There are times when it's necessary to capture what's on the screen of your computer.  Typically, tech support will ask you to capture your screen showing any error messages in Windows or the Windows applications used.

It's best to have a graphics program (like Photoshop or GIMP) to grab the screen capture.  However, if you don't have a graphics program you can also paste the screen capture in a Microsoft Word document or other program.

To capture your screen:

1. Hold down the SHIFT key and press the Prt Scr key.  This will capture the entire screen to your Clipboard.
2. Open the window where you will paste the screen capture (Photoshop, MS Word document, Outlook email message, etc.) and press CTRL + V to paste the screencapture.

If you only want to capture the current active window and not the entire screen, hold down the ALT key and press Prt Scr key.

This 'local' screen capture method might be sufficient for your needs, however online screen capture tools are now available which allow you to draw an area to capture, then either save it as an image file, or post it online for sharing.

For more information on this type of screen capture method, visit TechSmith and read about Jing.