It is known that the Internet is full of myths waiting to find readers. The same applies to computers (PC). There are many myths that have been created over time, and have passed from person to person. Some of them once had a grain of truth, but they no longer hold true thanks to technological progress.
It should be noted that there are few myths that are simply the product of misunderstanding. There are quite a few that are maintained because some people make money.
Below we will describe some myths that continue to exist and torment many.
Hackers try to breach your PC
But of course the Internet is full of malware and social engineering systems. However, no one will deal exclusively with your PC, except of course if you are a head of state, or a very high‑profile user.
The attacks are automated. Your computer could become infected by malicious software probably because you fell into some trap and gave away a password, your credit‑card number, your bank account details, or your social‑security number.
There is no “hacker” in front of a screen terminal, meticulously searching for the holes that exist in your computer. And if something does, it is likely a botnet that meticulously searches for security gaps in unpatched computers.
There are “clean” websites that offer free Windows applications
The Windows free software scene is quite bad and unfortunately getting worse. Even SourceForge has started offering “dark” downloads. You may remember uTorrent, a very popular program. It was recently discovered that it contained software that used your computer's CPU to mine BitCoins.
All free software download sites serve various unwanted programs, embedded in the installation .exe. Large download sites, such as Download.com, Softpedia, FileHippo, and SourceForge, recently often add their own junk to the free software they offer.
There are also cases of applications where even if you download from an official website there is a chance you will find junkware in the installer. The only reliable website for downloading free Windows applications is Ninite (at least to date).
Automatic updates will destroy your PC
Automatic updates are not as scary as they sound. Many disable Windows automatic updates because they worry that some of them might destroy their system. The truth is that it has happened in the past, but, in general, automatic updates do not cause problems.
They close security gaps and keep your computer safe. Potential software failures are rare. Security gaps should be what worries you the most. Thus it is much better to have automatic updates enabled for your operating system, web browser, plug‑ins, and any other software that offers them automatically.
If you do not trust a company for automatic updates, then you probably should not be running the software you use.
In Windows 8 and 10, most automatic updates no longer require a restart of your computer and are generally less intrusive.
Internet Explorer is slow, vulnerable, and unfriendly
Internet Explorer is one of the most unfriendly programs in Windows. Its bad reputation is so great that Microsoft will replace it with a new browser called Edge in Windows 10.
Yes, there is some basis to these rumors that they come from older versions of the program. However, the more recent versions of Internet Explorer are actually very good. From Internet Explorer 9 onward the application has improved significantly, and from the IE 10 and 11 versions things are even better.
Modern versions of Internet Explorer support many of the modern HTML standards and have very fast JavaScript engines.
Internet Explorer also has a "protected mode" sandbox and a multi-process design, two important features the Mozilla Foundation still does not offer with Firefox.
We do not support all of the above to try to convince you to change browsers, but because the latest versions of Internet Explorer really are not as hostile as the myth claims.
Codecs (Codecs) are essential to watch videos online
There was a time when codecs were needed to watch videos online. Back then we also needed applications such as: RealPlayer, QuickTime, Windows Media Player and DivX. Sometimes Java was used for video playback, as well as Microsoft’s Silverlight.
Today, most videos can play using the HTML5 feature in your browser or with the Adobe Flash plug-in. Some websites still use Microsoft’s Silverlight.
You should know that you don't need to install codecs to watch videos on the internet. If you are asked somewhere, it's a trick that will lead you to install junk on your computer (in an optimistic scenario, as we have seen many times malware also use the same method).
If you need an all‑purpose application again, use VLC. Download the VLC application from the official site (videolan.org), and not from other websites that will serve it to you with a bunch of junk.
Viruses and malicious software are the reason the computer does not work properly
Is your computer not functioning properly? Many think that it's probably due to a virus. That's not true. In reality, modern malware is so sophisticated that you might not notice any change in your computer's performance, even if, say, a keylogger is running without your knowledge.
It is possible that your computer has been infected by malicious software and is using its resources for some botnet, or for Bitcoin mining, or even to participate in DDoS attacks against legitimate websites. But viruses usually do not slow down the computer. You may be running too many programs that start at startup or your browser is loaded with unnecessary add-ons.
Or there may be some hardware problem. However, this is not a “virus.”
Your antivirus protects you
Most people know that antivirus software is not perfect. However, there are quite a few who seem to believe that antivirus software is very effective.
The truth is disturbing. Antivirus software is a useful tool but it should be the last line of defense on Windows. Even Symantec has reported that protection software will not stop cyber attacks.
Of course there is also protection software that, instead of protecting, fills the computer with junk (adware and spyware), forcing you to use their own search engines and serving you additional ads.
This does not mean that you should abandon antivirus entirely. But antivirus should be your last line of defense behind other security measures.
Clearing the cache can speed up your PC
Your Web browser has the folder that stores its cache. These contain scripts, images, and many other things from websites you have visited. Tools like CCleaner delete these caches to free up space on your disk, but this is not necessarily good. Regular clearing of the temporary memory means that your browser will have to re-download everything each time you use it, and this will slow down your browsing on the internet.
You may have gained a little space on your disk but your browser will be slow until the space you freed fills up again…
All these Windows system tools that promise a clean PC are simply not necessary. On the contrary they are usually scammy.
They promise to dramatically improve your computer's performance, to discover all bugs, to empty your disk, to make you coffee, and to clean your pool.
There are “system cleaners”, “registry cleaners” that very simply promise things you can do yourself. The “registry cleaners” in particular are completely useless. Your registry simply does not need to be cleaned. The extra entries in the registry are very small and will not slow down your computer.
Of course, there are many more myths about PCs, and not only that. Everything related to technology, from smartphones to tablets, has its own myths.
