Ever done some troubleshooting on your computer? Yes? Then you understand how maddening it can be when you cannot share the results with someone savvier than yourself.
Ed Bott recently wrote a very helpful article regarding this problem and I found it very useful and I know that you will also.
Follow the steps below:
- If you have Windows 10 installed on your computer, you can open Task Manager and click the Performance tab, which will give you a great view of your computer’s overall performance
- Click each tab to see a graph of real time resource usage, memory, network adapters, storage devises, etc. Each tab also will show you details about your hardware, (i.e., driver version number for your graphics adapter and number of slots used by memory modules
- Now here is the biggie in his article – how to share all this helpful information with others! This was a real “duh” moment for me because the answer is: Use your Windows clipboard!
- Select a tab and press CTRL + C which will copy the most salient details from that tab to your Clipboard. Then you can paste your results into an e-mail or text with someone who can now assist you with your problem
- You can also use your trusty Clipboard to capture system details – Press Windows + R to open the Run box and then key in Msinfo32.exe into the open field. Press CTRL + A to highlight the contents of the System Summary tab and then press CTRL + C to copy the details
- Another great one is the Reliability Monitor, which records details of Windows events from successful installations to dire errors. Simply double-click any event and you will see its details. After that just copy and paste as you did above
Thank you to Ed Bott for all this very helpful information!
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Or, if you have only the basic installation with no email software, simply use your phone or tablet to take a photo of the screen showing each tab and send to that helpful person.
Or you could add a small FREE open source app for Windows that I have used for years not only to capture those pesky error messages, but sections of any screen when you wish to include in a message or document.
Greenshot is a light-weight screenshot software tool for Windows with the following key features:
• Quickly create screenshots of a selected region, window or fullscreen; you can even capture complete (scrolling) web pages from a browser.
• Easily annotate, highlight or obfuscate parts of the screenshot.
• Export the screenshot in various ways: save to file, send to printer, copy to clipboard, attach to email, insert into office programs or upload to photo sites like Flickr etc.
NOTE: Argh, this will be long.
When changing, editing, and installing programs, utilities, updates; I make an effort to log in these changes to my system. Initially, I always start w/a OneNote page by first *Dating and then *Detailing the problem. Next, I start *Jotting down the changes to be made and *Trouble-shooting details. I may use a multi-Clipboard utility, to *Copy different recommended fixes. My OneNote is wise enough to auto-insert links when I Copy/Paste with my ClipCache from multiple different sites. Both utilities also have enough smarts to auto-save content entered, even after a forced/unplanned restart during the changes being made. I also *Use a “traced installer” utility (Revo, IObit UnInstaller, etc.) , in case the attempted changes get botched and/or do not rectify the problem-at-hand. I further *Delineate any changes to the registry, in my OneNote (via my multi-clipboard ClipCache), in case the reg.edits do not particularly fix the problem or solve the issue. If the fix does not work, after the next reboot; I will attempt to *Undo the botched fix. I also use *SystemRestore and save my *Registry before I try any major root-canal work in my Windows10Pro.
A major SurveillanceVideo hardware (VidCam) maker’s own software has some serious “Windowing” issues with their installation package: When install is launched, the windowed procedure does not allow user to either make it full screen nor provide a horizontal scroll bar for the user to be able to scroll/accept EULA and proceed any further. 13 months ago, when they introduced a new firmware and an improved LiveViewer for their VidCams, it took me near 4 hours (to blindly) figure out the number of Tab/Arrows/Enter key sequences to finally install the program. Last month the same manufacturer did a revision to both VidCam fw/sw again, with the same exact “Windowing” problem as the last versions. No Sweat! For me it was a simple matter of referring back to my OneNote keystroke sequence list, I had transcribed and was able to install the latest version pronto. Amcrest TechSupport, as before, is telling me that “They are working the problem”… still!
Yes, I had “SHARED” how to blindly install their fw/sw in their forum’s site!