print screen

[Dallas]

for whatever, arbitrary reason, the print screen button no longer works -
any reason why ? how do i restore it ?

thanks

 

[Xandros]

What did it used to do for you?

 

[Dallas]

Don, thanks but it always worked on it's own & all of a sudden, it doesn't &
I'd like to know why & can I restore the key somehow ?

 

[Dallas]

it captured images, such as windows that pop open errors that I can then
Post

 

[Xandros]

I understand that but what I was wondering was how did it work? For example
when you pressed the PrtScr key did it immediately pop open a window that
showed the captured image or did you have to open another program and paste
what was in the clipboard in order to see the capture?

 

[Dallas]

Sorry I misunderstood; yes, when I used to press it, the captured image was
caught within the Window for Saving - no other program or Pasting involved,
& now it does nothing.

Thanks

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Sorry I misunderstood; yes, when I used to press it, the captured image was
caught within the Window for Saving - no other program or Pasting involved,
& now it does nothing.

If that's what you meant, you are mistaken. What you say hasn't been
true since way back in DOS. It's never been true in Windows. When you
press the key, the image goes to the clipboard, and there's nothing to
see until you paste it somewhere.

Here's my standard post on the subject:

Back in the days of DOS, the PrtScn key used to print the screen. But
in all versions of Windows, this works differently, and the name of
the key is now an anachronism. PrtScrn captures the whole screen, and
Alt-PrtScrn captures the active window.

Either one captures the image to the Windows clipboard. Once it's in
the clipboard you can paste (Ctrl-V) it into any application that
supports graphics (Windows Paint, other graphics programs, even your
favorite word processor). You can edit or add to the image as you
wish, then print it.

This ability to manipulate the image in a program before printing it
is an improvement over the original DOS method of just printing it.
But if you'd like that old facility back, there are several
third-party freeware/shareware programs that can do this, such as
PrintKey2000 at
http://www.sharewarejunkies.com/00zwd2/printkey2000.htm

 

[Xandros]

Ah yes. Then you need third party software to do what you saw happening
before. I use PrintKey and it is great
http://www.webtree.ca/newlife/printkey_info.htm

Your Prt Scr Key is likely functioning fine, and it has to working in order
for it to work with the above app. You can test it by pressing the key then
opening a program like MSPaint and do a Paste (Ctrl-V).

 

[Dallas]

with all due respect ken, that is what was working for me up until a short
while ago; i'd see something to capture as i did in the other ng. & it would
appear right in front of me, where i could either save or cancel the image.

 

[Dallas]

will look into this xandros - thanks very much

 

[Dallas]

thanks a lot don!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

with all due respect ken, that is what was working for me up until a short
while ago; i'd see something to capture as i did in the other ng. & it would
appear right in front of me, where i could either save or cancel the image.

Well, OK if you say so. But once again, let me say that that's *not*
the way Windows works. If that's what you got, it was because you were
running some third-party software which is no longer running.

 

[Cottonmouth]

Well, OK if you say so. But once again, let me say that that's *not*
the way Windows works. If that's what you got, it was because you were
running some third-party software which is no longer running.

Excuse me for butting in, but here's what happens on my system.
By hitting <shift> PrintScreen,(since it's the uppercase) it takes a
picture(graphic)of my screen. I can then open my graphics program
(PaintShop)and hit <Ctrl> V and it displays the picture I took of my
screen. This is the way it's worked in all versions of Windows I've run.
Okay, that's my $.02 worth.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Excuse me for butting in, but here's what happens on my system.
By hitting <shift> PrintScreen,(since it's the uppercase) it takes a
picture(graphic)of my screen. I can then open my graphics program
(PaintShop)and hit <Ctrl> V and it displays the picture I took of my
screen. This is the way it's worked in all versions of Windows I've run.
Okay, that's my $.02 worth.

That's fine; as I said in an earlier message in this thread, it's the
standard way PrtScrn works whether you paste into PainstShop Pro or
any other graphics program. But that's not what Dallas says he used to
see. He said "i'd see something to capture as i did in the other ng. &
it would appear right in front of me."

Pressing PrtScrn does *not* cause an image to immediately appear in
front of you, and if that's what used to happen on his machine, it was
because he had some third-party program running that did that.

 

[Dallas]

Thanks to you both & since I have no reason to lie, that is exactly how it
worked for me. I used to use it a lot as Peter may or may not recall from
the other NG, but that's hot it worked & for it to arbitrarily not work, has
me confused. All I'm saying.

Thanks & if it no longer works that way & no way to restore it to how it
did for me, for 3 years, then I'll have to try the alternative methods.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks to you both & since I have no reason to lie, that is exactly how it
worked for me. I used to use it a lot as Peter may or may not recall from
the other NG, but that's hot it worked & for it to arbitrarily not work, has
me confused. All I'm saying.

Thanks & if it no longer works that way & no way to restore it to how it
did for me, for 3 years, then I'll have to try the alternative methods.

You're welcome. If you say that's the way it worked for you, I believe
you. But once again, it was because you had third-party software
running that did that, whether or not you realized you had the
software.

 

[Dallas]

So how do I find out what 3rd party S/W I had & why did it suddenly cease to
work ?

Thanks again

--
Dallas.....

Dell P 4, 3GHz, 512 MB DDR SDRAM, 160 GB, Win XP Home
16X DVD-ROM & ,6X DVD+/RW, IE7, OE6, DSL, via AT&T

Thanks to you both & since I have no reason to lie, that is exactly how
it
worked for me. I used to use it a lot as Peter may or may not recall from
the other NG, but that's hot it worked & for it to arbitrarily not work,
has
me confused. All I'm saying.

Thanks & if it no longer works that way & no way to restore it to how it
did for me, for 3 years, then I'll have to try the alternative methods.

You're welcome. If you say that's the way it worked for you, I believe
you. But once again, it was because you had third-party software
running that did that, whether or not you realized you had the
software.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

for whatever, arbitrary reason, the print screen button no longer
works - any reason why ? how do i restore it ?

What are you expecting?

The "Print Screen" button on a standard keyboard with a standard Windows
(9x, ME, 200x, XP and Vista...) installation merely copies the visible
screen to the clipboard - which you can then "paste" into various programs
like you could any other copy.

Are you stating that this is not working for you suddenly?
Or are you stating that it used to do something else and is not working in
*that* way for you suddenly?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

So how do I find out what 3rd party S/W I had & why did it suddenly
cease to work ?

Thanks again

Well - you would have installed it... There is know way of knowing what you
installed on your computer without investigating your computerand even
then - if this program is no longer installed/working - who knows if you
could find it then - meaning the only way to know would be to read your
memories somehow. ;-)

The possibilities are actually quite staggering.

I use SnagIt for Screen Captures - but it is not free.

 

[Dallas]

Thanks & I was expecting it to work, as I described, like it used to do, for
2-3 years