The tech industry, chaotic as it is, is filled with so many questionable stories and beliefs,  yet people tend to automatically believe them anyway. Read on about five of the most popular tech urban legends that have hounded many a people and find out if this article sheds some light to them.

Safely remove your hardware if you don’t want your data to get lost

It’s a general rule of thumb to eject external hard drives, peripherals, and other USB-powered hardware from the computer’s task bar before physically removing them to prevent data loss or other similar catastrophe from happening. Many computing experts have disregarded this practice and a lot of conventional users have ignored this completely because of the belief that doing so only offers a little safety and that the device can still cope with the sudden removal. However, it is still perhaps logical to check if your device is still in active use or not. When you plugged it in, you weren’t exactly using it, were you?

Freeze a broken hard drive to restore your files

They say that you can revive a failed hard drive by putting it inside your freezer. Trusted site LifeHacker once suggested it as a McGyver tip and explained that freezing the hard drive will shrink the platters inside your hard disk drive and tighten up the loose mechanical parts, eventually causing them to not come in contact with the read/write head that they’d usually grind against. A lot of people have tried this; it’s worth a try if you’re desperate enough. Moreover, this practice is also supported by the belief that electronics will run better when cold; but then again, heat buildup will make it fail inevitably so don’t place your bet on this one.

Mobile phones can increase possible cancer risk

Some years ago, the media went abuzz with reports stating that the excessive use of mobile phones can be a risk factor for cancer. It has been said that the radiation emitted by the common mobile phone and the close proximity of the unit to a person during sleep or during talk time can eventually cause cancer. This has been debunked by several organizations like the US National Cancer Institute by saying that while there is an impact to brain activity in such occasions, there is no consistent link between the two. Besides, if these were true, all those mobile honchos who use the RingCentral business telephone app on their iPhones must have been hospitalized by now.

Laptops can cause infertility in men

Experts have proven this claim by saying that men who use laptop computers for extensive periods may be unwittingly limiting their capability to reproduce. Although further research is needed to establish it, there are several truths that can back it up. “Laptops can reach internal operating temperatures of over 70 degrees centigrade,” said Dr. Yefim Sheynkin from the State University of New York. They are frequently positioned close to the scrotum, and the heat they generate can kill the sperm and create irreversible changes in spermatogenesis when done repetitively. It is widely understood that the male body needs to maintain a proper testicular temperature for normal sperm production and development; excessive exposure to abnormal temperatures can post several risks to the male reproductive system. 

Boil your CDs to make them playable again

Rumor has it that unplayable CDs can be boiled to make them melt back into form, getting rid of all the scratches. CDs are made of plastic; and when plastic gets hot enough, it melts. Although leaving the CD for too long in boiling water would be detrimental (you’ll get nothing but melted plastic blobs), it will actually work when done correctly. Try boiling some clean water, and then remove it from the fire. Quickly dip your damaged CD in and out of the hot water. Do it a few more times to even out the scratches. Just be careful not to overdo it so you don’t run into the risk of damaging the CD entirely by bending it or melting off some of its parts.