# Things other people do with computers that annoy the crap out of you **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697 "2012-05-31T20:08:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/122 "2012-06-03T19:31:44Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > …before I get into an argument about what is the correct way to cut and paste. Reminds me that one of my pet peeves is people saying “cut and paste” when they mean “copy and paste”. Not that I’m accusing you of such a thing, of course! 😃 > [@GuanoLad](#): > > Even though that’s not shutting it down, which perhaps she thinks it is, there’s no harm with leaving a computer on. I bet you’re one of those people that leaves the water running constantly while you brush your teeth too. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/123 "2012-06-03T21:11:53Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > I bet you’re one of those people that leaves the water running constantly while you brush your teeth too. I live in Australia, where water is a precious commodity, so no. I don’t think you’ve used a very good analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/124 "2012-06-03T22:40:03Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I live in Australia, where water is a precious commodity, so no. I don’t think you’ve used a very good analogy. And I don’t think you’ve entirely understood my meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/125 "2012-06-03T23:09:28Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > (While she is pretty internet savvy, she still believes that adding more stuff to the harddrive makes the computer heavier or bulge at the sides or something.) My wife is not even 40 and this sentence could be describing her exactly. She has a strange belief that saving data on the hard drive is a burden on the computer and she’ll blame that for any problem or difficulty. Because of that she refused to back up her iPhone and iPad data on her brand spanking new MacBook. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/126 "2012-06-03T23:13:19Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > And I don’t think you’ve entirely understood my meaning. Please enlighten me. I thought you were suggesting I waste electricity (?) by leaving computers on overnight. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/127 "2012-06-04T00:32:15Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Please enlighten me. I thought you were suggesting I waste electricity (?) by leaving computers on overnight. How is it not an accurate statement that leaving a computer on overnight uses much more electricity than shutting down or sleeping that computer? ---
**Author:** ![Whammo72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Whammo72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo72)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/128 "2012-06-04T00:43:46Z")
people people come on… the desktop is RIGHT THERE! I know where each of the 100 plus icons I need at my fingertips are and I dont have to go SEARCHING through a bunch of folders! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/129 "2012-06-04T01:09:08Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Please enlighten me. I thought you were suggesting I waste electricity (?) by leaving computers on overnight. Well yes I was suggesting that, and besides that reason I’d guess overnight use of fans etc. will only increase the dust build up and the risk of mechanical failure. But the comparison to leaving water running was (intended as) a humorous and strawman-esque point. It’s not important anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/130 "2012-06-04T01:19:08Z")
When we changed to IE8 at work, the first time you used it you have to click a couple of things to set it up. Some people keep hitting the “later” button every freaking time after 1 year. DOn’t get me started on the “does this computer have a printer?” when there is a network computer and “how do you set the printer up?” when the process is the same I’ve taught you 14567 times. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/131 "2012-06-04T02:12:40Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > How is it not an accurate statement that leaving a computer on overnight uses much more electricity than shutting down or sleeping that computer? “Uses more” is not the same as “wasted.” And it is off-peak. I do it because the computer is usually actively processing, either rendering some graphics or uploading files. And anyway, my point was it’s not harmful. Millions of computers in thousands of industries are left on indefinitely. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/132 "2012-06-04T05:22:54Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > “Uses more” is not the same as “wasted.” And it is off-peak. Ugh. I hate this attitude. > [@](#): > > I do it because the computer is usually actively processing, either rendering some graphics or uploading files. Then it’s not sitting idle, and you’re making a sensible choice. Why make it sound otherwise, and why follow up with… > [@](#): > > And anyway, my point was it’s not harmful. Millions of computers in thousands of industries are left on indefinitely. That is just about the definition of harmful, given the way the energy industry is. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/133 "2012-06-04T06:33:15Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Then it’s not sitting idle, and you’re making a sensible choice. Why make it sound otherwise… I really didn’t know I had. All I said was: “there’s no harm with leaving a computer on.” By which I meant it’s not going to damage the computer, and it’s not a bad thing by default. Are you by any chance one of those people who unplugs everything in the house\* every evening? \*Except the fridge ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/134 "2012-06-04T06:41:47Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Keyboard shortcuts often don’t work well through remote sessions (VNC, MSTSC, Citrix). Also, it demonstrates to the other person viewing exactly what you’re doing. I tend to work in bilingual environments, and I first made heavy use of office suites in English. MSOffice and some other programs have different shortcuts in different languages, so if I`m using a program in the (a) language I`m not used to, I`ll have to use the damn menus (or icons), all the while cursing mightily whomever thought that was a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/135 "2012-06-04T10:44:14Z")
I don’t understand people who think they can leave stuff in their deleted folder. You are aware that the computer will eventually automatically delete what’s in there, even if you don’t have someone from IT mandating it. That’s the entire point of its existence. I mean, I can understand not emptying out the Recycle Bin, but not actually expecting what you put in there a week before to still be in there. It’s akin to throwing stuff away in the trash can as a filing method. That’s why the icon looks like a trash can. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/136 "2012-06-04T11:08:05Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I don’t understand people who think they can leave stuff in their deleted folder. You are aware that the computer will eventually automatically delete what’s in there, even if you don’t have someone from IT mandating it. Not automatic unless such a feature is turned on. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/137 "2012-06-04T11:25:46Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > My wife is not even 40 and this sentence could be describing her exactly. She has a strange belief that saving data on the hard drive is a burden on the computer and she’ll blame that for any problem or difficulty. Do you think I should stop pretending that lifting up my tiny ext. harddrive is a terrible exertion, then? 😃 Yep – if anything goes wrong with the computer, it’s because I have too many files on it. NOT because she clicks on every link and attachment in the glurgy shite her church buddies send her. (‘But it’s safe! It’s from someone at church!’) Prior to me coming to look after her, my other brother would leave my niece at my mother’s house for the day – my niece is I guess 22 or 23 now, dunno as I haven’t actually clapped eyes on her in maybe 5 years, but when she was between 10 and about 15 I sure as hell was familiar with her presence: my mother let her ‘play’ on the computer, so naturally she clicked on every game and flashy advert on the screen that mommy and daddy wouldn’t let her do at home. My mother’s super-high-speed connection ran at 1200 baud dial-up speed, but without the neat noises the connecting phone modem used to make, but rather the screams of the damned as the hard drive tried to work around all the bollix that kid had downloaded. It would take forever to clean all that shite off the comp, and it had to be reformatted several times. When Auntie (me) hove properly onto the scene, that nonsense came to a stop. Grandma thought the kid was cute; auntie needed only to apply the Schoolteacher look of death once: O\_o, and the computer suddenly lost its allure. Another a peeve I forgot: we keep the computer tower on the floor under the desk for space considerations. On top of the tower is the modem, router, my external DVD player/burner, and my external harddrive. All of them are duct-taped to the tower because my mother cannot sit down at the computer without kicking or otherwise knocking these devices to the floor. She cannot understand why finding these devices knocked to the floor and kicked across the room or otherwise pushed farther under the desk makes me livid. (And, yes, there is plenty of legroom.) Speaking of that wifi router – gotta add that my mother also thinks I’m rude and selfish for putting a password on the router so that we can’t provide the entire neighborhood with free access the way my BIL did when he first installed it. Yeah, and after I put the password on, didja notice how much faster the connection got, especially after school hours and in the evenings? Augh!! ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/138 "2012-06-04T13:51:02Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > 1. She constantly deletes the desktop shortcuts for malwarebytes and superantispyware because she thinks they’re something evil > > 2. She opens up every fwd fwd fwd fwd x 1000 attachment her cronies send her, and I spend the next four hours cleaning shite off the harddrive > > 3. No power on heaven or earth can convince this woman that her online bank account and email account doesn’t just live inside her computer, and that she can access it at the house, my brother’s house 2,000 miles away, or on the other side of the planet if and when we finally tape her up in a box and ship her there out of frustration. > > 4. When the computer wakes back up after going to sleep, you might have to wait about 30 seconds for the internet connection to sort itself out. Because she can’t instantly get to QVC within nanoseconds of waking up the computer, she calls me to tell me the computer is ‘broken’ again. I realise she’s 83 and time is of the essence, but 30 seconds isn’t asking too much of her patience. > > There’s so much more, but I can feel my heart rate reaching hummingbird speeds, so I’ll leave it at that. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were living with MY mother. She does all these things, and more. Regarding #3: Yep, she clicks on every link that her friends send her. I’ve tried explaining why this is a Bad Idea, but she says she has to be able to respond to the person that sent it, to be able to tell them it was funny or cute or thanks for the Cracker Barrel/Old Navy/Yankee Candle coupon that (supposedly) popped up or whatever. Regarding #5: She recently went to visit her sister for six weeks (halfway across the country). My mom lives about five minutes from where I work, and she asked me to stop in and water her plants a couple of times a week. No big deal. She also asked that I log into her email (and kindly left her password on a post-it note on the monitor), and forward anything that “looked important” to her sister’s email address. No matter what I said, she was firmly convinced that she couldn’t log in to her email at her sister’s house, because she (mom) is on Verizon, and her sister uses MSN. I’ve tried explaining that she can log into her email anywhere in the world, but she just doesn’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/139 "2012-06-04T14:09:43Z")
People who share E-mail addresses. WTF! ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/140 "2012-06-04T15:52:23Z")
People who don’t use bullet lists and tables in Word. By that, I mean, instead of using the list functionality, they just copy and paste in bullets. And to make it look like the text is in a table, they just press Space a lot. Why? **Because this fucks up the data if it’s being used anywhere but the original document.** ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697/141 "2012-06-04T16:44:24Z")
Here’s another one (and I can’t believe I’m the first to post this): People who don’t know their freaking passwords! OK, I understand that there are a lot of passwords that people need to remember, but I meet people All. The. Time. Who don’t even know their login password! Not to mention those who can’t understand the concept that there are different passwords for different operations (no, your email password is not necessarily the same as you bank password!). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-other-people-do-with-computers-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-you/623697.md?page=8)