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.

Are Your Devices Dangerous?

Modern tech seems plagued by product recalls, security vulnerabilities and other flaws. Jonathan Parkyn explains how to protect yourself from dodgy devices

When you buy a PC, laptop, tablet or any another device, the last thing you expect is for it to spy on you, expose you to security risks or catch fire. But a recent spate of horror stories in the news points to a worrying trend for faulty product lines and devices that are sold with built-in vulnerabilities, effectively turning your computer into a ticking time bomb.

But why is this happening? Which manufacturers are the worst offenders? And what can you do to protect yourself from potentially dangerous devices? Read on to find out.

Iiyama ProLite XB2481HS-B1

A smaller, taller PC monitor

What most people seem to be looking for in a monitor these days – and what, therefore, monitor companies are most likely to try to sell you – is a huge widescreen display, typically 27 inches across the diagonal, with an ultra-slim bezel, a basic stand, and some fashionable features like high refresh rates to make games look smoother. But that’s not quite what some of us want. That size may be too big for a small study at home, and how comfortable the screen is to use depends less on whether it can update more than 60 times a second, and more on whether you can set it at exactly the right angle and height.

HP Envy 8 Note 5001na

Don’t laugh and point, it’s rude

There’s a fundamental conundrum with laptops. To make them more compact, you reduce the size of the screen. That reduces the size of the keyboard. The trouble is, our eyes can get used to seeing more or less information on a screen, but our fingers trip up when the keys get closer together.

For years, manufacturers have accepted that they can’t square this circle. Now HP has made a breakthrough. It’s based on one simple yet brilliant insight.

Protect Your Eyes From Screen Glare

If you suffer from tired eyes after using your laptop or tablet, don’t put up with the discomfort. Arren Sayers explains how to prevent eye strain

Ever notice how a few hours spent staring at your computer or tablet’s screen leaves your eyes feeling sore and tired? That’s because looking at the backlight behind a screen is like staring at a low-intensity light bulb for hours at a time.

What makes computer displays especially damaging is that they produce ‘blue light’– a type of light that suppresses the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. This not only makes it hard for us to nod off at night, but also leads to a disturbed night’s sleep when we finally do.

Here we’ll show you how to limit the effects of harmful light to keep you, and your eyes, in fine fettle.

HP Envy 13

Should you covet this Windows 10 laptop?

One of the best YouTube videos about computers – as well as one of the simplest demonstrations of Newtonian physics – is the one that shows an astronaut ejecting a floppy disk under zero gravity (www.snipca.com/19928). If, like us, you’re old enough to remember floppy disks, you’ll know they popped straight out, with a brisk spring action. So, just as Sir Isaac would have predicted, the 3.5in packet emerges and floats elegantly across the room, like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Dell Chromebook 13 7310

A pricey Chromebook misses the point

A thousand pounds? For a Chromebook? Google’s simplified web-based operating system, Chrome OS, is supposed to make laptops cheaper than those with Windows 10, not more expensive. To be fair, Dell’s Chromebook 13 range starts at a much lower price than the top model we tested: shop around and you can find the basic version for as little as £412. But that’s still a lot more than the £200-£250 you’d pay for the average Chromebook.