Roaming the Web can lead to the blues. A Carnegie Mellon University study found Internet users feel more depressed and lonely the more time they spend online. One would have thought the Internet fostered more social interaction through chat rooms and E-mail. Researcher Robert Kraut suggested that using the Internet left less time for the "deeper relationships'' with friends and family. Hey, I could have told him that for the $1.5 million he spent on the study.

The study was fundamentally flawed in concept. First the subjects were 160 people in Pittsburgh who were given computers for the first time and a hookup to the Internet for free.

Who wouldn't accept a free computer? Those studied weren't driven to surf out of curiosity. Then they had to battle thorough those initial stages of learning to use a computer. That'll frustrate any novice. There are many times when I want to toss a computer out of the window. Someone at our office even punched one out of commission. At least he had the sense to hit the computer and not the monitor.

Then, no-one believes the Internet is a replacement for other types of relationships. It's just another avenue, another means of communication. Any social study of this sort needs to be examined closely before we rush to conclusions. I'm not saying the Net doesn't bum people out. I'm sure there are a lot of people who spend way too much time using E-mail and chat lines as their only means of communication, or have given up other relationships to go home and sit in front of their computer. We've all heard the stories.

The particular is always important. In my case, E-mail has fostered continued ties with people I already know, either well or slightly. I know I communicate a lot more with my two sisters, and manage to keep in contact with four friends in Canada. I had missed the birth of two of my friends' first children. The third sent me a photo immediately after the birth. And while it's not the same as being there, I felt included.

I also keep ties with a friend who recently moved to France, and a friend in New York. With the friend in New York we switch between using the telephone and E-mail. The E-mail contact reinforces the more personal telephone contact and we can continue where we left off on both means of communications. A flip-flop interaction. I like it.

This week I take a look at the Bermuda Commercial Bank Ltd.'s Year 2000 programme. Managing director Peter Roberts said the bank expects to be fully compliant by the end of the first quarter next year. The first part of the exercise was ensuring the bank's proprietary systems are compliant. That part is complete.

The bank has completed ensuring the central banking system is compliant. The bank has taken the opportunity to upgrade its systems, and then through testing ensuring that the manufacturers' claims of compliance turn out to be true. The bank's general manager of information technology is in charge of Year 2000 planning.

How about checking your home personal computer for compliance? Some local vendors are offering various Year 2000 tests and fixes for the home computer.

But you can grab a lot off the Internet cheaper, and sometimes for free.

For example, PC Magazine Online offers free software at www.zdnet.com/vlabs/y2k/testy2k.html to determine if the hardware is compliant. It's free. The McAfee 2000 Toolbox Hardware Check utility tests your system for a certain class of problems, mainly in the machine's BIOS (basic input/output system).

Once you download the programme it takes about a minute to perform the test.

My Hitachi system was compliant. The utility tests for the dates January 1, 2000, February 29, 2000, March 1, 2000, and January 1, 2001. The second test determines whether your system can handle the leap year (Years divisible by 100 are not leap years unless they are also divisible by 400).

Once you've tested your system, you can then go back to the site and submit your findings. The site is excellent for those suffering from Year 2000 anxiety. Of the 20,531 systems reported altogether, 16,684 or 81.3 percent were reported compliant, while 3,847 or 18.7 percent were reported not compliant.

The program does not test applications or data files or give fixes. For a full Year 2000 check you can download McAfee's Toolbox 2000 program for $30 online at www.mcafee.com. I'll give you a rundown of what the program does so you can get an idea of what to look for when considering other programs you might want to get.

I'm not endorsing any as I haven't tested any. Check magazine reviews on line, including at www.zdnet.com, for opinions. The McAfee program checks the time clock, hardware and BIOS and fixes any problems. It scans data files (including Excel, Access and others) for potential date problems and alerts you to them. It scans for and fixes two-year date fields in your data files.

For example it will change 4/11/69 to 4/11/1969 or July 11, 06 to July 11, 2006. It checks Windows settings for operation beyond 2000 and scans for popular applications and alerts you to any known issues published by the manufacturers of these applications.

For the $30 you also get McAfee's renowned virus protection software, a rescue disk, and back up programs. Before buying take a look at the system requirements.

Check www.zdnet.com/pcmag/special/y2k/index.html for additional utilities that check system and software.

The site has free programs to test the performance of your computer monitor and help you adjust it for optimal viewing. You can get free benchmark software at zdnet.com/zdbop to see how your computer performs against the rest. This site could make you a real propeller head if you get lost in it.

Beware September 26. A relatively new computer virus activates on the 26th of every month. Ontrack Data International, a data-recovery service, said the Win95-CIH virus hit 500 computers at a single company last month and another 100 or 200 at other locations. The Win95-CIH virus emerged in April and infects systems running Windows 95 and 98, deleting file contents or even crashing entire systems.

The virus attacks a computer's BIOS, which is built-in software that controls basic functions such as the keyboard, display screen, and disk drives.

Apparently, the virus can overwrite part of the BIOS program, so infected machines might not be able to start up or reboot.

The virus will leave your machine unbootable, having overwritten the part that runs at power-up or system reset. Infected computers require the BIOS must be replaced. In many cases a chip must be replaced or reprogrammed. In many laptops the motherboard must be replaced as the flash chip holding your BIOS is soldered to the motherboard.

Tech Tattle is a weekly column about technology. Contact Ahmed at 295-5881 ext. 248, 238-3854, or techtattle ygazette.newsmedia.bm.