Computer Myths and the facts

Computers have become really essential to our life. Whether it is company office, business, shop or home, computers have become a must now-a-days. We learn them with our own experiences. At the same time, the Computer world is carrying so many myths which at times confuse the user and sometime they take user towards unnecessary pain/monetary loss. In this article, I am going to discuss some of common myths which will help us to arrive at right decision, in case of any problem with our PC. The bullet heading is the myth and text below is a fact. So many files on the Desktop screen slows the computer

This was true before some years, but now it is not. In earlier versions of Windows, the ‘Desktop’ was a folder in ‘Windows’ directory, hence crowded desktop was adversly affecting operating system. However, in recent versions of windows, the desktop directory sits in ‘users’ directory which is a separate folder from windows. So now even if there are many files on desktop screen, it does not have any connection with the speed of your machine.

• Formatting hard drive minimizes its life span

It is again one of the popular myths. Formatting hard rive is not more than deletion of data, and so formatting it number of times does not make any difference to its life span. One can format it as many times as he wants, and relax.

• Refreshing desktop screen make it work properly

Many of us right click the empty area on the desktop screen and refresh it as a matter of habit and we assume that it will make the icons work properly. However, the fact is, unless any modification is done to the icons and their paths, refreshing the desktop screen does not make any difference whatsoever and refreshing it is not necessary.

• Laptop battery should be immediately replaced after it reaches lower backup time

For those who want to work on the go, battery is most important component of their laptop. However, those who work stationary and have power plug nearby, replacement of battery is not a must. We should note that the laptop works just fine even after the battery is removed and plugged into power plug.

• Linux operating system is difficult to use and learning it takes time

I have observed that this is most popular myth in computer world. The people who spread this rumuor are perhaps those who have never worked on Linux. If one starts using Linux and experience Linux as more user friendly, he will not say this. The fact is most people find Linux more easy to use OS than windows.

• “Cleaner” software improves performance

We always see advertisements like “Download Junk Removing software Program for Faster Speed” These programs promise to clean registry errors, download driver updates, uninstall programs that you can’t manually uninstall, or clean our PC for junk files to improve its speed. However, we should always remember that these programs rarely do anything beneficial to our PC. Registry entries are tiny, and removing them frees up only small amount of space that will have no performance benefit whatsoever. We can update drivers manually, clean PC from junk files and uninstall the programs within windows itself, with little know-how.

• More RAM faster computer

Increasing RAM will allow your computer to work a little more efficiently by reducing its dependence on its virtual memory. By doing so you will feel like it’s running faster. However, there is always a limitation for any operating system and programs for their usage of RAM. Hence, it is better not to believe this formula that more RAM makes the computer faster.

• Building your own PC (assembling) saves money

In older times, this was true when the branded PCs were very costly. However, in recent times, a budget PC is mostly cheaper to get by purchasing a pre-built model by a reputed brand. This does not mean that building your own PC is not worth it. For those that like a more hands-on experience and knowledge about hardware, or for some who want to customize their own machine as per their liking, building our own computer is probably the easy to opt for. However, for general users, it is better to grab a branded one.

• Higher the price of the computer, higher the quality

Sometimes we can say this is true, but not always. The fact is you can get a really good computer at a decent/affordable price. You just have to know what you are looking for in a computer and pay attention while buying. It is always better to do some homework and make some price comparisons online/at the shops, before you purchase a new computer.

• We must drain your laptop battery before recharge

In the past, this statement was true, as the battery technology at that time which had a memory effect of drain/recharge. However, Modern PCs and laptops, phones, tablets use lithium ion batteries and they do the exact opposite. They can actually lose maximum battery charge if you let it down to empty level and further it also minimizes their lifespan. Recharging often (as per individual need) is a safer option in this case.

• Viruses and spyware slow down computer

Whenever our PC runs slow, the most common (and wrong) doubt comes to our mind is the malware (Actually there is differences between malware, viruses, spyware, etc.). Instead, it is more likely that our computer has slowed down due to running too many programs simultaneously, unnecessary plugins and add-ons of browser that increases CPU usage, less of free RAM or disk space, or any other hardware issue. It may also be a case that our computer is old.

• Speed up the Computer and Internet will be faster

You can always add memory (RAM) and see the improvement which shows that things are going little faster. Cleaning out computer (deleting junk we do not need) and defragging the drive can help to accelerate speed as well. However, if you have a low bandwidth connection, you cannot get higher speed on internet, even if you have a modern computer. This means you will need to buy a higher bandwidth Internet connection for faster internet, not speed up the PC.

• Typing www is compulsory while going to websites

Originally, the Internet was designed in such a way that www was a necessary part of a website’s address. However, with the way that internet works today, all you have type is the website’s domain name. However, you still need to include the “dot com” part of the address for this to work.

• The number of files on your hard drive affects its performance.

In reality, unless your hard drive is completely (or nearly) full so to cause problem for the operating system to play smoothly, the number of files stored on it has no connection with a computer’s speed. Slow computers generally have too many programs running at the same time, which directly affect the speed. So number of programs matter, not the files.

• When computers slow down, it means that they should be replaced

Running newer operating system or larger software programs on an old computer could lead to slow performance, but replacing or upgrading a particular component (hard drive, motherboard, processor, memory, operating system etc.) may do good in this case. 

• Anything you delete from your hard drive is gone forever

While moving documents to the trash may remove them from your folders, the data itself is preserved in the hard drive of the computer.  We have to remember that even the files are deleted from the recycle bin/trash, there are number of software programs by which we can gather them back very easily.

• The best solution for virus is reinstalling Windows

Once your PC is infected with a virus, reinstalling Windows and copying your files from a backup drive could re-infect the computer all over again.  So, in this case, first the viruses must be cleaned out, and all documents and data should be scanned to make sure they are free from viruses. Reinstalling operating system generally depends on how much infection the PC has, it should always be kept as last resort.

• New PCs run fast than the old ones

This again is a myth. We should remember that the speed of PC depends on how many programs are installed, whether operating system is current/compatible with hardware, how much space does the data takes, how clean is the system from viruses and various other aspects. If a user knows how to put things in proper place, an old PC can also be at par with new PC.

• Lots of errors means a Virus

While it is true that a virus can cause all kinds of problems on your computer, it does not always mean that the error prompts you get are caused by viruses only. If the error keeps popping up when you are running the same program, the cause is probably a bad driver or a corrupted program. There may even be software conflict among some of installed programs. Or, you might be having hard drive or memory issues. Before concluding that your PC has been infected with a virus and installing a more aggressive antivirus program, it is better to do some diagnosing and troubleshooting first. 

• We have to defragment our drive frequently

Many of us do not know that the windows computers have a built-in defragmentation utility that automatically runs in the background by default, at a pre-defined schedule. Further, many recent computers are now coming with SSD(Solid state drive) which is in fact a flash storage that should never be defragmented. Actually, defragmenting damages the SSD.

• Turning your computer on and off regularly is bad

There is no truth in this popular myth. Actually, we should turn our computer off from time to time if there’s no need for it to be running. Every computer component has a limited lifespan, turning our computer off when it’s not needed will help the components to last longer.

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