Converting 2-Digit Dates to 4-Digit Dates Using International Calendars

When you are using an international (localized) version of Windows 98 in which you can choose between localized and non-localized Gregorian system calendars (by using the Regional Settings tool in Control Panel), you can configure the Century dialog box individually for each Gregorian calendar. In this case, programs that use Microsoft Visual Basic to convert a 2-digit date to a 4-digit date use the Century dialog box settings for the default calendar, not the current calendar. For example, this behavior occurs with Microsoft Access. This behavior does not occur in English versions of Windows 98.

This problem occurs if the program uses OLE to convert a 2-digit date to a 4-digit date. OLE looks up the English Gregorian calendar settings instead of your current calendar settings. Note that this is not a year 2000 issue.

If you change the Century dialog box setting in the Regional Settings tool in Control Panel for one Gregorian calendar, change all other Gregorian calendars to the same Century dialog box settings. For example, if you change one calendar's Century settings from "1930-2029" to "1936-2035," change all other Gregorian calendars' Century settings to the same date range.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Windows 98.

This is not a problem in Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. However, Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 5 (SP5) includes a newer version of the Oleaut32.dll file that corrects this problem in Windows 98. For additional information about the latest service pack for Windows NT, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: