As you might expect, I try out a lot of software in preparation for writing this column on TechSupportAlert. Probably 20 items a week, or so. Although only around 25% of them ever end up on these pages, because many of them get rejected for various reasons. Sometimes because they're not very good, or sometimes because they don't score a perfect rating on VirusTotal.

Of the 25% that I write about, only a very few end up on my main PC to be used regularly. The rest get tested in a safe environment and then deleted, because they're not something that I have a personal need for. But a few (maybe 3 or 4 a year) are so good or useful that they get installed on my main PC and stay there.

One such program is Greenshot. I've used it for a couple of years now. And it's just had an update, to make it even better.

If you ever (and I mean, ever) find yourself pressing the PrtSc key to take a grab of the screen contents on your PC, then you need Greenshot. It makes the whole job so much easier. Instead of the standard Windows default of allowing you to grab either the entire screen or the current window and save it to the clipboard, Greenshot adds loads of additional functionality. You can grab any chunk of the screen you like, by dragging a rectangle marker. You can then save that image to the clipboard, or a file, or send it to the printer. Or send it to any other program on your computer that can import images. You can even save it straight to your Dropbox.

Greenshot is very useful, and it saves me loads of time. Every screen shot you ever see on these pages has been produced with it. The program is free of charge, and the source code is available if you want it. The latest version, released last month, is a 1.3 MB download and of course, VirusTotal reckons it's 100% free of malware.  Read More