The Quick Way To Take A Screen Shot

by: George Hutton

Computers are fantastic tools. Every year they simply get better and better, and there is no end to what you can do with them. Compared to my first computer, the computers you can buy today are light years ahead as far as speed, technology, and capacity. There is literally no limit to what you can accomplish with today's software and hardware.

Of course, nothing is perfect. Hardware sometimes has problems, and software almost always has some kind of issue. The trouble is that sometimes you get an error message that seems to be written in some kind of foreign language. Unless you are an master programmer in several computer languages, you probably won't have any idea what the error message means. In this case, you'll have to turn to the support system of the software publisher. This usually involves filling out a ticket, submitting it, and waiting for a response.

This usually works effectively, and most issues are resolved without any further problems. However, sometimes it can be tough to describe in words the actual problems you are having. Many of the error messages you get are nearly impossible for anybody except an advanced programmer to understand, so it's not much help to fill out a ticket with the complaint: "I keep getting an error message."

A fantastic way to give specific information without really understanding any of it is to take a screen shot. This means to take an image of your desktop, and then send it along with your complaint. This is easy to do. You just push the "Print Screen," or "PrtSc" button on your keyboard, which is somewhere in the upper right area. Once you hit this button, you can paste it into another application. Once it's pasted, you can send it as an attachment.

Once your image is copied to the clipboard, you can paste it a couple of different ways. One is to paste it into "Paint," which is the basic graphics program that comes with Windows. You'll find it under the Start menu. Then click on "All Programs," and then "Accessories," and finally "Paint." Once it's open, simply right click anywhere inside, and paste. Once the image is pasted, save the new file, and send it as an attachment to your ticket.

Additionally, you can paste the image into a Microsoft Word document. Just open up a blank document, and then paste the image inside. The advantage of doing it this way is that you can add some comments under the image, and explain exactly what you were doing when you got that particular error message. Just be sure to save the document, and then send it as an attachment to your ticket or email.

This straightforward method will make it much easier for you to get help when you need it, and explain yourself in situations when words alone simply can't do the job.