I’ve a confession to make: I don’t all the time do as I say.
I’ve been a tech journalist for 20 years. Over these years, I’ve written numerous how-to guides and recommendation columns, and I’ve made countless suggestions for the way you must go about taking care of, sustaining, and enhancing your PC.
However I’m embarrassed to say, I don’t observe all the suggestions and tips I share, and I generally fall into the very traps I warn others in opposition to. It’s time to come back clear and admit my errors. Listed below are a few of my worst tech sins that you must keep away from doing your self. Don’t be like me!
I’ve 38,000 unread emails
Jon Martindale / Foundry
That is a kind of ones that I can get away with fairly simply, largely as a result of I’m not about to let simply anybody take a peek at my e mail account. However after I’ve sometimes had pals or colleagues look at my display whereas I’m working, they’ve been horrified.
“What occurs if somebody sends you one thing vital?” they ask. “How have you learnt if you get a brand new e mail?” The tech-savvy ones even inform me, “You actually ought to arrange some filters.”
They usually’re all right. Having tens of 1000’s of unread emails isn’t simply messy. It’s distracting. Impractical. The unread counter is totally arbitrary at this level—I don’t even give it some thought anymore.
Why don’t I cope with it? I suppose I simply don’t have to. I get so many emails that if I’d spent all day opening or “studying” them merely so that they don’t present up as “unread,” then I’d by no means get something executed. (I ought to in all probability simply delete all of them!) A fast parse to see if I obtained something vital, then I’m on to no matter precise job I have to do.
My drivers and BIOS aren’t up-to-date
I’ve been having some hassle with bizarre system locks just lately. I feel it has to do with a misconfigured webcam driver, but it surely may be my second monitor, or a defective HDMI cable.
To ensure it wasn’t software-related, I up to date my graphics drivers—and apparently I hadn’t up to date them since early 2024. Oops. I later went to replace my BIOS as one other potential repair for my system glitching woes—and apparently I hadn’t flashed that since late 2023.
I’ve given myself a well-deserved slap on the wrist for each of those. It’s one thing I ought to do extra usually, but it surely simply retains slipping my thoughts and I by no means discover the time to get round to them. I imply, positive, it’s not one thing it’s a must to do… but it surely’s a good suggestion as a result of an outdated BIOS and/or drivers may cause points.
I plug my telephone in to switch recordsdata
I do know there are a bunch of how to get recordsdata off my telephone onto my PC. There are apps, community sharing, and cloud storage choices which are all fairly easy. However for essentially the most half, after I wish to again up my pictures or switch paperwork between telephone and PC, I nonetheless plug in.
I’ve a USB-C-to-A cable with a USB 3.0 port at finest—it isn’t quick, so massive knowledge transfers can take time. It’s cable-tied to my desk, although, so it’s all the time inside straightforward attain. And it does a adequate job for transferring knowledge round that I’ve by no means bothered to research a greater resolution.
Lazy? Maybe. However the effort and time wanted to discover higher alternate options has all the time felt higher spent elsewhere for me.
Once I reinstall Home windows, I simply purchase new storage drives
Jon Martindale / Foundry
This sin is extra within the vein of a privileged humblebrag than it’s a mistake or unhealthy behavior, but it surely’s a terrific instance of the type of paranoia I’ve when transferring to a recent, new Home windows set up.
I’m so involved that Home windows will by accident delete one thing I would like (or that I’ll overlook to again one thing up) that as an alternative of reinstalling Home windows on the identical drive (or manually backing up vital recordsdata and performing an old-school format), I simply favor to purchase a brand new drive altogether and maintain the outdated drive as additional storage.
The plus aspect of that is that I all the time have a recent new drive to put in new video games and apps on, and I’ve every part else on my older drives. The draw back is that my system has grown right into a Frankenstein’s monster of drive letters. I nonetheless have the 500GB Samsung 850 EVO from three installs in the past. It’s additionally left me with a variety of drives known as “Native Disk” and it usually takes a number of tries for me to search out the precise drive I’m on the lookout for.
I take advantage of a excessive mouse DPI on a regular basis
I’m properly conscious that many professional PC avid gamers play at 800 to 1,200 DPI on their gaming mice, with large mouse pads over which they sweep their arms for pinpoint accuracy. However I’m not about that life.
I run my mice at round 2,400 DPI on a regular basis, it doesn’t matter what I’m doing, and that works properly sufficient for me. I take advantage of a fingertip grip model, so my mouse is usually managed by my index and ring fingers resting on both aspect of the mouse, and which means I would like a sensitivity degree that traverses actual distance with minimal motion. At 2,400 DPI, I can carry out most of my required mousing in a small area.
I don’t play a lot in the way in which of high-speed FPS video games—the place the added accuracy from a decrease DPI could be actually value it—however even after I do, I don’t change it up. I like my mouse sensitivity and I’m not going to child myself into considering I could be aggressive anyway. I’m simply right here to attain aims and check out to not die greater than anybody else on my workforce.
I solely reboot my PC when it crawls
I very often end my work days with duties nonetheless open, initiatives midway executed, and emails I haven’t gotten to but, so I normally simply reduce these home windows, change to a brand new desktop view, and are available again to them later. And after I’m executed for the day, I don’t hassle saving every part or bookmarking tabs—I simply put the PC to sleep.
Which means I not often shut down my laptop. Which isn’t an enormous deal for essentially the most half, however after I’m a number of weeks in with no correct reboot, I can normally inform. Community efficiency drops off a cliff for some motive, movies start to stutter, browser tabs begin lagging… and that’s after I realize it’s time to restart. I ought to do it extra usually, although.
I’ve let my PC pile up with points
I spend most of my days working with and writing about PCs, {hardware} parts, and software program, so with regards to my essential work and gaming machine, I simply wish to use it. Don’t get me unsuitable: I like fidgeting with computer systems and seeing what I can do with them. However I hate troubleshooting after I have to focus or after I wish to chill out.
That’s resulted in me having a PC with a shocking quantity of nagging points for somebody who writes guides on tips on how to repair stated points. For instance, I’ve one odd boot challenge the place generally apps gained’t load correctly and are solely half-responsive. It has one thing to do with my webcam I’m fairly positive, however I haven’t nailed it down but.
I even have a second monitor that sometimes sparkles with bizarre white bands, however unplugging and replugging it will get it going once more. And for a PC working on a 7950X3D and a PCIe 4 SSD, the startup time is terribly sluggish. I actually ought to do one thing about all of that… however I can’t be bothered. Don’t be like me. Don’t let your issues pile up.
I’ve too many desktop icons
Jon Martindale / Foundry
That is one which my less-tech-savvy pals rag on me for. It’s not as unhealthy as my 70-year-old mom’s desktop—which is extra icon than background at this level—however I’ll admit it’s a bit chaotic. I don’t have any shortcuts there, however I do have far too many folders. They’re usually for previous initiatives I haven’t gotten again to shortly, however I swear I’ll… someday…
Truthfully, I feel that is extra aesthetic choice than something, as functionally there’s little distinction between having a folder the place I save all my Photoshopped information thumbnails on the desktop or nestled deeper right into a drive. Regardless, it doesn’t look tremendous skilled.
Do as I say, not as I do
Writing this text has been a watch opener for me. Not solely did I not understand what number of tech sins I used to be committing, however I by no means knew I used to be counting on so many stop-gap options. Lots of these points could possibly be solved by simply spending a bit of extra time doing issues the best means, which I usually evangelize in my how-to guides.
The reality is, we might share all types of recommendation with you—whether or not it’s about good digital safety habits, extending your SSD’s lifespan, shopping for a refurbished laptop computer, or being extra productive with Home windows 11—even when we aren’t good about heeding these exact same suggestions.
So, let me make this pledge to you, oh reader who holds your self to the next customary than this pontificating tech knowledgeable: I’ll do higher. Maybe I’ll write up one other version of this in a yr and we will see what number of of my sins I’ve absolved myself of.
