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Ian Paul

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Ian Paul is a freelance writer with over a decade of experiencing writing about tech. In addition to writing for How-To Geek, he regularly contributes to PCWorld as a critic, feature writer, reporter, deal hunter, and columnist. His work has also appeared online at The Washington Post, ABC News, MSNBC, Reuters, Macworld, Yahoo Tech, Tech.co, TechHive, The Huffington Post, and Lifewire. His articles are regularly syndicated across numerous IDG sites including CIO, Computerworld, InfoWorld, GameStar, Greenbot, Macworld UK, Tech Advisor, and TechConnect.

Ian has covered hundreds of tech news stories concerning the major events in technology from the early days of Facebook to major product releases, and developments from all the major technology companies including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

Throughout 2016, he was the resident Windows expert for About.com, which later became Lifewire.com. He wrote numerous tutorials for the site to help novice Windows users take full advantage of their PCs. He was also a how-to columnist for PCWorld for several years.

Ian holds a Master of Music from Indiana University. Prior to writing about the wonderful world of technology, he worked in public relations for the classical music industry.

About How-To Geek

How-To Geek is an online technology magazine and one of the top 500 websites in the US. Since it was created more than a decade ago, the site’s 10,000+ in-depth articles have been read over 1 billion times. More than 15 million people read our articles every month.

We're the people you turn to when you want someone to explain technology, whether that means detailed troubleshooting guides or in-depth explainers on the latest tech. Our team of expert writers and editors have decades of experience in journalism and technology. Beyond the web, they've written books for publishers like Microsoft Press and have been published in print magazines like PCWorld and Consumers Digest.

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5 Tips for Building Your First PC
This is an amazing time to build a PC! Online tutorials are plentiful, and desktop components are so standardized, building a computer is almost foolproof. We say “almost” because, if you haven’t done your homework, you can…

How to Host Your Own VPN with Algo and Cloud Hosting

Companies all over the world sell VPN services to secure your online activity, but can you really trust a VPN provider? If you want, you can create your own virtual private network with the open-source Algo software, and the …
Ian Paul

10 Quick Steps to Increase PC Performance
We live in the future. Your living room speaker turns on the coffee pot, a robot vacuums the house, and the thermostat knows when you get home. But even in this amazing era of automation, your PC still needs some manual help …

What Is a “Surveillance” or “NAS” Hard Drive?
Capacity isn’t the only thing that differentiates one hard drive from another. Yes, they’re all spinning platters that use magnetic storage to save data. However, some are marketed as “Surveillance” or “NAS” drives. Here’s ho…

PS5 and Xbox Series X: What Are Teraflops?
Teraflops: they’re all anyone wants to talk about when the upcoming Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 consoles are mentioned. This is because Microsoft and Sony are bragging about big performance boosts thanks, in part, to an…

Bit Rot: How Hard Drives and SSDs Die Over Time
Computer storage is both a blessing and a curse. We can store terabytes of photos, documents, and more at home. But that data is more precarious than we might assume thanks to a phenomenon known as bit rot or data degradation…

The Five Best PC Upgrades to Improve Performance
Upgrading a PC? Your choices range from installing more RAM to custom building a case designed for a DIY liquid cooling system. Which upgrades are the best depends on your PC. What specs does it have right now? Are you gaming…

NVMe vs. SATA: Which SSD Technology Is Faster?
NVMe drives are a big deal in computer storage right now, and for good reason. Not only does an NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) leave most older SSDs in the dust, it’s also blazing fast compared to standard 3.5- and 2.5-inch dr…

Thunderbolt 3 vs. USB-C: What’s the Difference?
Newer laptops often come loaded with a port that accepts a reversible plug and supports very fast transfer speeds. Do you know what it is? If you guessed the Thunderbolt 3 or USB 3.1 port, you’re right, and therein lies the p…

USB4: What’s Different and Why It Matters
The next great (and possibly confusing) version of USB is on its way. In early September 2019, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) published the USB4 specification paving the way for blazing-fast USB connections comparable to…

Is the Mac Pro Overpriced Compared to a PC?
Apple’s Mac Pro will be made in the USA with a starting price of $6,000. You get a pretty sweet machine for that price, but how close could you get to the power of the Mac Pro if you tried to build a Windows version yourself?…

What Is TDP for CPUs and GPUs?
You often see TDP measurements on specification sheets, and it’s important info for people with desktop PCs. But TDP definitions are like opinions—everybody’s got one. Let’s cut through the confusion and talk about what a…
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