Microsoft Office 98 Mac OS 9 Updater is updated with new fix for Excel Y2K error

The Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition/Mac OS 9 Updater has been updated (12/23/99). In addition to the two fixes it already contained (see previous item in Troubleshooting Mac OS 9) - for Excel/Graph Format Chart dialog and for PowerPoint printing - it now contains a fix for a Excel 98 Y2K 2-digit date error.

Using Visual Basic to save a file in Excel, which is formatted for 4-digit dates, results in data loss. The dates are exported in 2-digit format instead. When the saved file is then read back into Excel that century information for the dates is lost. This patch will correct this problem, so that no data is lost.

Microsoft sent us the following additional details about the problem that is fixed by the update:

The problem occurs when users of Excel 98 use VBA to export Excel files that contain four-digit dates. When saving these files using VBA's "Save As Text," dates are exported in two-digit format instead of the intended four-digit format. When the file is then read back into Excel, the information for the correct century is ambiguous. Excel assumes the 20th century for dates exported as 30 to 99, and the 21st century for dates exported as 00 to 29. A user must set the Mac OS to "Show century" for this scenario to occur. By default on the Mac OS, "Show Century" is off.

The loss of the definitive century information is specific to using VBA to export files with four-digit date formatting. All other means of saving your files in Excel correctly maintain the century information.

File missing? When you click on the Download button, you may an error that says the file cannot be found. Several readers report (and we confirm) that the solution is make sure you select Language = English (or whatever other language you wish). If you leave the Language popup menu set to its default selection (Language), you'll get the error.

Update: As pointed out by R. Lynn Rardin, the information on Microsoft's update page is confusing. While the page says that the Updater fixes three problems, it actually links to a file (called "Excel 98 Y2K Update 2") that appears to only fix the new Excel problem. For the Updater that fixes the other two problems, you need to download the file listed on this web page.