Y2K info for Windows 98


There are now two versions of Windows 98 - original edition and 2nd edition. Most new computers shipped since June 1999 are running Windows 98 2nd edition. You can tell which version you have by right-clicking on your "My Computer" icon and selecting "Properties".
Windows 98 2nd Edition is Y2K compliant. You can read more about it at Microsoft's Y2K pages for Windows 98 2nd edition.
The original edition of Windows 98 has several Y2K issues; none of them are critical to the normal operation of the system, but they may pose a nusiance. Microsoft has provided a fix for all Windows 98 Y2K issues in the form of the Windows 98 Year 2000 update.
The following Y2K issues are addressed by the Year 2000 Update:
  • Some versions of the Microsoft Virtual Machine do not parse 4-digit dates correctly. This only affects Java programs which use the SimpleDateFormat class.
  • Some versions of Microsoft Wallet may not handle two-digit years correctly.
  • The Phone Dialer call log will not correctly display years past 1999.
  • If a date style that uses two-digit years is selected on the Date tab in the Regional Settings control panel, date functions in other parts of Windows may not operate properly after 1999. Be sure to select styles which use four-digit years.
  • In the Date/Time control panel, if the date is set to February 29 in any valid leap year and the year is changed using the tumbler buttons, the calandar display will not update properly.
  • When viewing the properties of Word or Wordpad documents and setting custom date information, two-digit dates are assumed to be in the 20th century and the date property loses a day if the year is 2000 and the time zone is set to Far East.
  • If the system is booted at the precise moment that the system clock rolls over at midnight, it may display an incorrect time and/or date.
  • After February 29, 2000, the DHCP client (used for obtaining an IP address when you use dial-up networking) will report an incorrect date when you run winipcfg.
  • The two-digit year handling used by the /D switch of the xcopy command is not consistent with the two-digit year handling used by other commands.

More detailed information is available at:
Microsoft's Y2K pages for Windows 98 original edition
Back to Y2K Links for DOS/Windows PC's
questions, comments, or suggestions?
Send them to y2k-help@udel.edu