14:03 EST Tuesday

HP laptops have Y2K-like problem

Hewlett-Packard programmers are working on an interesting problem with several models of its laptop computers -- interesting, because it resembles the problem some computers had with Y2K.

The ESS Technology modem that comes with many HP laptops stopped operating on Feb. 21, 2001.

Users who found that diagnostics looked OK and then visited the Hewlett-Packard Web site, http://www.hp.com/cposupport/mobilecomputing, have found that the driver for their model is, as geeks put it, "calendar-buggy."

The similarity to the Y2K problem, in which some computers choked on the idea of a year called "00", extends to the temporary remedy HP recommends, which is to set the date back while its programmers invent a software patch to fix or work around the problem.

http://pacific.bcentral.com/pacific/stories/2001/02/26/daily19.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 28, 2001