Tech facts or myth?

[sohkmj1]

I've heard some weird advice about computers from people everywhere.

 

Here's a small list of them, along with some info.

 

 

 

Having a huge case makes the interior "roomier", allowing circulation and reducing a risk of overheating :wall:

 

- Got told this by the salesman at a computer specialised store while hunting for a computer.

 

A laptop when charged for too long will exude electricity from any port. :?

 

- What my supposedly adept in tech brother assumes.

 

USB stuff lasts a couple of years before they are terminally screwed.

 

- Read on the back of a flash drive

 

A black area with a brown outline on a LCD screen is the result of the liquid in the screen leaking out, presumably due to dropping.

 

- Explanation my dad gave when my GBA (I was 9 when I bought it) when the said area appeared on the screen)

 

See those vents on the side of the laptop? It supposedly gives you a fever when you get exposed to the air it produces too long.

 

- What my mother (she is good with general knowledge, just totally hopeless when it comes to tech) assumes.

 

 

 

Are those facts real or are they just... utter crap?

 

Also, if you have any other facts you find dubiously odd, post them here!

 

 

 

 

 

Apologies if there is something like this.

[dsavi]

A large case will, indeed, allow for better air circulation.

[Foooman]

Having a huge case makes the interior "roomier", allowing circulation and reducing a risk of overheating :wall:

 

- Got told this by the salesman at a computer specialised store while hunting for a computer.

 

 

 

This one is partly true. Even if you put a $80 Cooler on your CPU, it's cooling ability is going to be limited to the amount of airflow inside your case. Larger cases allow for easier wire management to keep your wires from blocking airflow from the front to the back of your case. Larger case doesn't exactly mean cooler computer, as most of the case's cooling ability comes straight from the design of the case rather than the size. I have no idea about the other ones.

[Mil]

A laptop when charged for too long will exude electricity from any port. :?

 

 

 

Not true :P.

 

However, keeping your laptop plugged in constantly may affect the performance of the battery, leading to a shorter battery life.

[JoeDaStudd]

I like this topic.

 

 

 

Having a huge case makes the interior "roomier", allowing circulation and reducing a risk of overheating :wall:

 

Truth, larger cases allow for better airflow reducing the temperature of the case

 

A laptop when charged for too long will exude electricity from any port. :?

 

Truth and Myth, overcharge the battery it will reduce the charge it can carry reducing the battery life. But there electricity won't be coming out of every port.

 

USB stuff lasts a couple of years before they are terminally screwed.

 

Truth, there is a limited number of read/writes a flash drive can take. Its possible to kill one in a matter of weeks. As its a metal to metal connection this can wear too.

 

A black area with a brown outline on a LCD screen is the result of the liquid in the screen leaking out, presumably due to dropping.

 

Truth, although you could hit it to cause it.

 

See those vents on the side of the laptop? It supposedly gives you a fever when you get exposed to the air it produces too long.

 

Possibly true, all the dust and grime could be bad for you health. I personally wouldn't breath in the stuff which comes out of the fan.

 

 

 

 

 

Heres a few ones for you guys;

 

Magnetic screwdrivers shouldn't be used when building a computer.

 

Building a PC naked is safer for the computer parts then wearing clothes.

 

Its possible to download ram.

 

Putting a harddrive in a freezer can help recover data.

 

Mac's don't get viruses.

 

Removing file paging increases the speed of your PC.

 

A 1.8 dual core PC is the same as a 3.6 single core PC.

 

Empty spacers on the back of a case improve case temperatures.

 

 

 

Enjoy

[Hobgoblinpie]

Heres a few ones for you guys;

 

Magnetic screwdrivers shouldn't be used when building a computer.

 

-Fact and Myth. Magnetic screwdrivers can damage some parts, but since the screws are generally located away from main parts of a computer, it wouldn't affect them. Also, installing a hard drive with a magnetic screwdriver won't affect it, and running a magnet over the top wont affect it as much as you think, the casing is designed to provide protection from magnets to a certain degree (say you had a device that could generate an EMP. That would destroy the hard drive), at least, that's what I've been told by numerous sources.

 

 

 

Building a PC naked is safer for the computer parts then wearing clothes.

 

-Myth. The Human body conducts electricity very easily. Drag your feet along a deep tread carpet, you'll have a few thousand volts of electricity built up. Therefore, you can cause ESD just as easily, which will harm the computer parts. Grounding yourself (holding onto a copper pipe for example) reduces the effect.

 

 

 

Its possible to download ram.

 

-Myth. Doesn't really need discussion does it?

 

 

 

Mac's don't get viruses.

 

-It's not that they don't get viruses, it's that no-one makes them for macs. Since PC's are easier to code viruses for, as well as having a larger userbase, they would be the most obvious threat. However, viruses have been coded for Macs, but mostly Proof-of-concept ones.

 

[Laura]

Err?

 

 

 

The magnetic screwdriver is a fact.

 

Building it naked is a fact.

 

He might have meant to say downgrade.

 

His wording was off about the Macintosh viruses, but your explanation is incorrect anyways.

[Hobgoblinpie]

His wording was off about the Macintosh viruses, but your explanation is incorrect anyways.

 

 

 

Yeah, I understand that, I read about it a while ago, so I'm misinformed there. Also, I'm only relaying information that was given to me, I've never tried any of these, so I wouldn't be able to confirm/deny anything, I was just giving the questions an attempt.

[Will H]

 

Having a huge case makes the interior "roomier", allowing circulation and reducing a risk of overheating Truish. Not necessarily, but it will help. There are other factors such as case airflow design, the power and positioning of the fans and how well you can tidy away wires in it. Bigger cases just makes all of these easier.

 

A laptop when charged for too long will exude electricity from any port. False, although it's better for your batteries' lifespan to only charge it when it needs it.

 

USB stuff lasts a couple of years before they are terminally screwed. Partly true. Normally it's the number of times that you remove and plug it in over time that causes wear and tear, so a nearly permanent USB keyboard will probably last much longer than a frequently used thumb drive. This also applies to any other thing you plug in.

 

A black area with a brown outline on a LCD screen is the result of the liquid in the screen leaking out, presumably due to dropping. True. Either a sharp impact or blunt force can cause this to happen.

 

See those vents on the side of the laptop? It supposedly gives you a fever when you get exposed to the air it produces too long. False, although it might give you a bit of a cough if you don't clean it out for a long time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnetic screwdrivers shouldn't be used when building a computer. False, they're very useful for building computers. Places where you have to use a screwdriver are logically positioned so the computer won't be damaged by said screwdriver, magnetic or not. Just don't poke places with it where you don't need to use it.

 

Building a PC naked is safer for the computer parts then wearing clothes. Probably true, but I can't see it being worth the effort. So long as you ground yourself, it's fine.

 

Its possible to download ram. False. RAM is hardware, so by definition you can't download it.

 

Putting a harddrive in a freezer can help recover data. Probably true, although I don't know how effective it would be.

 

Mac's don't get viruses. False, and this is a dangerous misconception. It's just that there are far more PC users, so it's more profitable for someone to write a virus for a PC to establish bigger botnets and sell them for more, as well as just being more widespread. However, Mac viruses do exist, make no mistake. In fact, this rumour makes it more likely for such viruses to be made because people will be less protected than PC users.

 

Removing file paging increases the speed of your PC. Maybe, but it's probably negligible.

 

Empty spacers on the back of a case improve case temperatures. True, but it looks worse, you're better off investing in a side fan or something. You can get plenty of spacers that are more hole than metal, and they look better.

 

 

I've tried to answer all but one question (the one about the dual/single core processor comparison). Hope this helps.

[Sbrideau]

Yes, it is possible to download RAM.

 

 

 

[hide=RAM]

 

(Random picture from google images)[/hide]

[PuppyKing]

Yes, it is possible to download RAM.

 

 

 

[hide=RAM]

 

(Random picture from google images)[/hide]

 

You are hilarious. -.-

[lordkafei]

I like this topic.

 

 

 

...

 

Putting a harddrive in a freezer can help recover data.

 

...

 

 

 

Enjoy

 

 

 

I've seen how-tos on baking and/or freezing stuck hard drives, and tried this once unsucessfully.

[JoeDaStudd]

Nice to see this topic getting lots of responses.

 

 

 

Note these might not be 100% as I never claim(ed) to know all.

 

[hide=The answers I used for them]Myth

 

Truth

 

Myth

 

Truth

 

Myth

 

Myth

 

Myth/Truth

 

Myth/Truth

 

 

 

1. Its a lot easier and to do real damage you'd need a stronger magnet and would need to get extremely close to the parts

 

2. Strangely this is true as clothes generate static which can damage parts. Although as long as you touch the case every now and then as well as wearing shoes you'll be fine.

 

3. Common joke at non-techy people. I've seen a lot of people ask which site and so on.

 

4. I've gotten a lot of data from previously unusable hard drives using this. Its generally where the disk is damaged and it overheats. By cooling it, it increases the time it will function before it overheats. Doesn't work all the time, but its worth a shot.

 

5. Its a myth there are viruses out there, but there not common at all and apple tend to fix the exploit(s) which allow them to function. Like you've said due the the number of users if your going to make a virus its better to make one for 80% or so of the worlds computers as opposed to 10%.

 

But there are viruses out there for Mac's.

 

6. This was at one time thought to be a good thing to do, but with XP and later versions removing the paging size actually worsens the performance.

 

7. In theory if there the same architecture yes. But in reality the 2 cores will never be able to do 2 separate tasks 100% of the time. Its like getting 2 people to do a job in a kitchen in 1 hour when 1 person can get it done in 2 hours. Some of the time the 2 people can both be doing separate jobs, but other times 1 person must wait for the other to finish something before they can continue.

 

8. Depends on the location of the spacer(s) they can both reduce and increase the temperature. I'd reduced my case temperature by 3, but blocking PCI slot. But others have reduced there temperature, by removing them. Although I would note it will increase the amount of dust in the case.

 

 

 

Sorry A few of those where tricky or trick questions, but I least I got you all thinking.[/hide]

 

 

 

Can't think of any interesting to strange ones at the moment.

[Chaise]

Yes, it is possible to download RAM.

 

 

 

[hide=RAM]

 

(Random picture from google images)[/hide]

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet! My computer is 4 times faster already!@!@

[Stragomagus]

A 1.8 dual core PC is the same as a 3.6 single core PC.

 

 

 

This is true if the program is designed to take advantage of a two or more core computer, but otherwise it is false.

 

 

 

Its possible to download ram.

 

 

 

I suppose it could be true if what you are downloading is something smaller to what was originally on the hard drive

 

to manage space in the first place, but the effects would only be negligible at best.

 

 

 

Now for my own facts:

 

You can increase your base ram by dedicating some of your hard drive; though it will be slower than pure ram.

 

 

 

Magnets from computers are some of the strongest magnets in the world. -psst. Check your hard drive.

 

 

 

Excessive dust, when stirred by the fan, can create a lot of kinetic energy which can wipe your computer.