Neat feature, didn’t even know about it.
Windows 7 has a tool to help techs troubleshoot user problems by allowing the end-user to record in screenshots the steps they take when running an application. This can be used for many other things as well, but I believe is intended for Problem resolution – hence the name Problem Steps Recorder.
To run PSR, click on the Start orb and type psr.
When launched there is a small control panel visible to the user. The user can click on Start record to begin recording the steps s/he takes that leads to an application error etc. PSR will take a screenshot with each mouse click.
To highlight and add a comment, the user can click the Add Comment while the recording is running.
As you can see, the user is able to highlight an area on the screen to precisely indicate where the problem is.
Once the Stop recording is clicked, the user is prompted where to save the file (a ZIP). From there, the user can right-click the ZIP and send-to the support analyst via email and so on.
The compressed file is a Microsoft HTML file that contains all the screenshots during the recording session as well as any comments from the user during a selection and even application information.
Very handy little tool.
Category: Windows 7
Outlook Signature and Stationery Folder in Windows 7
I always forget but I usually end up starting in the right place hunting down the signature local store on my computer for Outlook.
Start -> %appdata%
Navigate to MicrosoftSignatures or MicrosoftStationary
Full path: C:UsersrkreiderAppDataRoamingMicrosoftSignatures
Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool
It never ceases to amaze me at how much I still don’t know and how much cool stuff is out there application-wise.
I was wanting to create a bootable UFD for the Windows 8 Developer preview and needed to remind myself the commands to use via “diskpart”. Ended up Googling it and came across a tool that Microsoft actually made for doing this which is quite nice.
Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool
You can use this to create Windows 7 bootable USB drive and/or DVD (and use it to create Windows 8 bootable by pointing it to the Windows 8 Developer preview ISO).
I also had posted earlier on how to use diskpart to create a bootable UFD.
If you get the error The selected file is not a valid ISO file. Please Select a valid ISO file and try again when trying to use a custom ISO, check out Rafael’s blog from 2009 – he made a tool to fix this and explains what the problem is.