While it is very important to get the word out to the general public about Y2K, some of these articles also provide simple testing instructions that are incomplete and can cause problems. Although hardware testing is simple, and anyone can do it, proper precautions must be followed to avoid unexpected and unwanted damage to information stored on the hard disk. Many of these articles do not mention or completely ignore these precautions. Any articles that tell you to simply change the date on your PC and see if it causes problems with your system or programs are not providing you the best advice. Rely on the software vendor to tell you if your operating system and program versions are Y2K compliant.
Most vendors have web sites to inform their users of compliance.
If they do not have a site, assume non-compliance and call them on the phone. A list of hardware and software vendor web sites is available. If you use your computer to do work related activities it should be considered a production machine that may have date-sensitive applications. Test Reset system to current date and time after testing. Because of these potential problems, simple and safe testing instructions that show you how to test your hardware without causing damage to your stored data are available.