Right now this advice might be hard to take, but stay calm and resist the temptation to throw the thing out of the window. First, read through our tips on how to deal with some of the most common PC problems. HELP! I can’t move my mouse and nothing happens when I press keys on the keyboard.
This sounds hideous, but in fact it’s not so tricky. Your PC has probably got a bit overloaded and it’s simply said to itself: “OK, I can’t cope so I’m going to do nothing at all.” If you’re running Windows, then the magic keys to press simultaneously are “Ctrl”, “Alt” and “Delete”.

So you got a computer for Christmas and the fact is slowly beginning to dawn on you that PCs are not like other consumer products. You might have thought it was tricky enough to plug in your new video recorder, but that was before you tried to hook up your new computer to a printer, a scanner and, most ambitiously, to the Internet. “All the good work could be unravelled if people start to panic. There could still be short-term shortages – for example, pressure on the banking system.”Action 2000’s advice is to stay calm. Go out and enjoy the festivities, but spare a thought and perhaps raise a glass for the thousands of IT specialists at their desks at midnight, just in case.Action 2000: www.bug2000.co.ukGovernment millennium office: www.millennium-centre.gov.ukSymantec: www.symantec.co.ukPC World millennium bug helpline: 0870 9012000.

There will be problems, but there is a technical solution for almost all of them, even if it means going back to paper records. “Our greatest concern has less to do with the bug than with human behaviour,” Mr Stock says. The issue of data is perhaps more serious, so take an hour or so to check it. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time or cost a lot of money.” Backing up crucial data on disk or paper is a sensible precaution.The greatest threat now, some experts believe, is public over-reaction. “If you have an old PC you are at risk, so check the manufacturer’s website.

The retailer PC World says most of the computers it has sold since 1995 are compliant. Check for British Standard DISC PD2000-1 on the machine or in its paperwork.”It is not too late to solve the problem,” says Aled Miles, UK managing director of Symantec, a utility and anti-virus software publisher. Modern PCs and software should be compliant, but older systems may not be. Software written for Windows 3.1 or DOS may well be vulnerable – upgrading is the easiest solution.

Firms should pay attention to bespoke or customised software. The good news is that the problem can be fixed even after 1 January, although there is a risk of losing data.Firms with networks should check that any servers and routers are Y2K- ready. Desktop PCs built after 1997 should be bug-free, and Macs are not affected. Several large financial-services companies, for example, plan to launch Internet- based products in 2000: the need to deploy staff on bug duties was one reason for not rolling out these this year.Smaller firms face a trickier time. Over the past 18 months, economic commentators suggested that the millennium bug might trigger a global recession. That now seems unlikely.If anything, economic activity should pick up in the new year as companies release the brakes on new developments which they had put on hold because of the bug.