I'm a tech expert, but I still commit these 8 PC sins and mistakes

I’ve 38,000 unread emails

This is a type of ones that I can get away with fairly simply, principally as a result of I’m not about to let simply anybody take a peek at my e mail account. But after I’ve sometimes had mates or colleagues look at my display whereas I’m working, they’ve been horrified.

“What occurs if somebody sends you one thing essential?” they ask. “How do you know when you get a new email?” The tech-savvy ones even inform me, “You really should set up some filters.”

And they’re all right. Having tens of hundreds 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 “reading” them merely so that they don’t present up as “unread,” then I’d by no means get something finished. (I should probably just delete them all!) A fast parse to see if I bought something essential, 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 lately. I believe it has to do with a misconfigured webcam driver, but it surely is also 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 typically, but it surely simply retains slipping my thoughts and I by no means discover the time to get round to them. I imply, certain, it’s not one thing you have to do… but it surely’s a good suggestion as a result of an outdated BIOS and/or drivers can cause issues.

I plug my telephone in to switch information

I do know there are a bunch of ways to get files off my phone onto my PC. There are apps, community sharing, and cloud storage choices which might be all fairly simple. But 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 information 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 ok job for transferring information round that I’ve by no means bothered to analyze a greater resolution.

Lazy? Perhaps. But the effort and time wanted to discover higher alternate options has all the time felt higher spent elsewhere for me.

When I reinstall 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 dangerous behavior, but it surely’s an important instance of the type of paranoia I’ve when transferring to a contemporary, new Windows set up.

I’m so involved that Windows will by accident delete one thing I would like (or that I’ll neglect to again one thing up) that as a substitute of reinstalling Windows on the identical drive (or manually backing up essential information and performing an old-school format), I simply want to purchase a brand new drive altogether and preserve the previous drive as further storage.

The plus aspect of that is that I all the time have a fresh new drive to put in new video games and apps on, and I’ve every thing 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 numerous drives known as “Local Disk” and it typically takes just a few tries for me to search out the precise drive I’m searching for.

I exploit a excessive mouse DPI on a regular basis

I’m properly conscious that many pro PC gamers play at 800 to 1,200 DPI on their gaming mice, with huge mouse pads over which they sweep their arms for pinpoint accuracy. But 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 exploit a fingertip grip type, 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 stage that traverses actual distance with minimal motion. At 2,400 DPI, I can carry out most of my required mousing in a small house.

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 can be actually price 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 pondering I might be aggressive anyway. I’m simply right here to attain targets and take a look at to not die greater than anybody else on my crew.

I solely reboot my PC when it crawls

I very often end my work days with duties nonetheless open, initiatives midway finished, and emails I haven’t gotten to but, so I often simply reduce these home windows, switch to a new desktop view, and are available again to them later. And after I’m finished for the day, I don’t hassle saving every thing or bookmarking tabs—I simply put the PC to sleep.

That 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 out a correct reboot, I can often inform. Network efficiency drops off a cliff for some motive, movies start to stutter, browser tabs begin lagging… and that’s after I comprehend it’s time to restart. I ought to do it extra typically, although.

I’ve let my PC pile up with points

I spend most of my days working with and writing about PCs, {hardware} elements, and software program, so in the case of my most important work and gaming machine, I simply wish to use it. Don’t get me improper: I like twiddling with computer systems and seeing what I can do with them. But I hate troubleshooting after I have to focus or after I wish to calm down.

That’s resulted in me having a PC with a surprising amount of nagging issues for somebody who writes guides on how you can repair mentioned points. For instance, I’ve one odd boot difficulty the place generally apps received’t load correctly and are solely half-responsive. It has one thing to do with my webcam I’m fairly certain, however I haven’t nailed it down but.

I even have a second monitor that sometimes glints 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 very 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

This is one which my less-tech-savvy mates rag on me for. It’s not as dangerous 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 typically for previous initiatives I haven’t gotten again to shortly, however I swear I’ll… at some point…

Honestly, I believe that is extra aesthetic desire 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 an eye fixed opener for me. Not solely did I not notice 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 might be solved by simply spending a bit of extra time doing issues the fitting means, which I typically evangelize in my how-to guides.

The reality is, we could share all types of recommendation with you—whether or not it’s about good digital security habits, extending your SSD’s lifespan, buying a refurbished laptop, or being more productive with Windows 11—even when we aren’t good about heeding these exact same ideas.

So, let me make this pledge to you, oh reader who holds your self to the next normal than this pontificating tech professional: I’ll do higher. Perhaps 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.