Database Users

HOW-TO Windows 8 Screen Capture

Help, please.
What is the *best* way to get a Windows 8 screen shot?
Surprisingly I am currently using a Virtual Machine (VM) and I cannot find an obvious way to screen capture. Duh?
Suggestions:
(1) I do not assume any VM software, so the best method should be available directly in the OS.
(2) Must be free, e.g. if it can be done via Visual Studio debugger/emulator it must still be free like VS Express.
(3) Method should work with keystrokes, touch gestures, button, etc., that are available on any hardware or Virtual Machine platform.
(4) Ability to capture both Windows Desktop and Metro screens required.
(5) Ability to capture sub-full-screens optional.
There may eventually be many ways, so everyone's suggestions welcome.

clipping tool
u can use the snipping or clipping tool (i forget what its called)
point ur mouse in the bottom left corner untill a little menu comes up with the time....then click search.....in the search box, just type "snipping tool" and click on apps

Or, you could press print screen and paste the screen capture into any random program that takes photos.. paint is one.

ok, i got tested snagit in Windows 8 and it worked nice since it has shortcuts and such. of course i thought like the easier thing was printscreen.
but i tested some other screen capture, since you want a free one and i found Greenshot
http://getgreenshot.org/
open source, with good features like Windows capture, and region and obviously full screen, also capture last region, so you can capture the same region over and over, and a big plus its it has an editor! so you can add stuff to the image if you want without going to another software . it worked good, of course its not as deep as snagit, but it worked great, looked great, with desktop and metro UI.
hmm if you are gonna grab a region in metro UI you have to press for example screenprint and then go to desktop and then you select which part you want to grab. it happens with snagit as well.
if you are going to use Windows capture you have to be in the window. it will grab it automatically you dont choose it. (well in my mini test) ok i found an interactive Windows capture mode in settings, besides how to disable capture mousepointer. but interactive Windows capture didn't work well for me
maybe it can work for you! it was the only with editor and free. i could find.

Another way for screenshots, put your mouse in bottom left corner and a menu appears and click share. Then there's a take a screenshot button at far right.
Sent from my GT-S5660 using xda premium

Plays2 said:
u can use the snipping or clipping tool (i forget what its called)
point ur mouse in the bottom left corner untill a little menu comes up with the time....then click search.....in the search box, just type "snipping tool" and click on apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
START -> type "snip" and launch Snipping tool.
Its built in. No need for other software.
Alternatively, you can use Print Screen (for the whole screen), or ALT + Print Screen for the active dialog/window
Enjoy.

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/snipping-tool-capture-screenshots-windows-8-tips

shortcut to Metro IE

Hi,
I just instapp Win 8 cp on my Dell Latitude XT, and it seems to work pretty well.
A stupid thing I did - I removed the tile in the start screen for the immersive/metro IE, on the assumption that it would be easy to put it back, but I have no idea how to do that... Uninstalling ("turn windows features on/off") and reinstalling IE didn't help.
Any tips... ?
Thanks!

Try putting your mouse in the upper right hand corner of your screen to access the hidden sidebar. Click the search icon to access your total apps list. You should see the IE icon. Right click it to bring up your action bar at the bottom of the screen. You can repin the app to the start menu from there.
Hope that helps!
GL HF

Nope, doesn't show up there. I deleted the tile from the start screen, so then it shouldn't show up there, should it? Accessing searching through applications like this, it isn't different from just typing on the start screen, is it? I have icon there that I created later for the desktop IE, but none for Metro IE (immersive). I do have Firefox as my default browser though, that might complicate things...

Just set IE as default browser and Metro IE will be back.
You can set default program for webpage as the Firefox in "Set Default Program" (by click "Choose defaults for this program" button)

Nope, that didn't work either...

Multitasking...where??

I am sure you have seen this cool multitasking feature everywhere. The left pane has one app and the rest of the screen has another.
Now i can see the pane on the left, but it is of all the apps that are open. One app doesnt stay on whilst the other is going on on the rest of the screen...
I am x64 Windows 8 Enterprise N edition.
Any help>??
Also, just a side question...is Windows 8 by default a touch enabled OS? Like if I get a touch-monitor tomorrow, will the same OS respond as smoothly as they show in commercials??
Thanx!

Your resolution needs to be higher than 1360x768 for snap to work.
And yes, if you connect a touch monitor and Windows has the correct drivers, it'll give you gestures and stuff.

If you have one app (or the desktop) open and pull out the pane with all open apps on the left, then you can drag one app out of this list to each side of the screen (left or right).
Yes, touch will work out of the box if a touch-enabled device is connected.

SilverHedgehog said:
Your resolution needs to be higher than 1360x768 for snap to work.
And yes, if you connect a touch monitor and Windows has the correct drivers, it'll give you gestures and stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently it is 1024x768. SO Snap wont work for me...right??

hanswurst24 said:
If you have one app (or the desktop) open and pull out the pane with all open apps on the left, then you can drag one app out of this list to each side of the screen (left or right).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope...doesnt work...
The app maximizes and the background app goes behind and the pulled app takes precedence...

Nope you don't have enough resolution for snap to work. When you upgraded the upgrade assistant told you that snap apps won't work when you upgrade.

How-To disable metro app switcher

If you don't use metro, there is the annoying metro app switcher (Win + tab) on the left side of the screen which shows up whenever you take the mouse to the top left corner. I have often accidently dragged in a metro app when i was trying to drag the corner window and in the same manner, I've found a fix.
To close that switcher for the current session (comes back after log off/log in or restart), right click in the top left corner and then click on close and whoosh, one less crap to deal with.
The normal switcher (alt + tab) still works great even with the metro apps if you're forced to use any.

Or you can permanently disable it from the right bar: settings/computer settings/common. The first slider from the menu is for automatic summer/winter time and the second for disabling the metro stuff. My system is not in english so I'm not sure if names are correct.

In US English, it's in Settings -> Change PC Settings (at the bottom) -> General, under a category called App Switching.

Rick_1995 said:
If you don't use metro, there is the annoying metro app switcher (Win + tab) on the left side of the screen which shows up whenever you take the mouse to the top left corner. I have often accidently dragged in a metro app when i was trying to drag the corner window and in the same manner, I've found a fix.
To close that switcher for the current session (comes back after log off/log in or restart), right click in the top left corner and then click on close and whoosh, one less crap to deal with.
The normal switcher (alt + tab) still works great even with the metro apps if you're forced to use any.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually you just described closing the most recently used app; if you haven't started any apps, nothing should pop up after login/restart.

Most important app! Dock4Droid

After using the Fire TV for a while I figured I would share my most inportant app. Its an app that I never really cared about using on other devices, but could not live without it on the Fire TV. Dock4Droid is awesome on the fire TV. Not only does it make multitasking funtional, but it gives you the ability to uninstall apps from anywhere. If you have an app open, just click the gear and the app info will popup and let you uninstall it. So you can uninstall several apps withing seconds without having to go all the to the actuall setting menu. If you have the app store apk that shows all your apps on the home screen you can simply open the app, hit the gear, delete the app, delete cache/data, and move on to another app. You can keep apps and shortcuts permanantly on the dock, so if you wanna do a fast reboot from anywhere, you can. It makes using multiple apps super fast. I have mine set to open apps with two finger so all I have to do is just put the cursor near the app and let go of the mouse button and it opens. I do not use the dock background, cause it looks horrible, but the color mist background looks great, and can be set to any color. The only problem is that it causes an artifact along the top and left side when the cusor passes over, but I have found that all apps that can be opened from an activation area do the same on the fire TV. Sidebar, Fancy Switcher etc all cause the same square artifact. Anyway, just thought I would share incase someone was looking for something to make their Fire TV a little easier to navigate through. Feel free to share other apps that are important to use on the Fire TV. No games or entertainment apps, just apps that make using the Fire TV easier or better.

porkenhimer said:
After using the Fire TV for a while I figured I would share my most inportant app. Its an app that I never really cared about using on other devices, but could not live without it on the Fire TV. Dock4Droid is awesome on the fire TV. Not only does it make multitasking funtional, but it gives you the ability to uninstall apps from anywhere. If you have an app open, just click the gear and the app info will popup and let you uninstall it. So you can uninstall several apps withing seconds without having to go all the to the actuall setting menu. If you have the app store apk that shows all your apps on the home screen you can simply open the app, hit the gear, delete the app, delete cache/data, and move on to another app. You can keep apps and shortcuts permanantly on the dock, so if you wanna do a fast reboot from anywhere, you can. It makes using multiple apps super fast. I have mine set to open apps with two finger so all I have to do is just put the cursor near the app and let go of the mouse button and it opens. I do not use the dock background, cause it looks horrible, but the color mist background looks great, and can be set to any color. The only problem is that it causes an artifact along the top and left side when the cusor passes over, but I have found that all apps that can be opened from an activation area do the same on the fire TV. Sidebar, Fancy Switcher etc all cause the same square artifact. Anyway, just thought I would share incase someone was looking for something to make their Fire TV a little easier to navigate through. Feel free to share other apps that are important to use on the Fire TV. No games or entertainment apps, just apps that make using the Fire TV easier or better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice find, porkenhimer. What are you using for a mouse? I own Dock4Droid, used it on my Samsung tablet for quite a while.
Would it work on the Fire stick?
Thanks.

I am actually using an offbrand keyboard with touchpad that I got new on ebay for around $5. To be honest this cheap ugly keyboard/touchpad has worked better than anything else I have used on the fire TV. This $5 keyboard has more features and runs better than my $50 dollar keyboard. Not bad for a cheap chinese made keyboard. I use it exclusively for the Fire TV now and it combined with Dock4Droid make my Fire TV amazing. I rarely use the remote unless I am using Kodi. With Dock4Droid I can just go from app to app without ever needing to go to the homescreen too ofton. Plus I can force close apps from anywhere with Dock4Droid, so if an app is acting up there is no need to go all the way to the manage apps screen I can just close it instantly with Dock4Droid. I can be watching something in Kodi and need to look something up on google, I just popup Dock4Droid and open the browser while Kodi still plays in the baackgroud for me to listen, which is nice., cause I do not have to use the home button. I am pretty sure it will work on the stick too.

porkenhimer said:
I am actually using an offbrand keyboard with touchpad that I got new on ebay for around $5. To be honest this cheap ugly keyboard/touchpad has worked better than anything else I have used on the fire TV. This $5 keyboard has more features and runs better than my $50 dollar keyboard. Not bad for a cheap chinese made keyboard. I use it exclusively for the Fire TV now and it combined with Dock4Droid make my Fire TV amazing. I rarely use the remote unless I am using Kodi. With Dock4Droid I can just go from app to app without ever needing to go to the homescreen too ofton. Plus I can force close apps from anywhere with Dock4Droid, so if an app is acting up there is no need to go all the way to the manage apps screen I can just close it instantly with Dock4Droid. I can be watching something in Kodi and need to look something up on google, I just popup Dock4Droid and open the browser while Kodi still plays in the baackgroud for me to listen, which is nice., cause I do not have to use the home button. I am pretty sure it will work on the stick too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, porkenhimer, I really appreciate it.

I can't figure out how to get to the configuration options. I'm only able to get to the screen to turn it on and off.

Just go to manage all apps and open Dock4Droid.

I can open it but there is only around 4 options. I can't find any of the configuration options as shown in the YouTube video. There's a part at the bottom that shows Launchers, but it's empty.

Jedis said:
I can open it but there is only around 4 options. I can't find any of the configuration options as shown in the YouTube video. There's a part at the bottom that shows Launchers, but it's empty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check your inbox on here, cause I sent instructions to you.

I gave it a try. I guess if you are using a keyboard with mouse mode all the time it is handy. It would be more useful if the app bar would stay active after being clicked. I can only figure out how to select an item from the bar by keeping the mouse button pushed and scrolling around to highlight the app icon and letting go.
Unless I missed a setting somewhere ... I dont see how to be able to use the app without using both hands and multi-touch.

mscroggi said:
I gave it a try. I guess if you are using a keyboard with mouse mode all the time it is handy. It would be more useful if the app bar would stay active after being clicked. I can only figure out how to select an item from the bar by keeping the mouse button pushed and scrolling around to highlight the app icon and letting go.
Unless I missed a setting somewhere ... I dont see how to be able to use the app without using both hands and multi-touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have it set to open apps with a finger up swipe then all you have to do is put the cursor anywhere in the area of an app that shows the label and let go of the mouse button. You do not really need to do a finger up swipe to open apps, just put the cursor in any apps area and let go of the button. The app that shows a label will be the app that opens. Also to get the dock to stay on screen all you have to do is set it to open apps with one click or two clicks and when you activate Dock4Droid it willl stay up til you click once or twice on the app. Some other settings I have set is making the icons 12pix, cause the icons become sharper the smaller they are. I also have my activation area set to the bottom at 100% with the smallest width and invisible, cause that way it does not interfere with anything else on the screen. All I have to do is put my cursor in the bottom right corner and press the mouse and it activates.

porkenhimer said:
If you have it set to open apps with a finger up swipe then all you have to do is put the cursor anywhere in the area of an app that shows the label and let go of the mouse button. You do not really need to do a finger up swipe to open apps, just put the cursor in any apps area and let go of the button. The app that shows a label will be the app that opens. Also to get the dock to stay on screen all you have to do is set it to open apps with one click or two clicks and when you activate Dock4Droid it willl stay up til you click once or twice on the app. Some other settings I have set is making the icons 12pix, cause the icons become sharper the smaller they are. I also have my activation area set to the bottom at 100% with the smallest width and invisible, cause that way it does not interfere with anything else on the screen. All I have to do is put my cursor in the bottom right corner and press the mouse and it activates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm Are you running this on a stick? I finally got it to basicallly work.. I was never able to get the bar to show without clicking the mouse and moving the cursor at the same time. My issues had to do with which keyboard I was using .. There were a bunch of settings I could not get to. I could scroll down a poage.. but no further... doing alt->down would bounce me to the bottom page, but I was never able to get to the pages inbetween. My ipazzport has a <<<<>>>>> bar on the touchpad that would let me get to the settings between the top page and the bottom page.. I was able to get some things set and then go back to my other keyboard. My normal keyboard mini BT keyboard has mouse buttons on the left and right side.. which makes the multi touch thing fairly easy. I will play with it and see how I like it over time.. On the surface, I think maybe the firedtv app might be a better fit for me.. as I dont always use the keyboard.

Jacksmyname said:
Nice find, porkenhimer. What are you using for a mouse? I own Dock4Droid, used it on my Samsung tablet for quite a while.
Would it work on the Fire stick?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check out the FAVI Wireless Keyboard/Touchpad! This thing is great. I think someone posted a thread on it. Great reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/FAVI-FE02RF-BL-Wireless-Keyboard-SmartStick/dp/B0090BTY8Y

​
mscroggi said:
Hmm Are you running this on a stick? I finally got it to basicallly work.. I was never able to get the bar to show without clicking the mouse and moving the cursor at the same time. My issues had to do with which keyboard I was using .. There were a bunch of settings I could not get to. I could scroll down a poage.. but no further... doing alt->down would bounce me to the bottom page, but I was never able to get to the pages inbetween. My ipazzport has a <<<<>>>>> bar on the touchpad that would let me get to the settings between the top page and the bottom page.. I was able to get some things set and then go back to my other keyboard. My normal keyboard mini BT keyboard has mouse buttons on the left and right side.. which makes the multi touch thing fairly easy. I will play with it and see how I like it over time.. On the surface, I think maybe the firedtv app might be a better fit for me.. as I dont always use the keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you have to do is hold the mouse button down while moving your finger up or down on the touchpad to move from the bottom or top of the screen. Also, there is a setting to make apps open with one or two clicks, if you set them to open with one or two clicks then you only have to click the activation area and the dock will popup and stay up til you click an app once or twice.