README.TXT                                       MILLCARE 1.1
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This is the ASCII version of the documentation of MILLCARE.
A HTML version of the documentation, including screen shots,
is also available as README.HTM. To view this file, start
your Web browser and type the full path name of README.HTM
(for example c:\millcare\readme.htm) in the address field.
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MILLCARE

A millennium clock test and repair utility for PC and PS/2.


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Introduction

How to install and start MILLCARE

How to use MILLCARE

How to use MILLCARE with Windows

How to use command line options

How to customize MILLCARE

Platforms supported and Known Limitations

Pricing and Ordering

The Shareware concept and the ASP

Disclaimer and Agreement


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Introduction

Since IBM started to manufacture the IBM Advanced Technology
Personal Computers, well known as the IBM AT, a clock device
has been part of the design of all personal computers. This
clock device provides the correct date and time once
correctly configured. A battery backup saves the date and
time during a power off period of the machine. The clock
chip, however, has one small problem build right in. It does
not automatically count to the next century!

The importance of a correct date and time on a personal
computer is evident. Documents, spreadsheets and other files
produced by you, the computer user, should have the correct
date and time. A correct date and time becomes even more
important when sending and receiving electronic mail. Sending
a message today that is received by the addressee as being
from the past is at least a little bit clumsy. Not to mention
the confusion that might be raised this way. Other types of
applications, like databases for example, simply rely on a
correct date and time.

Almost all computers sold nowadays and for the past year or
so have this clock chip problem solved by letting the BIOS
check the date and time. The Basic Input Output System is a
computer program stored in hardware. This program is a
collection of routines that check and control hardware
components like the keyboard, mouse, disks and others.
The BIOS of a new, Millennium compliant PC, controls the
clock chip in such a way, that when the time goes from
23:59:59 on December 31 1999, the century value in the clock
chip is re-programmed.

So how can you be sure that the personal computer or
computers you are working with are Year 2000 compliant? First
of all you could check with the vendor or computer store.
Another option is to manually check each computer with the
DOS Date and Time commands and power them of and on again.
Then you know that a PC is or is not compliant. But what if
you manage ten or hundred computers at work? Or maybe even
more...

That's when MILLCARE becomes important to you. Our utility
automates the testing of PCs and PS/2s and, even more
important, provides a solution in case the tested computer is
not capable of switching to the next century on it's own. The
clock fix we developed saves you the costs of a hardware BIOS
upgrade. The easy to use, menu based test program lets you
validate computers in minutes and apply the programmatic
clock fix when needed. When using in batchmode, testing and
fixing can be done within five seconds all together!


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How to install and start MILLCARE

When this utility has been downloaded from the Internet or
other online source, the separate program modules and
documentation files are packed in an archive file. This
archive file itself is a program that should be run first.
When done, the separate files are extracted in the same
directory as where the archive file has been downloaded. When
the program was received on a license diskette, all the
separate program modules and documentation files are ready
for use.

The MILLCARE utility does not need to be actually installed
first. It can be used directly from the distribution diskette
or from a harddisk directory where the archive file was
extracted. MILLCARE can be started from the DOS prompt with a
command like for example: a:\millcare.

(mcp01.gif)

When using MILLCARE in combination with Windows, it can be
started like any DOS program from the command line in a DOS
box.  However, there are some specific options to start and
use  MILLCARE in a Windows environment. These options are
described in one of the following chapters.


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How to use MILLCARE

The first option in the menu is the actual Year 2000 clock
rollover test. When selected, the clock chip will be
programmed to just a few seconds before the Year 2000. The
date and time are being checked for four seconds and the
results are shown in two separate windows. The first window
shows the Software Date & Time as well as the Hardware Date &
Time. The Software Date & Time should always correctly move
from the last two seconds in the year 1999 to the first two
seconds in the year 2000.

(mcp02.gif)

The Hardware Date & time is the place to check! When the
hardware and/or the BIOS of this computer is not capable of
adjusting the century value of the clock chip, the new year
will be 1900! Then you are advised to install the Millennium
Clock Adjust Program by selecting menu option two or three.


When the computer being tested is Year 2000 compliant, the
information in the Hardware Date & Time window will show the
correct value, 2000 instead of 1900. No further action is
needed and the program can be ended. After the Rollover test
has been completed, the original date and time of the
computer is restored.

(mcp03.gif)

The second and the third menu option can be used to install
the Millennium Clock Adjust Program. This program can be
installed in two ways. The most secure way is to install it
as a so called Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program.
Once installed the program acts as a kind of watchdog that
monitors changes in the date and time of the computer and
adjusts the clock chip accordingly.

The other way to install the Millennium Clock Adjust Program
is as a non- resident program. When installed this way the
Millennium Clock Adjust Program checks the date & time and
adjusts the clock chip accordingly but only once during the
startup of the computer.

(mcp04.gif)

When the installation of the Millennium Clock Adjust Program
has completed, a new file (MILLCAP.COM) has been place in the
root directory of drive C:. The AUTOEXEC.BAT procedure has
some new lines added to the top in order to execute the
MILLCAP.COM program whenever the PC is started. The line in
AUTOEXEC.BAT that executes the MILLCAP.COM program also shows
the option /TSR or /ONCE, depending on the previous selected
menu option.


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How to use MILLCARE with Windows

There are two ways to start MILLCARE in combination with
Windows 3.x. The first and most obvious way is to open a DOS
box, change to the correct drive and directory and type the
name of the program. The other way is to use the Program
Manager -> File -> Run menu. When using this Program Manager
Run option, MILLCARE runs in a more secure way without being
interrupted while doing it's job.

(mcp05.gif)

There are three ways to start MILLCARE in combination with
Windows 95 or Windows 98. The first and most obvious is to
open a DOS box, change to the correct drive and directory and
type the name of the program. There are, however, two safer
methods to use this program. One method is to use the Start
command in a DOS box, like "c:> start millcare". The other is
to use the Run option of the Start Menu.

(mcp06.gif)

When using the second or third start method, MILLCARE runs
with more priority and cannot be interrupted while doing its job.


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How to use command line options.

Utilities who's design is based on the use of a menu with
options are in general considered more user friendly then
utilities that do not have a menu. However, when checking a
large number of computers with a menu based utility the user
friendliness becomes counter productive.

In order to offer the best of both worlds, MILLCARE can also
be used with command line options to speed up the test and
installation process. One command line option specifies that
MILLCARE should immediately start the Rollover test, whereas
another command line option can be used to specify if the
Millennium Clock Adjust Program needs to be installed. That
is, if the Rollover test fails.

The command line options are:

/run  batchmode without installation.
/tsr  installation of MILLCAP with TSR option.
/once installation of MILLCAP with Once option.


An example of a command line execution is:

[Dos] C:\DATA\MILLCARE>millcare /run /tsr

MILLCARE version 1.1. Millennium Clock Test and Adjust.
Copyright (c) 1999, Confirm, The Netherlands, All Rights Reserved.
Demonstration version for 30 days of evaluation.

Software Date & Time    Hardware Date & Time
--------------------------------------------
31-12-1999  23:59:58    31-12-1999  23:59:58
31-12-1999  23:59:59    31-12-1999  23:59:59
01-01-2000  00:00:00    01-01-1900  00:00:00
01-01-2000  00:00:01    01-01-1900  00:00:01

The result of the Millennium Clock Test was NOT okay. You are
advised to install the Millennium Clock Adjust Program by
selecting the second or third option in the Options menu.

The Millennium Clock Adjust Program has been installed and
will be activated the next time this PC is started. The
internal clock of this PC will then have the correct date and
time in the Year 2000.

[Dos] C:\DATA\MILLCARE>


When using the command line option /run, MILLCARE can return
an errorlevel other then zero. The value of the errorlevel
can be used in batch procedures if needed. Since errorlevels
are mainly used in batchfiles the interactive, menu, usage of
MILLCARE always returns errorlevel 0.

EL   Meaning
0    This PC is compliant.
1    This PC is not compliant.
2    PC is not compliant, installation of MILLCAP with /Tsr okay.
3    PC is not compliant, installation of MILLCAP with /Once okay.
8    Cannot perform because running under Windows NT.
9    Syntax or other error.


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How to customize MILLCARE

Most of the textual information displayed in the menus and as
messages on the command line are defined in the file
MILLCARE.MSG. This is a plain ASCII text file that can be
modified with any text editor like Notepad for example. The
purpose of this message file is to be able to modify or
translate the textual information of this program as needed.
Individual strings and text blocks can be modified, but
within the bounds of the available space in the menu border
and text borders. No individual string or text block should
be completely deleted since the program depends on this
information to display what's going on.

The first block of strings are the keywords below the [menu]
identifier. These keywords each represent one line of text
displayed in the Options menu and text that is displayed on
the last row of the screen.

[menu]
options=Options...
test=Do the Rollover test
tsr=Install the TSR solution
non=Install the NonTSR solution
...


Below the [menu] section are a number of text blocks, each
representing a certain message to be displayed in a text
window. These blocks of text have a limit of three rows and
sixty-six characters per row.

[info_test]
The test will set the clock to a few seconds before the Year
2000 and continue to inspect the effect of the rollover. The
results will be shown and you will be advised what to do
next.


The last part of the message file starts with the [header]
identifier. The text below the [header] identifier is
prefixed to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file when the Millennium Clock
Adjust Program is installed. This information will inform and
remind the users of the purpose of the extra command line
added. When the [header] section is removed, no information
will be prefixed to the AUTOEXEC.BAT, but the installation
will still complete.

;
; The [header] text block is prefixed to AUTOEXEC.BAT when
; the Millennium Clock Adjust Program is installed.
;
[header]
echo off
rem
rem The MILLCAP.COM program is used to adjust the hardware
rem clock of this rem PC when the date changes from December
rem 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000. rem Do NOT remove this
rem program from autoexec.bat.
rem


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Platforms supported and Known Limitations

MILLCARE can be used on Personal Computers, IBM Personal
System/2 and any compatible type of PC. The Millennium Clock
Adjust Program needs at least a 80286 type of processor. This
should not be a problem since the original IBM AT computer,
the first with a clock chip, was based on a 80286.

MILLCARE and the Millennium Clock Adjust Program have been
tested with MS DOS version 3.1 and above. Older versions of
DOS might work fine but could not be tested.

MILLCARE can be used on DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95 and
Windows 98. This utility should not be used in combination
with Windows NT workstation or Windows NT server.

Some particular brands and versions of BIOSes, for example
the Award version 4,  forces the date to be between 1994 and
1999. Please send us such a machine if you can spare one.


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Pricing and Ordering.


Please see the following files:

PRICES.TXT for discount information.

ORDERNL.TXT for orders from the Netherlands.

ORDERDE.TXT for orders from Germany.

ORDEREEC.TXT for orders from other countries of the EEC.

ORDER.TXT for orders from all other countries.


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The Shareware concept and the ASP.

Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software
before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue
using it, you are expected to purchase a license. Individual
programs differ on details. Some request registration while
others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. When
purchasing a license, you get anything from the simple right
to continue using the software to an updated program.
Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial
software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a
few specific exceptions as stated below.

Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like
commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable
quality. In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones.
The main difference is in the method of distribution. The
author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute
the software, either to all or to a specific group. For
example, some authors require written permission before a
commercial disk vendor may copy their software.

Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software.
You should find software that suits your needs, whether it is
commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting
your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And
because the overhead is low, prices are also low. Shareware
has the ultimate money-back guarantee. If you do not use the
product, you do not pay for it.


The Ombudsman.

This program is produced by a member of the Association of
Shareware Professionals. ASP wants to make sure that the
shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to
resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by
contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The
ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with
an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for
members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545
Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 USA, FAX 616- 788-2765 or
send an email message to omb&asp-shareware.org.


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Disclaimer and Agreement.

Users of MILLCARE must accept this disclaimer of warranty:

"MILLCARE is supplied as is. The author or Confirm disclaims
all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without
limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness
for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages,
direct or consequential, which may result from the use of
MILLCARE."

MILLCARE is a "shareware program" and is provided at no
charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with
your colleagues, but please do not give it away altered or as
part of another system. The essence of "user-supported"
software is to provide personal computer users with quality
software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive
for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you
find this program useful and find that you are using MILLCARE
and continue to use MILLCARE after a trial period of 30 days,
you must place a purchase order. You can order by filling in
one of the order forms you find on the diskette or the ZIP
file and send it by fax or airmail to Confirm in the
Netherlands.

Users of MILLCARE must purchase a license and pay for their
copies of MILLCARE within 30 days of first use or their
evaluation license will be withdrawn.

Anyone distributing MILLCARE for any kind of remuneration
must first contact Confirm for written authorization. This
authorization will be automatically granted to distributors
recognized by the ASP as adhering to its guidelines for
shareware distributors, and such distributors may begin
offering MILLCARE immediately. However, Confirm should be
advised so that the distributor can be kept up-to-date with
the latest version of MILLCARE.


Confirm                             Phone: +31-316-342224
Ardechelaan 35                      Fax:   +31-316-341580
6904 NG  Zevenaar                   Email: info@confirm.nl
The Netherlands                     Web:   www.confirm.nl

MILLCARE is a registered trademark of Confirm.
Copyright (c) Confirm 1999, The Netherlands,
All Rights Reserved.

