And now...
The most annoying things that people JUST DON'T GET about PC hardware and software... (drum roll)

• IRQ "conflicts" and sharing. I could just go on and on about this.

  Sadly, over the years and everyone I have been in contact with, I have NEVER heard the right answers come from anyone's mouth but mine.
  The most common fallacies regarding IRQ handling:

  • IRQ conflicts are Microsoft's fault.
  • IRQ's can never be shared, or only under (insert random tech words here) condition. (misinformation)
  • If you're having a problem with any sort of strange behaviour, it's probably an IRQ conflict. (generalization)

  Read my page devoted to debunking the "IRQ" mystery that baffles many a would-be 'tech'.

• Modems. As widely used as modems are today, NOBODY seems to understand the founding principles of digital telecommunication.

  A modem seems to be this magical item that makes a loud screeching sound on your phone line, and somehow connects you to this thing called the Internet.

  Yes, for most people today (and lucky for them!) modems are magical. They do JUST WORK!
  Hardly anybody has to worry about all the variables in digital telecomms anymore, because, unlike yesterday, 99% of the problems are already taken care of.

  Sadly, the relative ease that modem use has become today, has produced:

  • ISP technicians that are absolutely useless, even when the USER knows how to fix it and are simply asking the tech to follow their instructions
  • helpdesk workers that can do nothing but read Solution #13579 from the database into the ear of a frustrated customer, who is actually giving clear and concise information that should be easy to figure the problem out from
  • shop technicians who go from swapping dozens of modems in and out to find the one that "takes", to telling the user their ISP is broken and to get a new one
    (just how many ISPs do you think would stay in business if the tech's assumption was correct, and the fact that he can't connect to the ISP must simply mean that NOBODY can?)
  • Windrivers techs suggesting whenever any modem isn't working correctly to find a new driver, even in the case of a modem with the entire comm controller in hardware!

  ...and on and on. It's honestly sad for that last 1% that just can't get a reliable modem connection; there's practically nobody left to help!

  I'm tired of it, and I'd like to present a practical glimpse of how modems really work, and how to fix common comm-related problems in consumer operating systems.

• The BIOS, and real vs protected mode. Common misconceptions about obsolete hardware: - old is NOT obsolete - functionally replaced by smaller, cheaper, easier to maintain parts but with the same function and equal or better performance would be obsolete. functional replacement can depend on many factors though. you could say that all sound cards today are more powerful with a high-clockspeed programmable DSP at the core. but functional replacement isn't necessarily true because even your SB Live Platinum can't work with software written for Roland MT-32 or Game Blaster. And even its claimed "Sound Blaster" emulation is shitty. Yes, Creative claims SB Live is a 'functional' replacement for Sound Blaster, but it's really not since the Sound Blaster emulation is DEFINITELY distinguishable from the real thing. Emulated would not matter in this definition, since if the emulation is 100% perfect and all features are exact, then what's to complain about besides the fact that you DON'T actually have a SB in your machine or a MT-32 sitting on your desk glowing at you.