NEW YORK, Dec 26 — A new ‘millennium bug’ could hit computers in January 2038, wipe out computers and programmes that rely on outdated internal clocks.
The Year 2038 problem affects computers using a 32-bit, or four byte, operating system.
The maximum integer value that a 32-bit system can store is 2,147,483,647 before it enters invalid values. As the standard 4-byte format calculates the beginning of time from January 1, 1970, at 12:00:00 am, 2,147,483,647 translates to January 19, 2038. After that, a computer’s internal clock would not be able to distinguish between 2038 and the year 1901.
The problem can be avoided by upgrading to a 64-bit, or eight byte system.
Eight-byte systems can store more than 9 quintillion integer values. — Reuters
