How to "Snip" Your Computer Screen (aka "Capture a Screen Shot") for Windows XP

I'm not a computer whiz in any sense of the word, but I'm not a computer dummy either.

The computer I mostly use is a Netbook with Windows XP. While I was working with my former job, I got a work computer that used Windows 7. One of the AWESOME things about Windows 7 was this little pair of scissors at the bottom of the screen, which, when clicked, would let me "snip" any part of the screen on my computer. Genius!

Now, I've been trying to figure out how to do the same thing on my netbook. Windows XP doesn't have a fun little "Snip-It" scissor like its big brother, Windows 7. So, I did some looking up online, and here's the best FREE way to capture a screen shot without having to download anything extra on your computer!

Here's how ya do it:

• First, go to the open window you want to get a shot of.  (Make sure it's on top)
• Then, look for the button on your computer keyboard that says "Prnt Scrn" (mine is part of the F10 button at the top of the keyboard, but yours might be different.)
• Hold down the Alt key, then hit the Prnt Scrn key (again, mine is F10)
• That will "COPY" the screen of your computer onto your computer's clipboard. You won't SEE anything different on your computer at this point.
• Open the application Paint on your computer (I believe EVERY Windows computer comes with it)
• Click the "Edit" button, then click the "Paste" button below that.
• Voila! You should see your screen in the Paint window! From there, you can:
• Save by going to "Save" (or "Save as") under "File" at the top of the Paint screen.
• Print by going to "Print" under "File" at the top of the Paint screen
• Manipulate/change the image by cutting, pasting, deleting sections you don't want, etc by using the editing icons to the left of the page.
• And that's that! Hope that helps!