Hardware solution for Y2K- from Lanbit

Lanbit India has launched a special Y2K card, called LB 2000, which will make PCs and servers Y2K compliant. This product is aimed at government and banking institutions, home users and the corporate segment.

Lanbit India is an associate company of Allion NSTL Laboratories and a leading company in the modem and networking products market. Th LB 2000 card has been designed by the research labs at Allion-NSTL and tested and approved by NSTL Laboratories, USA. NSTL, the leading authority in Y2K product certification, has certified the product.

How it works
This card takes charge of the BIOS  and the real time clock, running them on a four digit year field. It then interfaces with the application program, solving the Y2K problem. BIOS stands for 'basic input output system', the system component that takes care of the input-output operation from startup. On PCs, the BIOS contains all the code required to control the keyboard, display screen, disk drives, serial communications, and a number of miscellaneous functions.

The LB 2000 is installed with Flash BIOS ( the BIOS instructions are recorded on a flash memory chip, which can be updated in blocks if necessary) and software updates are available for it on the Internet. Most other similar products do not have Flash BIOS, are not approved by NSTL, and may also have problems with respect to updates.

Besides the hardware solution, a software package from NSTL is available. Lanbit is offering free Y2K check-ups with the NSTL software for PCs in Mumbai and other cities.

The software is available on a floppy for Rs.30 from Lanbit's retailers while the card is priced at Rs.3,000 (excluding taxes). Lanbit can be contacted at 851-5950 (Mumbai).