Taking a screenshot

Sometimes you might have a problem where it's hard to explain what's going on and for someone to see your screen will help greatly.  In this case it would be ideal to take a screenshot and then send it to the person.

Depending on the software you're using the steps for doing this are as follows:

1. Get the screen ready to take a screenshot - close any personal information e.g. internet banking etc.
2. Press the Print Screen button on your keyboard - this is normally near the top right of your keyboard above the Insert key and is sometimes abbreviated to "PrtSc".  When you press it nothing will appear to happen, but a copy of everything you see on your screen has been put on the clipboard (don't worry if you don't know what this means, the rest should just work).
3. Open your word processing program, e.g. Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works or Open Office.  On a blank page, go to the Edit menu and choose Paste.  You should now see a copy of your screen appear in your document.
4. Now, go the the File menu and choose Save.  Save this document somewhere, e.g. in My Documents or on your Desktop.  When naming the file, we recommend that you include the date in the filename, e.g. "Screenshot 26th July 2009.doc" for easy reference.  You can now close your word processor.
5. Now, open your email program and send an email to the person you want to send the screenshot to.  Attach the file you have saved in step 4.

If the above doesn't work for you, consider taking a photo of your screen with a digital camera.  Make sure you turn the flash off and set your camera to macro mode.  Don't move the camera too close to the screen.

There are real time alternatives to the above where someone can see what is happening on your screen and guide you and even take control (with your consent) but these take a bit of time to set up.