I’m a tech expert, but I still commit these 8 Windows PC mistakes

I have 38,000 unrelated emails

Jon Martindale / Foundry

This is one of those with whom I can get away with it quite easily, mainly because I am not about to let anyone take a look at my email account. But when I sometimes had friends or colleagues taking a look at my screen while I work, they were horrified.

“What’s going on if someone sends you something important? “They ask. Technology technologies even tell me:” You should really configure filters. “

And they are all correct. Having tens of thousands of unrelated emails is not only messy. It is distracting. Not practical. The non -read counter is completely arbitrary at this stage – I don’t even think about it.

Why don’t I take care of it? I guess I don’t need it. I receive so much emails that if I had spent the whole day opening or simply “reading” them so that they do not appear as “no read”, so I would never do anything. (I should probably delete them all!) A quick analysis to see if I have something important, so I’m on the real task I have to do.

My pilots and biographies are not up to date

I had problems with strange system locks recently. I think it has to do with a poorly configured webcam driver, but it could also be my second monitor or a defective HDMI cable.

To make sure that it was not linked to the software, I updated my graphic drivers – and apparently I had not updated them since the beginning of 2024. Oops. Later, I went to update my BIOS like any other potential correction for my system misfortunes – and apparently I had not flashed it since 2023.

I gave myself a well -deserved slap on the wrist for both. This is something that I should do more often, but it continues to slip my mind and I never find time to get around them. I mean, of course, it’s not something you to have To do … But it’s a good idea because a bios and / or obsolete drivers can cause problems.

I plug my phone to transfer files

I know there are a lot of ways to remove the files from my phone on my PC. There are applications, network sharing and cloud storage options which are all quite simple. But for the most part, when I want to save my photos or transfer documents between the phone and the PC, I still plug.

I have a USB-C-T-A cable with a USB 3.0 port at best-it is not fast, so big data transfers can take time. It is however linked to my office, so it is always at hand. And he does a job well enough to move data around that I have never taken the trouble to study a better solution.

Lazy? Maybe. But the time and efforts necessary to explore better alternatives have always been better spent elsewhere for me.

When I reinstall Windows, I just buy new storage players

Jon Martindale / Foundry

This sin is more in the vein of a privileged humblebrag than an error or a bad habit, but it is an excellent example of the type of paranoia that I have when going to a new installation of windows.

I am so worried that Windows accidentally deletes something I need (or that I will forget to save something) that instead of reinstalling Windows on the same disk (or manually backing up important files and making an old -fashioned format), I just prefer to buy a new reader and keep the old training as an additional storage.

The positive side is that I always have a new new reader to install new games and applications, and I have everything else on my old records. The drawback is that my system has become a monster of letters of a Frankenstein. I still have the Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB of three installations. This also left me a lot of records called “local disc” and it often takes some tests for me to find the real reader I am looking for.

I use a mouse dpi high all the time

I am well aware that many pro PC players play 800 to 1,200 dpi on their game mouses, with massive mouse pads on which they sweep their arms for precision. But I am not on this life.

I run my mice at around 2,400 dpi all the time, it doesn’t matter what I do, and it works quite well for me. I use a handful style of the finger, so my mouse is mainly controlled by my index and my resting ring on each side of the mouse, and that means that I need a level of sensitivity that crosses a real distance with a minimal movement. At 2,400 dpi, I can perform most of my strains required in a small space.

I do not play much in the way of high -speed FPS games – where the additional precision of a lower DPI was really worth it, but even when I do it, I do not change it. I like the sensitivity of my mouse and I will not mobilize myself thinking that I can be competitive anyway. I’m just here to score goals and try not to die more than anyone in my team.

I only restart my pc when it crawls

I quite often end my working days with still open tasks, projects halfway from the end and emails I have not yet succeeded in, so I generally minimize these windows, I go to a new office view and I come back later. And when I finished for the day, I do not bother to save everything or from tabs as a bookmark – I just put the PC.

This means that I rarely stop my computer. Which is not a huge affair for the most part, but when I have several weeks without restarting, I can usually say it. The network performance decreases by a cliff for any reason, the videos are starting to stutter, the browser tabs begin to train … and it is then that it is time to restart. I should do it more often, however.

I let my PC accumulate with problems

I spend most of my days working and writing on PCs, hardware components and software, so when it comes to my work and play machine, I just want to use he. Don’t get me wrong: I like to play with computers and see what I can do with it. But me hate Troubleshooting when I need to concentrate or when I want to relax.

It led me to have a PC with a surprising amount of throbbing problems for someone who writes guides on how to solve said problems. For example, I have an odd start -up problem where sometimes applications will not take care of properly and are half reactive. It has something to do with my webcam, I’m almost sure, but I haven’t nailed him yet.

I also have a second instructor who sometimes sparkles with strange white bands, but unplug it and repel it again. And for a PC operating on a 7950x3d and a SSD PCIe 4, the starting time is terribly slow. I should really do something about it all … but I can’t be disturbed. Don’t be like me. Do not let your problems accumulate.

I have too many office icons

Jon Martindale / Foundry

It is the one for which my less informed friends are the most informed for me. It is not as bad as the office of my 70 year old mother – which is more icon than the background at this stage – but I admit that it is a bit chaotic. I have no shortcuts there, but I have too many files. They are often for past projects that I have not returned for a while, but I swear I will … One day …

Honestly, I think it is a more aesthetic preference than everything, because functionally, there is little difference between having a file where I save all my miniatures from new photoshoppped on the desk or nestled more deeply in a journey. Anyway, he doesn’t seem super professional.

Do what I say, not as I do

Writing this article was a revelation for me. Not only did I not realize how many technological sins I committed, but I did not know that I was counting on so many stop solutions. Many of these problems could be resolved by simply spending a little more time doing things in the right way, which I often avoid in my practical guides.

The truth is that we can share all kinds of advice with you – whether good digital safety habits, extension of the life of your SSD, purchase of a renovated laptop or to be more productive with Windows 11 – even if we are not perfect for taking these same tips into account.

So let me make this commitment to you, oh reader that keeps you at a higher level than this pontifier technological expert: I will do better. Maybe I’m going to write another edition of this in a year and we can see how many of my sins I absolved.