I’m a PC knowledgeable, however I nonetheless can’t break these 8 dangerous habits

I’ve 38,000 unread emails

That 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 electronic mail account. However once 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 whenever you get a brand new electronic mail?” The tech-savvy ones even inform me, “You actually ought to arrange some filters.”

They usually’re all appropriate. 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 must. I get so many emails that if I’d spent all day opening or “studying” them merely in order that they don’t present up as “unread,” then I’d by no means get something performed. (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 must 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, however it 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 typically, however it 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 I imply, certain, it’s not one thing you have to do… however it’s a good suggestion as a result of an outdated BIOS and/or drivers could cause points.

I plug my cellphone in to switch information

I do know there are a bunch of how to get information off my cellphone onto my PC. There are apps, community sharing, and cloud storage choices which might be all fairly easy. However for essentially the most half, once I need to again up my pictures or switch paperwork between cellphone and PC, I nonetheless plug in.

I’ve a USB-C-to-A cable with a USB 3.0 port at greatest—it isn’t quick, so huge knowledge transfers can take time. It’s cable-tied to my desk, although, so it’s at all times inside simple attain. And it does a ok job for transferring knowledge round that I’ve by no means bothered to analyze a greater answer.

Lazy? Maybe. However the effort and time wanted to discover higher alternate options has at all times felt higher spent elsewhere for me.

After 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 dangerous behavior, however it’s an amazing instance of the form of paranoia I’ve when transferring to a contemporary, new Home windows set up.

I’m so involved that Home windows will unintentionally delete one thing I would like (or that I’ll neglect to again one thing up) that as an alternative of reinstalling Home windows on the identical drive (or manually backing up vital information and performing an old-school format), I simply want to purchase a brand new drive altogether and hold the outdated drive as additional storage.

The plus aspect of that is that I at all times have a contemporary 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 plenty of drives known as “Native Disk” and it typically takes a couple of tries for me to seek 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 players 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 fashion, so my mouse is generally managed by my index and ring fingers resting on both aspect of the mouse, and meaning 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 best way of high-speed FPS video games—the place the added accuracy from a decrease DPI can be actually price it—however even once I do, I don’t change it up. I like my mouse sensitivity and I’m not going to child myself into considering I may be aggressive anyway. I’m simply right here to attain goals and take a look at to not die greater than anybody else on my crew.

I solely reboot my PC when it crawls

Mulad Photos / Shutterstock.com

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

Meaning I not often shut down my pc. Which isn’t an enormous deal for essentially the most half, however once I’m a number of weeks in with out a correct reboot, I can often inform. Community efficiency drops off a cliff for some cause, movies start to stutter, browser tabs begin lagging… and that’s once 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} parts, and software program, so in terms of my important work and gaming machine, I simply need to use it. Don’t get me flawed: I really like fidgeting with computer systems and seeing what I can do with them. However I hate troubleshooting once I must focus or once I need to calm down.

That’s resulted in me having a PC with a shocking quantity of nagging points for somebody who writes guides on easy methods to repair stated points. For instance, I’ve one odd boot problem the place typically 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 operating 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 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… in the future…

Actually, 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 a watch 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. A whole lot of these points could possibly be solved by simply spending just a little extra time doing issues the best means, which I typically evangelize in my how-to guides.

The reality is, we might share every kind 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 excellent about heeding these exact same ideas.

So, let me make this pledge to you, oh reader who holds your self to the next commonplace than this pontificating tech knowledgeable: I’ll do higher. Maybe I’ll write up one other version of this in a yr and we are able to see what number of of my sins I’ve absolved myself of.