January 2, 2000
Web posted at: 2:09 a.m. EST (0709 GMT)

In this story: Most businesses go back online Monday Glitches here and there Military satellites suffer Y2K problem Exaggerated threat? RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

(CNN) -- Computer experts and officials worldwide sighed in relief over the weekend as electronic systems moved into the new year without a hitch -- but warned that businesses could find new problems when they restart machines switched off over the holiday.

Stories: Meaning of the Millennium Y2K: Hype or Hazard? Events Guide: New Year's around the globe Discussion: Stories of the Century Best and Worst Quiz: Know your millennium Links: Celebrations Observatories Y2K Readiness Humor Poll: When does the new millennium begin? Jan. 1, 2000 Jan. 1, 2001 Not sure Other View Results

At the stroke of midnight Friday -- either local time or GMT -- the Y2K bug had threatened to set off an epidemic of computer failures affecting everything from lights and water to aviation and nuclear power as the machines failed to recognize the new millennial date.

But as the headline in the Singapore Straits Times reported, "It was all bug and no bite." Governments all over the globe have reported few glitches and no disasters caused by computers meeting up with the year 2000. But experts say it is too early to celebrate because tens of millions of the world's business systems have yet to reboot.

Observers credit for the smooth transition to meticulous preparation for the smooth rollover so far.

"It's like the systems knew we're on the watchout," said Sergiu Iliescu, in charge of the rollover in Romania, which reported even fewer incidents than usual in the country's ill-equipped computer industry.

But with millions of businesses preparing to reopen Monday when the holidays end, some say it's too early to declare the bug exterminated.

"We expected the infrastructure to be OK," said Peter de Jager, a Canadian Y2K pioneer. "But wait until next week to start drawing conclusions about how successful or unsuccessful we've been."

Brazil's financial markets, the biggest in Latin America, passed Y2K tests with flying colors Saturday and should operate smoothly when they open for trading on Monday, a Central Bank official said.

VIDEO A worldwide review of Y2K events, from CNN's Marsha Walton. (January 1) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     ALSO Y2K sites around the world     ALSO For more ITN millennium coverage, visit ITN on line.

Most of the world's business systems won't go back online until Monday or Tuesday after extended holidays -- some of them intended to give banks and stock markets extra time to fix any bug problems that have cropped up.

In the meantime, planes are flying, toilets are flushing, phones are ringing and lights are shining.

The Y2K bug did not cripple a single power plant. Even the nuclear generators in the former Soviet Union kept running hours into the new year.

Hospitals in Sweden and Egypt reported non-lethal bug bites in medical equipment, a computer linked to radiation monitoring systems seized up at a Japanese nuclear power plant, and door locks sealing off sensitive areas refused to open at nuclear plants in Arkansas and Spain.

Eight U.S. utilities had to reset some satellite-synchronized clocks used to precisely manage their network of plants. In all cases, not a single customer saw so much as a flickering light bulb.

Key oil production facilities were also unaffected, and there were no reports of widespread gasoline or food hoarding.

"The world committed resources and worked together," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. "I think this is a very good example of the international community pulling together and dealing with a problem."

But that work wasn't cheap.

"Throughout the world I think you'll find that almost a trillion dollars was spent on Y2K work. There ought to be some results," said Ian Hugo, a British information technologist who helped write his country's Y2K standards.

Several "eyes in the skies" were hit by the Y2K bug. France said one of its defense satellite systems lost the ability to detect equipment failures.

And for about two hours Friday night, several U.S. spy satellites were blinded by a Y2K computer failure on the ground. A slower backup system was pressed into service.

Otherwise, Pentagon officials pronounced its $3.6 billion battle against the Y2K computer bug a success.

"We have checked with all of our operation commanders, and operations are absolutely normal around the world," John Hamre, deputy defense secretary, told reporters at a Saturday Pentagon briefing.

"Despite some fearmongers' guesses, we absolutely did not have a nuclear event last night," said Hamre.

The Pentagon also reported that the joint monitoring center with the Russians in Colorado "worked exactly as planned."

"It was an act of reassurance between us and Russia," Hamre said.

No one has argued credibly that the Y2K bug -- the legacy of programming in which years were expressed with just two digits -- was a scam, although experts say many people have misunderstood the software flaw.

"I was monitoring some radio stations yesterday. People were calling in and saying, `I didn't do anything to my computer, and it's working,' " said Faizel Dawjee, a South African government spokesman.

Experts say only about a third of the world's computers were susceptible to crippling Y2K errors in the first place -- and that electricity generation and distribution are on the whole devoid of date-sensitive systems, though computers that monitor them are not.

Correspondents Miles O'Brien and Jamie McIntyre, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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