Looking for a screen capture program...

The_LED_Museum · Sep 3, 2006

I need a program or application that will work in Windows XP and allow me to take screen dumps (yes, that's what they're called) of a DOS application. Using the PrtScrn key works for some, but not all - and not the one I need it to work on.

What I want to take screen dumps of is the screen images output by the program FREEVIEW.EXE, which is a DOS program designed to display RIP (Remote Imaging Protocol) images generated by RIPscript. This graphic mode (EGA, 640x400x16) was used on bulletin board systems, including Paul's Waka Waka BBS, and I want some of these screen dumps to display on his memorial page. I can easily save them in .GIF format to make them web friendly.

Any ideas here people?

gregw · Sep 3, 2006

Screenhunter Free works for a DOS/Command window, and it's FREE.

The_LED_Museum · Sep 3, 2006

Thank you, but I tried it, and it does not do the job. Apparently, it does not function properly when you're shelled out to DOS and attempt to take a screen dump.

It usually aborts the DOS window immediately upon pressing the hot key, and there's either nothing on the clipboard at all or a black screen is present. And it causes the computer to malfunction and require a cold start.

Any other suggestions?

scooter · Sep 3, 2006

Craig, here is a list of free screen capture programs

Snapfiles.com - Screen Capture Freeware

I use Gadwin Print Screen, it will print or save the captures in the format of your choice. I must admit I have never tried it in full screen DOS mode. Am I correct that you are in full screen DOS for this project?

The other program in this list I have used with good success is MWSNAP.

Good luck in your search, I'll keep my eye open too.

scott

changsn · Sep 3, 2006

The folks at my office use 'Snagit'. I have never tried it, but it seems to work well from what I am told.

Sam

The_LED_Museum · Sep 3, 2006

scooter said:
Craig, here is a list of free screen capture programs

Snapfiles.com - Screen Capture Freeware

I use Gadwin Print Screen, it will print or save the captures in the format of your choice. I must admit I have never tried it in full screen DOS mode. Am I correct that you are in full screen DOS for this project?

The other program in this list I have used with good success is MWSNAP.

Good luck in your search, I'll keep my eye open too.

scott

I tried most of the programs on this web page, and had success with none of them, including MWSNAP.

Yes, the application I'm using causes DOS to run in full-screen mode.
I know screen capture from DOS works fine in Windows 98, but not in Windows XP. :shakehead:

Northern Lights · Sep 3, 2006

http://www.irfanview.com/
Freeware that handles almost all types of media files.
Screenshot handles command lines and portions, windows, foregrounds, backgrounds appears to have a lot of addressability. Hope it works for you. I haven't tried it in your type of application however.

The_LED_Museum · Sep 3, 2006

I already have Irfanview - I've had it for years now.
The only thing is that FREEVIEW.EXE forces DOS to full-screen mode, which apparently (in Windows XP) also disables the PrtScrn key. :shakehead:

jwl · Sep 3, 2006

Another vote for SnagIt. I have used SnagIt 8 and it works great for capturing what is going on on either the entire screen or a window. You can do still image, text, video or web captures. I don't think its free, IT guys loaded it on my company laptop. I'd say it is worth a look.

The_LED_Museum · Sep 3, 2006

I tried SnagIt...no workie either.

gregw · Sep 4, 2006

I think you're out of luck... I just ran across this page, which states: "Note: It is not possible to capture graphics from full DOS screens under Windows XP. Since this is a limitation of the operating system itself, no screen capture software can get around it." :ohgeez:

I think you'll need to find an older PC with Windows 98 on it to capture the graphics from freeview...

jtr1962 · Sep 4, 2006

I think you need to use the brute force method here-take a picture of your monitor with a digicam, and simply crop the area of interest in the photo editor of your choice. When all else fails this always works.

The_LED_Museum · Sep 4, 2006

You know, this isn't a bad idea at all!!! :thumbsup:
Sure, it will not be like "the real thing" but it will be better than nothing at all!!!

scooter · Sep 4, 2006

Craig, I have MS VirtualPC setup on my computer at work. Tuesday I will test whether I can run freeview.exe to display a graphic in the virtual machine. The virtual machine runs in a window, so if the graphic displays I can then capture the window from the real computer session.

If it all works like I think it should, I will let you know and you can email the files for me to capture. Post here if you find a better way.

scott

The_LED_Museum · Sep 4, 2006

This was Waka Waka BBS' door games menu screen.

The_LED_Museum · Sep 4, 2006

borax · Sep 4, 2006

Have you tried HyperSnap? An oldie but might work...If you can find it

scooter · Sep 4, 2006

The_LED_Museum said:
Hi Scott,

These are not graphics files; they're what's known as RIPScript files, requiring a DOS program called FREEVIEW.EXE to view as graphics.

Understood Craig, I downloaded Freeview and played with it for a bit. The real question is whether it will run in a virtual machine. If it does, I can display the RIP files in the virtual machine and then use an ordinary screen capture pgm to capture the VM window.

I have several examples of RIP files that were included with Freeview download (plus the one you posted), it will only take me a couple minutes to try it out at the office tomorrow. I'll let you know what happens.

The_LED_Museum · Sep 4, 2006

I used the "brute force" method of taking ohotographs of my computer monitor and added the pictures to Paul's memorial web page; but they *CAN* be better.
Let me know if screen capture works, and I'll zip up the .RIP files and be sure you receive them.

:thumbsup:

leduk · Sep 5, 2006

Craig,

Here's a dos window (start, run "cmd" in XP home) editing a text file captured using Ifranview.

Settings:
Foreground window - Client area
HotKey CTRL-F11
include mouse
Save file to "blah blah blah" directory. (temp)

Click "start" then click on your DOS window and hit the hot key.

If it works for DOS???
Sorry if you've tried it already.

Cheers

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