or you can run it yourself by selecting Tools -> LiveUpdate or click the button whose icon looks like a PC with an antenna.

    For the most up-to-date results, always run LiveUpdate before you scan any computer. You must reboot your computer after running LiveUpdate to use the updated Y2K compliance database.

    Comments are welcome; please send them
    to Judith Grobe Sachs, judygs@uic.edu
    or to uic2000@uic.edu
    		  
     

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