Recently, the discovery of a new peculiar bug during the Windows 10 installation, started a buzz among the Windows 10 users.
The bug named Y3K doesn’t let the user install the latest version of Windows 10 if the BIOS date is set to 19 January 3001, or later, on both AMD or Intel motherboards.
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An IT professional and a YouTuber named Carey Holzman further explains the problem. He says that if your system motherboard BIOS somehow allows you to set a date as 19, January 3001, or beyond that, then the latest Windows 10 1909 would not finish installing on your system. Instead, it would lock up during the second reboot of the installation process.
Furthermore, the problem doesn’t resolve when you change the BIOS date to the correct one. After changing the BIOS date, if you restart your system, Windows 10 would freeze back. It would automatically reset the incorrect BIOS date back.
Even if you change the motherboard and restart the installation, the Windows would set the false date to the new motherboard’s BIOS too!
The bug would remain in the system even after changing the hardware specs, excluding the harddisk ofcourse.
What does this mean?
Frankly speaking, it doesn’t affect much to the current Windows 10 users, if you have a proper motherboard and doesn’t play with system date while installing the latest update of Windows 10.
Although currently, we don’t know about what would happen when the 19 January, 3001 would arrive.
Well, luckily, Microsoft and Gigabyte still have approximately 981 years to find the solution to this problem. Right now, we can only suggest how to avoid the Y3K bug and fix it if you encountered it.
How to avoid Y3k bug?
While Windows 10 users have to deal with many annoyances, which can cause them much frustration, thankfully, Y3K is easily avoidable.
Just make sure that while installing the Windows 10 1909 version, the BIOS date on your motherboard is set to 18 January, 3001, or earlier. Avoid typing errors while setting the date on your system. The update would run smoothly and would not cause at least this problem.
How to fix the Y3K bug in Windows 10?
It is quite rare for a Windows 10 user to encounter this bug. Although, if you have accidentally changed your system date or if you are unlucky enough to get a motherboard whose BIOS date has been set to 19 January, 3001, or beyond, then luckily there is a solution for you.
- First, fix the BIOS date.
- Now don’t restart you system manually; instead, restart your system from the Windows 10 installation media you are using, either of the DVD or USB drive.
- Now, clear ALL drive partitions on the SSD/HDD you want to install Windows 10 on, and ONLY THEN start the installation process again.
The above steps will most probably work for you if you are looking for a solution to fix the Y3K bug.
What can Microsoft do?
Although Y3k is one of the rarest bugs in Windows 10, Microsoft, being a super-giant in the software business, should not consider it lightly.
Out of millions of users, even if 100 have to suffer due to a small bug, then it can diminish the image of the brand.
For clearing this bug, Microsoft should introduce a date checking mechanism during the initial installation process.
What can a motherboard manufacturer do?
Since the main issue is of motherboards BIOS settings, motherboard manufacturers are the main culprit, excluding the case when the user itself sets the wrong date.
The Y3K affects both Intel and AMD Gigabytes motherboards. Although Gigabyte says that the maximum date that could be set is till 2099, users, in this case, can freely change it to anything on their own.
So, Gigabyte should fix the BIOS settings in every motherboard they are selling.
Final Words
While we can say that this Y3K is not a major bug for the users, it can be a lot more frustrating dealing with it.
If anyone encounters with it and doesn’t know what’s actually the issue is, they would keep on rebooting the system or try changing the hardware settings.
All in all, this issue needs to be looked upon, and Microsoft should release an official statement.
For the users, the lesson is never to play with your system date settings while installing a Windows update.
Peter is an Electrical Engineer whose primary interest is tinkering with his computer. He is passionate about Windows 10 Platform and enjoys writing tips and tutorials about it.
So,True…but the real question is (outside of a typo) why would anyone use such an outrageous date in the first place…lol,( unless someone wanted to send emails and such with those insane dates to claim there from the future,trying to save our Race…lol)
Why would they do it? Because someone told them not to. When God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from one particular tree, their first question was “Where is it?”