You must obey: Unwritten laws of technology

By PC World staff, with assistance from Facebook friends and others

updated 9:00 a.m. ET Aug. 13, 2009

Gordon Moore has one law but we've got him beat. Here at the (unofficial) Tech Law Brain Trust, we maintain a definitive, ever-expanding archive of the laws that govern your technology experiences — whether you know it or not. Please scan these lists to ensure that you are in compliance.

Basic PC laws
Let's start with Nerve Central — the computer.

Law 1: For every fix that a Windows Update patches, the update will break two more things on your PC. — Darren Gladstone, PC World

Law 2: The likelihood that Windows will automatically install time-sucking critical updates is directly proportional to your need to get your PC started. — Steve Fox, PC World

Law 3: The hard drive always fails just before you were going to back it up. — Denise Paolucci, Dreamwidth Studios via Help A Reporter Out (HARO)

Law 4: Your data will get corrupted just before you plug in your new backup external drive. —Darren Gladstone, PC World

Law 5: Your backup plan is only as good as your last successful restore. — Michael Fisher, ElephantDrive.com via HARO

Law 6: The number of USB ports on your Mac will always be one less than you need at any given time. — Blair Hanley Frank, Macworld

Law 7: Feeling time pressure to make a computer fix quickly will cause you to take longer. —David Marshak, via PC World Facebook page

Law 8: If you close the PC case with screws before testing, it won't work. If you test before closing, it will. — Harry Liebman via HARO

Tech support rules
Now that you've mastered the basics, you're ready to move on to Tech Support.

Law 1: Fix a computer for a friend or family member, and you'll be tech support for life. — Danny Allen, PC World

Law 2: Build a computer for someone, and he/she owns you! — Louis Farbstein, via PC World's Facebook page

Law 3: Recommend a product that you've used with no problems, and the friend/family member who buys it will immediately descend into RMA [product return] hell. — Scott Keck, via PC World's Facebook page

Law 4: Show any handy IT skills at work, and your company's IT department will start referring difficult coworkers to you. — Lars Jacobsen, via PC World's Facebook page

Law 5: If it's broken and you call tech support, it will fix itself while you're on hold. — Brenda Christensen, Public Relations, Servoy.com via HARO

Internet ordinances
You can find a world of trouble online. For instance ...

Law 1: Within a month of agreeing to be "friends" with your boss on Facebook you will regret it, big time. — Tom Spring, PC World

Law 2: The crappier the Web site, the sleazier (and sketchier) the ads. — Tom Spring, PC World

Law 3: When entering "Captcha" verification codes on a Web site, you'll always type in the numeral 1 when the site wants a lowercase L, and a capital O when the site wants the number 0. — Steve Fox, PC World

Law 4: Just before taking out the boss in a WoW raid, your Internet connection will die. — Nick Mediati, PC World

Law 5: The difficulty involved in redeeming a rebate is directly proportional to the dollar value of the rebate. — Tom Spring, PC World

Law 6: A nasty draft e-mail will always find its way to the (unintended) recipient. — Brian X. Chen

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