Monday October 4 7:25 PM ET

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Monday October 4 7:25 PM ET

Government Reports Two Y2K Failures

By TED BRIDIS Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government reported two more minor computer failures blamed on the Y2K technology problem on Monday, days after the start of its fiscal year 2000.

The Justice Department and Federal Aviation Administration each reported problems with budget-related computers caused by the date rollover, but they were able to solve the failures within hours, according to the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion.

The council, which monitored agencies through the weekend for reports of problems, earlier cited minor failures at the Energy Department and National Science Foundation. The fiscal year began Friday.

The Justice Department reported a problem with its financial management information system but was able to fix it by day's end, said Jack Gribben, a spokesman for the council. The FAA's national automated travel system also failed but was quickly fixed.

Gribben on Monday said none of the failures threatened public safety. The council asked agencies to continue to report problems through this week because failures could occur days or even weeks after Friday's date rollover.

``There may be some agencies out there that haven't tried to use a fiscal application for the year,'' Gribben said. ``We don't expect we are going to hear much.''

The Energy Department reported Friday that a purchasing system temporarily failed, and the science foundation reported problems with a system that provides information to grant recipients.

Gribben said it was unclear whether agencies had previously tried to repair those systems that had failed.

Most departments are close to finishing repairs on their most important computers, but some won't be able to complete work before Jan. 1 on systems that weren't designated ``mission critical.''

The so-called Y2K problem exists because many older computers and software programs recognize only the last two digits of the year and could mistakenly interpret ``00'' as 1900.

======================================= End

Wonder when they are going to announce the first MAJOR problem !!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), October 04, 1999

Answers

Changing the look ahead programs end date to 12/31/99 only works till 12/31/99.

-- Gambler (scotann@arosnet.com), October 04, 1999.

"but they were able to solve the failures within hours"

Wow! The government is even dumber and slower than I thought. It took them hours to figure out how to pull the plug out of the wall?

-- @ (@@@.@), October 04, 1999.


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