Despite the many advances in technology and the widespread presence of AI that can answer almost any question, there are still dozens of myths about Windows computers that continue to shape how people use their PCs. Whether a myth has real grounds in reality or is a common misconception present even among enthusiasts, many just aren’t true anymore, or are only partly true.
Once you understand why these myths don’t hold up, you’ll save time, money, and avoid unnecessary headaches. Let’s go over these beliefs and rethink some long-held ideas that simply don’t apply today.
10
You Need to Shut Down Your PC Every Day
Here’s a myth that I used to believe myself. Until I did an experiment where I didn’t shut down my PC for a whole week, I thought that daily shutdowns were a necessary part of the routine.
Unlike Linux, which is designed for long-running systems and servers, Windows is notoriously unstable if left on for days or weeks at a time—at least, that’s what I thought.
These days, it’s usually a rare driver or app-related bug that might cause a crash, but that’s far less common than it once was. Developers now have decades of experience building for Windows, and most apps are reasonably stable, or at the very least, they tend not to bring down the entire system when they crash.
Another reason people used to shut down their PCs was the belief that running them constantly would wear out the hardware. There’s a kernel of truth to this for components like the power supply, fans, or water pumps (anything with moving parts), but even those can easily last a decade or more. However, vital components like the CPU, GPU, and RAM almost never fail from age or even heavy use.
Realistically, though, keeping your PC running and fans at low speed when it’s not in use is unlikely to cause any sort of meaningful wear.
All that said, unless you have a good reason to keep your PC on all the time, it doesn’t mean that you should overdo it. While it’s totally fine if you need to access your PC remotely or are downloading a large file, you’re still wasting a bit of electricity, and you might miss a few driver and Windows updates.
Also, Windows’ performance can degrade a bit if left on for very long periods, as random background processes and memory leaks accumulate over time—though you can often fix this with a RAM cleanup tool.
9
More RAM Always Means Better Performance
RAM is like the square footage of your house—the more space you have, the more stuff you can lay out at once without overcrowding it. However, unlike your house, you don’t need a ton of extra space for moving around freely; you just need enough of it to load everything you need and a bit of extra space for headroom.
Much like how more room in your house won’t get you fancier appliances and furniture, more RAM won’t make your PC any faster. Instead, you’ll simply have more room to store stuff, and any unused space is essentially a waste of resources.
Now, how much RAM you need depends a lot on your use case. For gamers, 32GB of RAM is the current standard, as many AAA games can now use up more than 16GB. That said, you can still play older titles just fine with 16GB.
For casual web browsing, 8GB could be enough, but you probably want 16GB just to have that extra headroom. Realistically, unless we’re talking about video editing, virtual machines, data analysis, or other RAM-heavy tasks, you don’t really need more than 32GB—at least for now.
8
You Need to Defrag Your Disks Manually
Defragmenting your drives used to be one of those regular maintenance tasks you had to stay on top of. I remember running the tool with my dad at least once a month on our old Windows XP machine. Put simply, it was just part of owning a PC.
But ever since Windows Vista, the operating system has taken over that job, automatically defragmenting hard drives on a set schedule. Many of us don’t even have hard drives anymore in our PCs, anyway. SSDs have become the norm, and they don’t need defragmentation.
That said, even if you have a combination of both types of drive, Windows will handle defragmentation and trimming (for SSDs) automatically. So, go ahead and leave manual defragmentation in the past, along with all the other wacky things we had to do on old PCs.
7
Your PC Is Safe From Viruses and Cyberattacks
The most dangerous assumption is thinking you’re safe from cyberattacks because you’re not important enough. Cyberattacks aren’t exclusive to large targets like data centers or servers; they can happen to anyone, at any time.
Hackers can gain access to your system through clever social engineering, such as phishing emails or installing compromised software. Some hackers don’t even target your PC directly but instead exploit vulnerable devices connected to your home or work network. Just because you’re careful about your browsing habits doesn’t mean John in the cubicle next to you is.
Another common misconception is that you can’t get malware if you don’t download files. Malware can silently exploit browser vulnerabilities or trick you into agreeing to a pop-up you didn’t fully understand—a tactic known as a drive-by download. Sometimes, just visiting a sketchy website is enough to infect your system or compromise your data.
Infected USB devices—from seemingly harmless peripherals or thumb drives—are also a common way hackers infiltrate PCs.
While Windows Defender has improved significantly, it can’t fully protect you from ransomware, spyware, adware, and other malicious software.
6
Repairing Your PC Is Difficult and Expensive
While a PC doesn’t necessarily break down like a car, things can still go wrong or wear out over time. Sometimes it’s just a thick layer of dust and dried-out thermal paste, and other times, a RAM stick has wiggled just enough to cause an error code. Or it could be a software issue, like a driver update gone awry, that requires reinstalling Windows.
Whatever the problem, there’s a very good chance someone else has already faced the exact same issue and found a solution—often something you can fix yourself in just a few minutes, even without prior experience.
So, before taking your system to an expensive repair shop, try searching for fixes on Reddit or YouTube. Alternatively, ask your favorite AI chatbot to help with troubleshooting.
5
You Need to Buy Programs if You Want Quality
There are numerous free open-source Windows alternatives to popular paid apps that you probably haven’t tried yet.
I used to think these alternatives weren’t as good as the real deal, but after trying LibreOffice and GIMP, I’ve completely changed my mind. They’re just as capable as their premium counterparts.
Whether you’re looking for a spreadsheet app to replace Microsoft Excel, an alternative to Adobe Photoshop, or a new word processor, there are likely several free options that are just as good—if not better—than the paid ones.
4
You Don’t Need to Worry About Cooling Unless You’re Overclocking
There was a time when a stock cooler was more than enough for most PC users. But in the early to mid-2010s, both CPU performance and heat output increased, while stock cooler designs remained mostly unchanged.
That changed in the late 2010s when AMD launched its Ryzen lineup with surprisingly solid stock coolers designed by Cooler Master. Intel followed suit later with improved Laminar coolers for its 12th-gen CPUs.
I guess we’re once again at a point where CPUs run a bit too hot for their stock coolers, causing them to thermal throttle, i.e., they slow down to prevent overheating. In simple terms, you’re potentially leaving performance on the table because you thought the stock cooler that came with your fancy new CPU was enough.
The good news is that you don’t need an expensive AIO cooler to give your CPU the thermal overhead it needs and deserves. A cheap aftermarket air cooler like the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB or the Cooler Master Hyper 212 is more than enough for most chips. Plus, they’re solid long-term investments that can easily carry over into your next build.
3
More Fans Mean Better Cooling
Figuring out how to cool your desktop PC is deceptively simple. While you could just slap a single rear fan into the case and maybe a couple in the front and call it a day, many of us want to go the extra mile. We populate all the fan headers on the motherboard with cheap fans and place them left and right to maximize airflow.
However, just because you have a lot of fans doesn’t mean your PC’s cooling is as good as it can be.
Without the right strategy, you might just be adding lots of noise without any actual improvement. It’s better to focus on creating balanced airflow, potentially with positive pressure (more intake than exhaust airflow) when at idle to minimize dust buildup, and neutral or negative pressure at full load (maximize exhaust fans, keep intake fans at lower speeds) to boost cooling.
The quality of the fans matters even more. A single high-quality fan optimized for high RPMs and low noise can easily outperform two cheap ones in both airflow and acoustics. Noctua fans like the NF-A12x25 are a great premium option, but there’s also the NF-P12 redux if you’re on a budget. And if your budget is super tight, I recommend getting a 5-pack of the ARCTIC P12. I have them and am pretty happy with them.
2
You Need to Spend a Lot of Money to Build a Gaming PC
The traditional belief is that a gaming PC will always cost you more than a console. While there’s some truth in that, you can easily build a gaming PC that will roughly match the outgoing consoles in both price and performance, especially now that it’s been years since the PS5/Xbox Series X launch.
While hardware prices fluctuate a lot, you can still build a gaming PC on the cheap. Not every system has to be a $3,000 4K gaming beast with the latest and greatest from NVIDIA. A reasonably priced mid-range setup is more than enough to play all the latest games at modest settings, especially thanks to modern upscaling algorithms and frame generation.
You can often find last-gen hardware for much cheaper than the new stuff, despite it only being slightly worse in terms of raw performance. Also, if you’re willing to buy a few components used, particularly the notoriously expensive graphics card, you can easily shave hundreds of dollars off the final price of your gaming PC.
Heck, you could even buy an entire used gaming PC or consider a pre-built model if building one yourself feels intimidating.
1
You Need a Dedicated Graphics Card to Play Games
Back in the day, integrated graphics were a joke. They were so bad that your PC dropped frames in the operating system or when playing back HD videos. Not anymore.
Ever since AMD launched its first Ryzen APUs, people have started taking integrated graphics seriously. AMD improved them a lot over the years, and Intel followed suit with Iris Xe (and even started a discrete GPU division), to the point that you can now comfortably game on both mobile and desktop CPUs with integrated graphics.
Sure, you can’t expect the same level of performance as a dedicated graphics card, but integrated GPUs have come a long way in just a decade. I play older PC games and indie titles on my 11th-gen Core i7 laptop, and they run smoothly thanks to Iris Xe. Newer desktop APUs like the AMD Ryzen 5 8600G can even handle many slightly older AAA titles with ease—impressive given the price and power efficiency.
Many long-held beliefs about Windows PCs have now become myths that simply aren’t true anymore. Whether it’s well-intentioned advice passed down from the early days of Windows or more recent misconceptions, there’s no reason to keep believing them.