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Thread ID: 114241 2010-11-23 22:05:00 'Print Screen' issue Billy T (70) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1156008 2010-11-23 22:05:00 Hi Team

For years I have been using 'Print Screen' to capture the image from a DOS instrument program that can't export images in any usable form.

Today I tried for the first time on my new computer and it simply doesn't work with this program, yet the Print Screen key function works ok for any other data I put up on screen.

I have noticed that when I copy data out of Metapad (Notepad on steroids) it tells me that clipboard can't open, but it still actually works just the same. I figured that was just a glitch in Metapad, but maybe the cause of my current issue lis associated with this in some way?

Any ideas? If there is another program I can download to capture the screen instead I'll be keen to try it as I am on a very tight deadline to complete this job.

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
1156009 2010-11-23 22:22:00 Alt + PrtScn captures the currently active (foreground) window

Or if you're using Win7, click start and type "snip" and you should get the Snipping Tool.
Chilling_Silence (9)
1156010 2010-11-23 22:23:00 And if you still can't get it with the Win7 snipping tool, try FastStone Capture. inphinity (7274)
1156011 2010-11-23 22:24:00 But are you trying to do this in a command window or what? Snorkbox (15764)
1156012 2010-11-23 22:45:00 But are you trying to do this in a command window or what?

Yes, it is a DOS program so I am running in a command window under XP Pro, but it has worked for me for years under W2K and I just checked on my Libretto W95 mini notebook (only thing I have that I can use to download the instrument data ) and all is well there.

What is different about XP Pro? It is an interesting problem and I have a temporary work-around but I'd like to sort it as the w/a is slow and involves the use of floppy disks!

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
1156013 2010-11-24 04:10:00 Have you tried running it in a DOS Window?
(And assuming you have a shortcut to your DOS app....) If you set the properties / options in the shortcut to 'Window' instead of "Full Screen" then PrintScrn should work. It means you capture screen background as well but by adjusting the options for font and number of lines you can get a bigger window and less background.
I have used that to capture "DOS in a Window" screens to PaintShopPro where the surplus background can be trimmed away.
coldot (6847)
1156014 2010-11-24 04:16:00 Picture attached. coldot (6847)
1156015 2010-11-24 09:18:00 Okay. Here is a more complete explanation of the history and operating circumstances:

The program is associated with a rather expensive scientific instrument and is running in a DOS window in XP, under exactly the same conditions as it ran/runs in W95 W98 and W2K. The program was originally written for a pre-Windows DOS system, it is very simple, and it operates from a single exe file. There is a *.cus and *.met file as well, but all are original and haven't changed since I started in DOS mid '90s then progressively moved to WFWG 3.11, W95, W98, Wk2 and now XP Pro.

As I upgrade or add computers, I make a new folder, name it and copy the files across, set up a desktop shortcut to the EXE file, set the shortcut parameters for full screen and that's it.

Print-Screen became necessary after 2000 because the program was not Y2K or long file name compatible and the manufacturer has no plans to make it so, consequently it lives in a time-warp where it is always 1999 and among some other important presentation reasons, I also have to use print-screen so that I can make the date appear correct via some copy and paste chicanery.

I am assuming that any DOS program called from a Windows shortcut is actually running in a DOS Command Window opened via that shortcut, but if that is incorrect then in fact I have no idea how it opens in Windows, all I know is that the shortcut parameters I have used are identical for all my previous versions of Windows and it is only under XP that I cannot use print screen.

I am wondering if there is any link between this problem and the Clipboard issue I mentioned in my first post, but that only appears when using Metapad. The clipboard problem is a very recent development but does predate my awareness of the present problem. I'm not quite sure how to attack the clipboard issue though, as I have no idea where its roots lie in Windows. Metapad is another single exe program so it is easy to replace it with another copy but somehow I feel the problem is in Windows and despite the warning, the 'clipboard' still works normally for text files!

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
1156016 2010-11-24 09:46:00 So what happens when you do Alt + PrtScn and then past it into Paint?
What about the Snipping tool?
Chilling_Silence (9)
1156017 2010-11-24 10:03:00 no snipping tool for XP :p SoniKalien (792)
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