AVG PC TuneUp v16.22

Roland Waddilove blows away the cobwebs on his system with this handy tool

AVG PC TuneUp is a collection of over 30 functions that can be used to tune up, clean up, repair and optimise your computer, whether you're still running Windows XP or the latest version of Windows 10. It is an impressive and comprehensive toolkit.

Instead of bringing out new products once a year, AVG has switched to continual updates. New features and tweaks are regularly added, and the latest version is pushed out as soon as it's ready. This is like the way Microsoft has made Windows 10 the last, and instead of new versions, it will continually update the current one. The version of AVG PC TuneUp on test is 16.22.1.58906, but by the time you read this, it could be different.

Asus ROG G20

One of the most extraordinary PCs we’ve ever seen

Asus’s Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand has produced some pretty impressive laptops, desktops and gaming peripherals. However, the ROG G20 is by far one of the most amazing looking products it's come up with.

The Asus ROG G20 is essentially a gaming desktop, with off-the-shelf PC parts shoehorned into a console-sized, futuristic-looking case. It’s a smallform-factor system that sits vertically with a uniquely designed chassis and a subtle selection of LEDs.

Secret Tips For… Screenshots

Capture the mouse cursor every time, grab a single window and save screenshots automatically

Capture anything with the Snipping Tool

Well, nearly anything. The Snipping Tool has been included with Windows Vista onwards. It will capture screenshots that seem beyond the reach of keyboard shortcuts – meaning specific parts of the screen, or a freehand area.

The Snipping Tool is hidden in different places but one way to launch it on any version of Windows is to press Windows key+R, type snippingtool.exe and press Enter. Click the New button before dragging a rectangle over the part of the screen you want to grab. But have you ever noticed the little down arrow next to this button? Click this instead to access four different ways to capture screens.

Graphics cards and graphics fixes

Stop errors and blue-screen crashes, fix a faulty cooling fan and diagnose low resolutions

Graphics freeze or blue-screen crashes

Symptoms like these point to a hardware problem. It could be that your card’s graphics processing unit (GPU) is getting too hot — games in particular make big demands on the chip, so it’ll heat up quicker. The cause is often built-up dust and grime on the card’s integrated fan and/or cooling fins (or ‘heat sink’). Remove the mains power, then open your PC. Cleaning is easier with the card extracted, so remove the retaining screw from the PC’s backplate and then slowly tease it free from its expansion slot. Use a can of compressed air to expel dust from the card’s cooling fan (and from your PC’s other fans), then use cotton buds to get into the nooks and crannies of the heat sink. If you’re really confident, you could dismantle the card to conduct a full deep-clean — see the next tip for help with that.

Brother MFC-J680DW

A do-it-all inkjet

This multi-function printer makes a neat and businesslike impression. Functions are controlled using a large colour touchscreen on the front panel, which is thoughtfully angled upwards. And if you’re working from your PC, Brother’s software makes things straightforward. The top of the unit has a flatbed scanner with a 20-page automatic document feeder (ADF) that makes scanning or copying multi-page documents stress free. Black-and-white and colour faxing are also supported. Wi-Fi is built in, but Ethernet isn’t, which won’t bother many home users.