Common myths of personal computers [closed]

Question

As Super Users in the computer land, many of us has heard about lots of myths about computer systems.

What are your most heard common myths about PC?

• For readability reason, please limit each entry to one answer only.
• Hardware and software myths are welcome!
• Not limited to Windows but Mac/Linux are welcome too...

Please do not debate/rebut people's answers, but I think intelligent discussions will lead to more meaningful Q&A in superuser.com. I'll start with this hardware myth:

You should always power on your PC because powering on/off your PC is a bad thing. Heating up and cooling down the IC expands and contracts the molecules, which will damage the silicon die and its connections traces.

Answer 1

Microsoft is Evil.

Apple machines never crash.

Linux is the saviour of the computer world.

Full hard drives weigh more than empty ones! (not a myth, but funny recent question!)

(I hear loads on a daily basis! This question did not say one per entry, so if this thread is popular, I will add to the list as time goes on!)

Answer 2

Macintosh systems cannot be infected by Viruses (or some variation). It's a ridiculous statement. If Macs were as popular as Windows systems, there would be just as many viruses for them.

Answer 3

While most people do not care about the tower components - to them, those are just black boxes), one of the most enduring hardware myths I have encountered is that of monitor radiation.

For some reasons, maybe a hold-back from those 21" Trinitron CRT days, alot of older users I have interacted with are morbidly afraid of looking at a screen without some "Anti-Radiation" filter on, or some lucky magnet/charms etc. And I mean even when the monitor is a notebook LCD, they will find a way to position a 17" "radiation filter" over it.

They got more to worry about bluetooth, microwave devices, and wireless networks than from a monitor!

As a reference below is a handy radiation chart from XKCD, as you can see using a crt monitor for a year provides less Ionizing radiation (which is the dangerous kind) than a X-Ray of your hand.

Answer 4

You get what you pay for.

Paying more does not always mean you get something better suited to what you need.

In hardware, buying the most expensive system you can afford may buy more than you need of one or more components, whether in capacity or speed, and also cost more to run it and cool it. The same can hold for individual components. In both cases, however, buying the cheapest is rarely good economy in the long term. Using a reputable make but not a 'designer label' or the very latest model is often a good way forward.

In software, buying expensive software doesn't guarantee that you get software that better fits your requirements or that you'll get better (or any) support if you have problems. It may well mean you have to pay more for upgrades and for hardware that can run it well. It may also mean that file formats are proprietary and you are committed to using the that vendor's software in the future to access your own data. As a corollary, using free software does not mean it is worth less, or worthless. It may be ideal for your needs and the concept of free (as in freedom, not just price) may be a better fit for you than proprietary software.

Answer 5

Back in the days of 56 kbit/s modems, I met quite a few people who thought that moving the mouse around will make websites load faster.

I actually had that feeling, too, sometimes. I wonder why. Maybe because if you're moving the mouse around, it passes the time, so it feels faster?

Answer 6

Editing the Registry is the most dangerous activity ever thought of, since the invention of computers.

Answer 7

Error messages contain no useful information, therefore one should not read, or write down the message for later communication.

Not so much an acknowledged myth, but so far most people with computer problems that I've encountered, believe this one whole-heartedly.

Answer 8

Slam the tower (or the screen) to make the machine work.
(when the computer is slow or it doesn't respond)

Answer 9

Open source software is of universally better quality than closed-source.

Answer 10

It's compatible.

Answer 11

Obsessively defragmenting your harddrive will ALWAYS improve disk access time.

I knew people who stares at the monitor while the Windows 95 disk defragmenter is doing it job, and they are very happy and proud of what they do.

Answer 12

"This computer is completely secure."

Which is only true if your computer is not connected to the Internet, isn't using any software which you did not write yourself, doesn't allow users to connect an USB device or insert a CD/Floppy/Disk device to run applications and even then only when it's turned off and has no power cable connected to it. (And it must be located in a vault beneath the Pentagon...)

Wasn't there a virus once at the IIS Space Station?

Answer 13

Pressing Enter/Return/Double-Click/Spacebar/whatever repeatedly will make the machine go faster, and finish the task in question.

I heard some people think the same about elevator buttons. Since the elevator "sees" you press the 3rd floor button 9 times, it would realize you're in a hurry, and go faster.

Answer 14

Windows is user friendly, does what the user wants it to and is easy to install.

Answer 15

"Screensavers will lengthen my monitor's life and prevent pixel burn-in."

In this day and age, where we mainly use LCDs instead of CRTs and have both hardware- and software-managed power-saving modes, screensavers aren't much more than an extension of personalization and individuality, much like desktop wallpapers and media player skins.

Answer 16

You have to change the SID of a Windows machine after you clone it if you want both to be on the same network.

Answer 17

If you place a cactus near you monitor or computer, it will gather all bad radiation emitted by the hardware

Answer 18

That Ctrl+C won't work unless you do it 5 times.

Must have developed the habbit while I was learning HTML.

Answer 19

Articles from Snopes -- Look at the red marked () articles and compare with the others

1. Virus Hoaxes and Realities
   • Internet related articles

These links do not limit to the PC Machine itself;
they are a bit more generalized to Computers, Networking and Security.
Edit: Have split the other points into different answers...

Answer 20

I've seen people who were convinced that dragging the progress bar on the OS load screen for MacOS 7.x and 8.x would make the machine boot quicker.

Answer 21

Computers can do anything that Hollywood says they can do.

Refer to the following article: 5 Things Hollywood Thinks Computers Can Do

Answer 22

Right-clicking on your Windows Desktop and clicking 'Refresh' a number of times is good luck.

I've seen so many folks amateur or professionals do this, as if it's some sort of Windows religious ritual for keeping everything in order. It's a habit and worse than narcotics. I am glad I've kicked the ass of my mad habit of refreshing.

This article explains better...

Answer 23

People that work with computers can be infected with computer viruses.

Answer 24

From the point of view of the parents, it's always their kids that breaks their PC. But in fact it's what the parents are doing which they try do hide, that is breaking their PC.

I've heard a lot of time in my small career of computer technician: "My child broke my PC" and when you do some research you find that it's the parents that broke the "Windows installation" and that's pretty funny.

Answer 25

• The other day I heard someone call an acer a '2nd tier' computer because one acer they knew of had a problem, and said we should only buy stable 'name brand' higher quality pc's for our office, like a dell or hp. Not saying those are bad systems, I just think it's a myth that the lesser-known PCs must somehow be cheap or break down easily.

• Norton is the best antivirus because it's the biggest, the most well known, the most popular. And free ones aren't to be trusted because you get what you pay for.

• If your computer can't boot, time to buy a new one.

• Defrag and delete cookies and temporary internet files to really speed up a slow computer.

• Hackers are constantly looking to break in to your specific machine, every day, and without a firewall they will get your credit card info and steal your identity (not something said out loud but it feels like a lot of average users think this way, and certainly AV ads seem to prey on this).

• If you get pirated software online you're pretty much guaranteed to get a virus.

Answer 26

You might also want to read up: Truth about computer security hysteria postings

Answer 27

From US-Cert: National Cyber Alert System: Cyber Security Tip ST04-009,
Identifying Hoaxes and Urban Legends

Refers other sites that discuss urban legends.

Answer 28

Bill Gates never said "640 K ought to be enough for anybody"

Answer 29

"I knew people who stares at the monitor while the windows 95 disk defragmenter is doing it job, and they are very happy and proud of what they do."

I am guessing, they were staring at the monitor while defragging simply because the graphic display of the defrag process was extremely soothing and somehow satisfying. I loved it myself, and I still miss it.

Also, IF they were proud... why shouldn't they be? Until not very long ago, everyone, E-VE-RY SINGLE "expert" and website, kept hammering the idea that defragging was essential to good performance.

I never believed it myself, not even in those days when everyone was recommending it. My experience showed me the improvement was minimal at best - except, maybe, in those cases where the HD was severely fragmented. (A friend of mine had a 36% fragmentation at one time; and I remember seeing a HD with 75% fragmentation. But those people were just pigs! ;))

So, mostly I defragged because I like maintaining my "property" well oiled and in good working order - and because I LOVED the hypnotic graphic os the defragging process. Oh, how I miss it... :)

Answer 30

If Mac OS X or Linux were as popular as MS Windows, they would have just as many viruses.