Compaq Year 2000 Device Driver

Year 2000 compliance for Compaq PC products is defined by NSTL's strict definition of Year 2000 readiness for x86-based PCs. The hardware clock must be compatible to the Motorola MC146818 real-time clock (RTC) and the ROM BIOS must report the occurrence of the Year 2000 in real time. Compaq x86-based commercial and consumer desktop PCs, portable PCs, servers and workstations purchased on or after October 7, 1997 pass the YMARK2000 test (Version 97.08.15).

With respect to older products, ROM BIOS upgrades may be required to pass the test. These upgrades are available at no charge from this website. Upgrades may not be available for some older products, including those without upgradable ROM BIOS. Compaq recommends that you install ROM BIOS upgrades to the extent they are available. If not, Compaq provides this alternative software work-around.

With respect to application software, if written improperly, it may bypass the ROM BIOS or the operating system and access the RTC directly. This may result in an improper date being obtained. (See Compaq’s white paper “Preparing for the Year 2000” for further discussion.) Compaq recommends that you identify such applications and replace them with industry standard applications, which properly access the date through the ROM BIOS or operating system. This is not a hardware or firmware issue; it is a software issue, which you should address with your software provider(s). In the event you have such an application and are unable to replace or modify it, Compaq provides this software as a potential work-around. This work-around should be tested in your application environment before actual use.

The CPQY2K software work-around is a small DOS driver that should be installed as the first entry of the CONFIG.SYS file. To install Compaq’s CPQY2K software work-around, follow the instructions below. The work-around is subject to license terms, which you will be required to accept before downloading it.

Description

With this work-around installed, century changes during power-off are corrected during the Power On Self Test (POST) routine. In situations where the rollover is scheduled to occur while the machine is running, CPQY2K monitors the date and time and automatically changes the century at the appropriate time.

Installation

The CPQY2K program should be inserted at the beginning of the CONFIG.SYS file of any computer system that meets the following criteria:

  1. Older Compaq products without upgradeable ROM BIOS;
  2. Compaq products that are capable of being upgraded, but for which no upgrade is currently available; or
  3. Systems with applications that bypass the ROM BIOS or operating system to obtain date data directly from the RTC -- with either a compliant or non-compliant ROM BIOS.
  1. To Download the software work-around, Click on "Click here to download Compaq’s software work-around" at the bottom of the page.
    1. Choose "Save file"
    2. Save the file to your hard drive, make note of the location/path of the saved file.
  1. To Editing the CONFIG.SYS file:
    1. Close all applications
    2. Go to MS-DOS prompt
    3. Type "edit c:\CONFIG.SYS"
    4. Config.sys file comes up
    5. Above the first line of text, type:"DEVICE=C:\path\CPQY2K.SYS". (Path is the directory where you saved the CPQY2K.SYS file.)
    6. To save your changes, click on the FILE menu and choose SAVE.
    7. To exit CONFIG.SYS, choose EXIT from the FILE menu.
    8. To exit MS-DOS, type "exit"

Once the software work-around has been entered into the CONFIG.SYS file, a single reboot of the system is required to allow the software work-around to take effect.

Example

DEVICE=C:\PATH\CPQY2K.SYS (Path = The location of the file)

Supported Environments

MS-DOS

Windows 3.x

Windows for Workgroups

Windows 95

Windows 98

 

Non-supported Environments

Compaq’s CPQY2K software work-around does not operate in protected mode environments such as Windows NT, Xenix, Unix, Linux, Solaris, QNX, etc. If you have a protected mode environment, contact your software provider for information on how century changes are handled.

 

Application Testing

Any software application whose Year 2000 readiness is questionable should be tested. If test results indicate the application performs a direct RTC date query (bypassing the ROM BIOS and operating system) this driver may provide a workaround. For these cases, the customer should install the driver as indicated above, and retest the application thoroughly.

Warning

If this driver is accidentally deleted from your system, the device driver line removed from the CONFIG.SYS file, or CONFIG.SYS renamed, it will render your system non-Year2000 ready.

Click here to download Compaq’s software work-around