Thank you guys for pointing out that this version of Snap5 is indeed supported under W7 64bits. Apparently it is another build of version 5 than the one I tried out earlier.

@Eddie #66 Thanks for pointing out where Snap 5 can be closed. I should have though of that myself. Again, thanks Ashampoo & GAOTD for this great software.

#68, (Reality Check) Sorry to hear you are having these problems, Ashampoo "Outdated software is not really out dated its just the last version! If they give away the new version for free there would be no incentive to Buy there application? And they don't charge very much at all for there software! If you look at my post above? #67, I got a good Deal! (By receiving there news letters, Like, I never get more then 4, to 6 in a month!) I was able to take advantage of a "Bundle Deal" Where I got Snap 6, Slideshow Studio HD2, And Photo Optimizer 5! For only $12.99! But it sounds like you have a problem with your Account on Ashampoo? Did you register with them? Only takes a second and if the few E-Mails are a problem? You can turn them off and they DO NOT send you anything else except your registration Numbers if you get another application from them and GOTD? I don't even worry about getting the E-Mail with my Registration numbers! Because I just login to my Account on Ashampoo and go to the tab next to "My Account" is a Tab that says "My License Keys" and Every KEY for any and all software applications I have ever gotten for free or paid for is listed right there! and it has an option to download all of them in a "PDF" format and keep it with your archive ZIP Files of the applications you get and will get from Ashampoo? If you did not Register with Ashampoo I would suggest you do? Or? if your account is messed up and you can't get Logged In? Contact the service at Ashampoo? They have a very nice and polite support team and I'm very sure they will fix the problem for you ASAP? Make sure your using a Valid, working E-Mail account? Like I said I only get a very few E-Mails from them and its mostly about there new software, updates to existing software and Sales deals like the one I just got for being a member of GOTD and Ashampoo! I really don't know what #71 is talking about "SPAM" I Did get some Spam mail from them years ago when I first started with Ashampoo! and the first application I got from them through GOTD? But I just deleted them? and it was like 2 or 3 a week! Big Deal! just Delete Them? I just told them I didn't not Want There E-mails of useless information! They Quit the "Spam" Stuff not long after that! All I ever get now is a little news letter that has useful information and some very good deals for Users on a Budget etc. I know that feeling all to well at 61 and being disabled from a severe car accident on the job! But that's another story! (O: I hope you get your account setup or repaired at Ashampoo so you can take advantage of some great Applications and a very user friendly Company like Ashampoo? Even if you missed the FREE GOTD? Its only $9.95 Dollars to buy Snap Ver. 6!! So if you can use it and or you want some other programs they have some Supper "Bundle Deals" for GOTD Members! (o; I wish you all the success in what ever you decide to go with and do, Take care and always have fun! Rick D..

Sorry for double post. I should have put emphasis on the quality of dynamic help through the assistants. Many have complained about deficient help systems on previous giveaways. This one deserves kudos for it's integrated help system. It can be turned on or off with a click.

Installed on XP with no problems. Assistant was useful for a walk around. I have to do a lot of screen shots since as a guild gamer I share a lot of information. Interface is smooth. Quite happy.

Registration is too convoluted . Installed .I will maybe look at Snap 5 for 10 days, then uninstall. Then I will install an uncomplicated free one or wait for a more accommodating vendor on another GotD.

Grrrrrrrrrr...

SPAM' SPAM' SPAM' SPAM' SPAM......

Anyway, I think you get the message.
I did...

I own a couple of their programs (good, they are)but the constant, incessant flow of 'Great deals' e-mails is killing my appreciation of, not their products but the company.

BTW: Don't think that by 'Unsubscribing' will solve the spamming. Lost cause.

Been there, tried that... Pffff......... Abandoned trying.

Your call !!!

Good software! Worked on my windows 7 64bit without any problems.

I use Ubuntu. Everything that Snap 5 has is already built into the Ubuntu operating system. Plus it comes with a plethora of software, multi-monitor capabilities - advanced Firefox - kind of like Windows on steroids.

The best part is it's all free every single day.

Why do developers want to give away outdated versions of their products on GAOTD instead of their current software versions? Logically, it's the current version of software that should be evaluated, not an outdated older version.

How do you get the registration key if Ashampoo already has your email address & you already have an Ashampoo account?

When I put my email address in and click to get the key, I get this error message:
Your e-mail address is either invalid or cannot be accepted.
Please try again and/or use a different e-mail address.

Please note: You cannot send e-mails to the e-mail address under which you are logged in.

So how do you get the registration key if you already have an ashampoo account?

You sure shouldn't be required to give any more than ONE email address. It's bad enough to have to even submit ONE email address and make yourself vulnerable to ANY advertising spam.

Hi Everyone,
Well, I like everything about Ashampoo software and when I saw this Ashampoo Snap 5 on GOTD today for FREE! I had to get it! Its so much more than Print Screen! I don't know why some users would even compare the two? Its like Apples to Nuts! Anyway, I downloaded and installed on my PC, Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit and un-zipped the file and read the TXT file. Everything went flawless just like every other GOTD Software I have installed over the years! I never seem to understand that some users have so much trouble downloading and installing GOTD applications? If I was having that problem with Every Application I Downloaded from GOTD? I would suspect that any and everything they try to download and run must be causing a problem? If so? I would inquirer the Microsoft Online Help or one of the may other Online PC Help Services to see if someone could help me find the problem with my PC? I would suspect that its got something to do with a virus scanner or protection, Or, There Windows Firewall or Zone-alarm or what ever they are using? But I would look into getting it fixed? Or? They get it to download and then try to install it and it crashes there system or does Not work? With all the different PC's Lap-Tops etc, listed on here from users that have not had any problems? You would think that would tell you something? I'm a retired PC Desk-Top Support Tech from a Major Bank, and I know a lot has changed since I was doing this and I sure don't clam to know everything, But, It seems to me that the users that are having these problems? Have something Way Worse to worry about then an Application from GOTD? I know that Slamming will Begin! So go ahead! I can take it! But I get real tired of people Slamming the Applications, Company's and GOTD for a problem that is obviously on there end! I want to read these revues to see what users like "Ashraf’s" And a host of other very smart and capable users that post excellent revues on GOTD! That give myself and others a good Idea if the offering from GOTD is good, Fair, Or indifferent? An I enjoy there input very much. That being said and off my chest for a minute,

I tested Snap 5 for a few hours today and I found it had So many features and worked Very well indeed, As with Most All the Ashampoo software I have tried and used over the years that I decided to Buy IT! and get version 6, As it was on sale for 10 days to GOTD users for $9.95! So, That was off the full price of $19.95 and well worth it! Is not something I need everyday, But It is already coming in very handy for Facebook etc. That It does Videos too! Is just a Boniness! It works quiet and smooth, In the background ready for when ever you might need it. If having it running at Windows start-up is a problem, In the First Configuration Menu, Under General, The first BOX on the window in the upper left side is the BOX! You just un-check it and Snap 5 will NOT start every time Windows boots up! You will have to launch it when you want to use it! SO? With that fixed, (I'm Just on a roll today! Sorry) I'd Like to Address All the complaints and down right Panic! I read in the Revue section today About Ashampoo and the fact that they want your E-Mail Address to send you the registration and would like to send you a few E-Mails about there products and sales etc. Man! Come-on now! This sounds like Gripping just to Gripe! Really? Well, I got my First Ashampoo application I think back in 2010! I filled out the questionnaire and figured I would get some E-mails from them, and waited to see what they did! Over the years I have gotten no more then 4 to 6 E-mails in 30 Days! I delete 10 times that many E-Mails form my Spam folder Every DAY! And Everything they have sent me was more like a little news letter that showed there products and what deal could be had that week? If I did not need or want it? It only took 1/2 second to delete it! And! You can STOP the E-Mails at ANY Time! Just click "Do Not Send" at the bottom of every E-mail from Ashampoo! Or? Visit there WEB Site, Logon, In your setup Page just un-check the Box and they will NOT Send you anything! SO what's the panic? I'll tell you all that complained, What your missing? By not getting that little E-mail? At the start I said I was going to Buy the Snap 5 upgrade to Snap 6, Because it works so good and is very useful and for $9.95! Why not? Well, They Happened to send out an E-mail this week, I looked on there Site when I went to register the Snap 5 for Free! and YES! There it Was! The "Bundle Deal" I got Snap 6, Slideshow Studio HD2, And Photo Optimizer 5! For only $12.99!!!! Don't that Just beet all? Ashampoo creates some really Nice software and they keep all your registrations ON Line! If you ever loose your application? Like a HDD Dies? You just download the version you Got from Ashampoo's WEB Site, Or? If you archived the ZIP Files like I do?, You just reinstall it! They have all your Registration numbers in your personal area when you login to there WEB Site! And Its in a PDF File! So? All you have to do is Download it and keep it with your Archive ZIP Files and you can reinstall ANY of Shampoo's Software!, Even years latter! That's GOOD Service! They Really Care about there Clients and do there best to take care of you! Well?, If you want this deal? It was still available this afternoon when I got it! Just login, Go to "Service Letter Archives" and you will find a list of all there latest software! Just scroll down and you will see one with just text in the box! Click on the "View Here!" Button and your will see the text file for the "76% OFF Bundle" Cut and past the Link into your browser and BANG! Your there and just pay the $12.99 and you get all 3!! Also, They have there "Music Studio 4" on-sale for $5.99 instead of $29.99! Some Very Good Deals if your looking or Needing any of these Great Applications! and want the latest version and goodies etc.

The only other thing that has bugged me before! But really today? (Said I was on a roll!) Is the other users that complained about the SIZE of the Application File??? 21K-Bytes??? Did you read it right? that's 21 K-Bytes! OR? 20.4MEGA-Bytes!? NOT 21.4GIGA-Bytes!! By today's Standards the HDD's that come in that average PC or Lap-Top are 350-500 GAGA-Byte Drives! If your worried about a few K-Bytes? You need to be looking at a new HDD? Or? A second one? Or Deleting a Bunch of old Junk off the HDD you have! Well?, I'm finished now and I'll get off my Soap BOX, I'll be slammed all night! It's OK.. (o;

For Me? I would like to Thank Ashampoo, For Snap 5 and the rest of the great software I have gotten from you and Special Thanks to GOTD for making it possible for all of us to get Snap 5, and try for as long as we like! FOR FREE! I give Shampoo Snap 5 Two Thumbs UP! Thank You, Very much for making this possible and getting ME at least in touch with Ashampoo! One of the Best (In My Opinion!) Software Designers and creators of a Wide variety of Very Useful Applications Through GOTD for Free and through Shampoo at Such great! Prices! Thank You! Have a Wonderful Evening Everyone and a Great Weekend! Yahoo!!! Take Care, Have Fun! Rick D..

@robert 55 having problem closing snap 5 ,you need to right click on the green snap 5 icon in the systems tray( notification area near the clock)and exit application.
In case you cannot see it, right click on empty space, near clock, then ,
properties -
customise notification icons -
and tick box always show icons .

@phil 34
you can operate snap 5 , by right clicking that icon too , if the green box annoys you .
to turn off the box, go to configure -configuration - general and untick -show capture bar at screen border.

I appreciate your comments, Mike - keep up the good work!

I wish to thank mike #47 for his comment.

I have tried:
CamStudio lossless codec [CSCD]
Onepak Codec by Radius Inc.
DivX 6.8.5 Codec
Indeo codec by Intel
Indeo® video 5.10
Microsoft RLE Codec
Microsoft Video 1
Microsoft Windows Media Video 9 VCM
TechSmith Screen Capture Codec
Xvid MPEG-4 Video Codec
Huffyuv

I have experimented with many different video capture software. Too many to list here.

Used FFDshow - a DirectShow and VFW codec for decoding/encoding many video and audio formats.

Actually there is one that is better than SnagIt which I paid for.
It is Camtasia Studio. Both come from the same company TechSmith.

I love it!
I have been using a version of snap for 2 years or so and really use it a lot. I like the fact that you can capture anything you see on the screen. I think the border around it is classy. Thank you for the free update!

tried 2 times with 2 different emails never got a password back ;-(((

Ashraf, the caverly has arrived.

This comment is addressed to Jonathan's Tool Bar & Grill (post #20):
A clown is also a noun yet someone can be "clowning" around, a dog is a noun yet someone can be "dogging" it, a horse is a noun yet someone can be "horsing" around so why can't someone be "screenshotting"?

Or, is "around" the verb and "clowning" and "horsing" the adverb's describing around? Never could get that stuff straight. Maybe we should ask Vice-President Bidden because he seems to know all about that kind of stuff. Remember his comment about Juliani: about a noun, a verb, and 911?

"Jonathan's Tool Bar & Grill", don't take this comment seriously I'm just having some fun. By the way, I've been screenshotting this page and I'll probably go screenshotting this evening.

#47 MIKE

why don't you write a novel you seem to have time on your side

Thanks gaotd this is nice and a keep for me, best i have ever tried

I am truly grateful for GAOTD. Especially the members with their input, comments and suggestions. This is one of the best websites online.

However, in this case, it's absurd that Ashampoo pretends to maintain the fallacy that it wants our reviews and suggestions of improvements for their software, when SNAP5 has already undergone a complete upgrade... SNAP6.

Therefore, it is obvious that for Ashampoo this is a marketing ploy to get us to buy the software upgrade and to get our email addresses so they can bombard us with spam.

Its a shame, because several of our members invest invaluable time and effort to do a fine job submitting excellent opinions, reviews, and input to improve the development of the software.

Anyway, thanks for SNAP5, even though I've waited two hours to receive an activation email from Ashampoo's website and/or to receive a response to my request to correct the problem.

I prefer to use http://jingproject.com
Also free, but I did pay for it for use of other features. The option for a PAID membership has been discontinued now. So it is now 100% free with NO option to "upgrade"! Great tool and super simple to use.

I use a lot of Ashampoo software, and have upgraded (paid upgrades) Snap three times, currently have Snap 6. That is how much I like this program.

For those like me who find the "help" window popping up every time you open Snap, there is a "Do not show this window again" checkbox on the bottom right of the help window. Click it and you'll never be bothered with it again (unless your change it in Settings). It's a great feature for newbies, though. Oh, and just opt out if you don't like receiving their offers for upgrade or other products. They usually offer a pretty good price, and don't bother me, but it's easy to stop getting them. (The only thing I object to is that you have to pay for all upgrades, so for example, I have had to buy Snap three times now).

I've upgraded Windows OS several times since I started using this program and have never had a problem with compatibility.

http://www.ducklink.com/p/free-screen-capture-tool/ works for me. Captures scrolls, region, and windows. Multiple outputs (clipboard, print, file), allows hot-keys, notations,undo, and share features. It also has a very small window.

Thanks GAOTD and Ashampoo for Snap 5. A question, though: I prefer to start Snap when I need it and stop it when I'm done with it. Starting it is easy. But stopping Snap 5 seems to be a problem. With Snap 3 & Snap 4 I could click the gear-shaped 'config' icon and select 'file' and then 'exit.' But with Snap 5 I see no way to end the program once it is started. Am I overlooking it?

@42 sweiller
Have you opted out on the mails? They were (are?) offering the upgrade. In fact most of the emails people complain about are upgrade offers. In my case that means about 90 %.

This is a GREAT one! Thanks!

#45: "I have a suggestion for my fellow GotD users. I use a VMware virtual machine (VM) to download, install and test software from this site. If I really like the product, I install it into my host machine. This is rare, but it happens. Often, if I need to use one of these programs, I just use it from the VM, that way my Windows install stays fresh and fast. Once you do this, you may find you’re more inclined to try a broader range of software."

FWIW VirtualBox is free -- VMware is expensive & Microsoft's Virtual PC app only lets you use certain versions of Windows for the guest OS [the Windows install inside the VM]. The hard part is that unless you've got a version of win7 that includes the XP Mode VM, you have to tie up a separate Windows license to use as the Guest. Microsoft has changed their licensing regarding VMs, so if that sort of thing matters to you check out their latest before you decide you can [or can't] use your old XP license. That is BTW a decent way to go, as I've found very little difference between XP & win7/8 installs for 99% of the software I've tried. Do note: the virtual disk VMs are stored on doesn't backup very well with regular backup apps like Paragon's -- to backup/restore I just copy that file to another drive/partition, & always delete it from my system drive before a disk image backup. Note 2: be careful to maintain the same MAC address if you move or copy your Windows VM -- not the virtual disk file, but the files for the VM that are created when you create the VM -- it's not the only way to trigger re-activation, but many think it helps.

For a very friendly, simple yet flexible screenshot application, try GreenShot. It's free, but I actually paid a little money to them as I like it so much.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/greenshot/

At least Ashampoo didn't call this giveaway version a confusing "Snap 2013" like they have with naming some of their other software offered here. They kept the original name of "Snap 5" which is, as many have pointed out, one version behind. I bought the Snap 5 upgrade from a previous giveaway's Snap 4. I don't have a compelling reason to upgrade to 6, and already have this. It is my screenshot program of choice on my home computer. Definitely not as good as the paid SnagIt I use at work. But, I like it better than the freeware screenshot applications, and better than Windows 7 snipping tool. More skins would be nice.

GREAT PROGRAM. USE IT ALL THE TIME.

I've been using Snag It for so long, it's difficult to switch. Will give this a try. Thanks GOTD

#22: "For a screenshot software this program sure does use a lot of CPU power when recording video. Windows kept complaining that there was not enough CPU cycles to run Aero so it dropped to basic. Not a real biggy if I am doing a video review for a program. Should be more optimized for multi core processors."

Video is in a word: Complicated. In my experience Snap is not your problem. In case it helps anyone, here's some stuff to consider if everything doesn't go as you'd like when you try video capture...

Video gets stored via a codec [COder/DECoder] that translates all the pixels in the frame into color + lightness/darkness [luminance] data that's then put into that codec's storage scheme. And depending on the format, video frames may be processed further -- mpg2 for example looks ahead of the current frame, analyzing what changes, usually during the next 14 frames, & stores just that *change* data [often every 15th frame, the I frame, is a complete picture]. And there's more -- a good mpg2 encoder will also analyze the complexity of the picture along with the amount of movement [i.e. how much changes frame to frame], and then adjusts the amount of data stored accordingly, with more data discarded when you [hopefully] won't notice, so it can store more data when needed yet still maintain the overall bit rate you chose when you started recording/encoding. And mpg2 is one of the easier, faster codecs or video formats! Then of course all that data has to be written someplace, and the whole thing has to happen smoothly enough that the audio can be processed & stored or written along with it.

Video screen capture adds yet another dimension -- your PC/laptop has to do something to create the screen your capture software records -- if I'm recording the menu dropping down in an otherwise idle app, that's not a really big deal, but if I'm already using every available resource trying to maintain 60+ fps in a game, well that's another story entirely. :)

So, you should be able to [pretty accurately] predict the bottlenecks. Your PC/laptop should ideally be doing as little as possible so more resources are available for your video capture process. That very much includes other apps running in the background, since they not only use up resources, but they can help prevent the capture process from happening smoothly -- it's not uncommon to have a single interruption cause the audio to fall behind, then the capture app will try to store more in memory while it fights to catch up, then as it's working harder small errors will start to accumulate & it starts finding it can't write all this data fast enough, then you get a cascading failure that if you're lucky only means a few dropped frames. The smooth flow of data to your hard drive(s) is very often actually more important than anything else, matters more than the raw speed of any single component.

Next is the codec itself... it Has to be fast, & it Has to be efficient. Those qualities can be a bit rare -- Huffyuv is still popular, still often used, besides the fact it was written a surprisingly long time ago & never updated [December 22, 2003 -- http://www.videohelp.com/tools/HuffYUV ].

Your capture software itself has to be efficient & fast, but the codec's doing the most work, so it's more important. The best thing the capture software can do is tie into, let you use whatever codec you desire, & get out of the way. With analog video capture, e.g. recording from your VCR over a svhs or RCA cable, somehow tying the audio & video timing together is also important -- the speed of the audio &/or video recorded will often be changed *very slightly* to keep them synced. Now when it comes to leaving a codec alone to do its job, there's something else that comes into play -- other video related software you've installed.

In Windows lots of video stuff uses Direct X, particularly Direct Show. Video handling works by chaining together several DS [Direct Show] components or filters, e.g. 1 to open the file, one to split the audio & video, separate filters to decode each, often one or two more filters to alter the video's size &/or colorspace, additional filters to to render & display the video & play the audio etc. Here's where it gets confusing -- you might have several filters installed that **tell Windows** they do the same things... they may or may not actually do what they say, & they may or may not play nice with other DS filter's that are installed. And now the icky part -- whenever Windows sees certain types of files or data, whenever an app calls or uses certain files related to media handling, Windows can start trying to put together one of these DS filter chains, & if it fails it'll try another combo of DS filters, & as necessary another, & another etc. It doesn't necessarily close those filters that failed. Long story short you can have something causing problems that you'd think was far removed from your screen capture app & the codec you want to use. And yes [sadly] it does get worse... your graphics hardware may similarly get involved whenever it sees something video related, & its drivers may open or call all sorts of DS filters too, so the potential for problems only expands.

The best cure or solution for DS problems is prevention -- Be Extremely Careful about adding video-related software, & backup, backup, backup, before adding/updating video software &/or graphics drivers. Finding the source of problems once you have them is incredibly tedious [if possible], often trial & error, & may even mean re-installing Windows, starting over.

Last comes your hardware... If you're recording 1080p AVC then CPU horsepower & GPU assist can both be extremely important, but if you're recording std. 720 x 480 or 576 mjpeg or mpg2, they hardly matter anymore. The mp4-type formats [DivX, wmv, Real etc.] fall in between. It used to take a special drive to record video -- I remember spending a small fortune for a SCSI AV drive that I still have in a box somewhere as I could never bring myself to part with it... it made that big a dent in the budget. Today if you're going to try to record near lossless 1080p [or better] you're gonna need a Very fast, probably RAID drive setup, but otherwise you're probably OK. Depending on your capture format you may need a lot of space, it shouldn't be terribly fragmented, & it's always best if the capture drive isn't the same one with Windows on it. You may also need to deal with audio hardware related DRM -- some audio hardware is pretty restrictive when it comes to recording. You may be able to find an easy solution [Google], or you may need a sound card or external hardware.

Has anyone tested this on a multiple monitor setup? I've had trouble recording video with Camstudio.

SPAM...it wants your e-mail address to pay for it. Please change this site to "spamawayoftheday". NO THANKS

Shotty works best for me. Simple features, web-linking... and FREE

To Ashampoo GmbH & Co

Please offer upgrade prices (to next versions) for payed snap5 users !
I own Snap5 after having liked the GOTD and would like to migrate to Snap6 ...

Ashraf, your listed CONS aren't really CONS
if something can be changed what is starting up at system start is not really a bad thing. And with the screenshots or videos recorded it only makes sense to show you immediately the recording or screenshot. I think it's well thought out to do it that way. At work I use it on our Windows machines to create video tutorials. I can't comment on Ashampoo Snap 6 though, but version 5 is a remarkably easy to use screen recording software. I wish I could have it for on the Mac.

The focus of Snap 3, 4, 5, 6, is on editing &/or marking up your still image screenshots once you take them -- after all, there's not much to taking the average screenshot, & little opportunity for any one app or developer to out-perform any other unless you get into those extra markup type features. Where Snap really outperforms most of the competition is if/when you want to capture video. It's not perfect, and it doesn't match Camtasia Studio, but its also a tiny fraction of Camtasia Studio's $299 asking price. Snap lets you use a video codec you've already installed -- pair it with x264 VFW [ http://www.videohelp.com/tools/x264-VFW ] & you've got something that'll record 1080p HD -- pair it with something like PicVideo's mjpeg codec & your std. sized video will be both great quality & Very editable. And if you're patient, Ashampoo will get around to sending you an offer where you can upgrade to the latest version of Snap for close to 1/2 price, perhaps even cheaper.

That said, Ashampoo designs software to be very easy to use -- they try so hard to make it easy that it annoys me frankly, as I know what I want to do & just wish the app would please just get out of my way. Your mileage will vary in that regard, depending on what you like & dislike, but for the price I paid I'm willing enough to put up with it when it comes to Snap, having bought the last 3 versions.

Otherwise I like a fairly tiny app called Greenshot [getgreenshot.org] for plain vanilla screen caps. Like lots of other screen cap software it's got the basic editing/markup features too, but I've got real image editors & layout apps & Greenshot will obligingly send screen caps there using its External Command Plugin. It's a nice open source app.

When it comes to capturing/recording video, difficulty corresponds with the frame size you're capturing. If you're trying to do DVD frame sizes & smaller it's not that bad, and your chief technical concern may be making sure you can save your video in a format that's easy to edit & that won't lose all sorts of quality when you do edit. I've found several apps & methods that do OK, until I want to work with the captured video. For a quick, one-off recording you might not want to bother with any editing or converting etc., but if you do screen recordings with any regularity, &/or you put a bit of work into it, there's a very good chance you'll want to polish it up a bit, perhaps add a watermark... there's an incredible amount of video out there competing for attention [ http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics -- "72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute"], & the best stuff gets copied.

If you're trying to capture HD you've got to work around DRM issues built into win7 & your PC/laptop, you've got to deal with writing/storing huge amounts of data, and you've often got to deal with a very significant amount of your PC or laptop resources already being used -- external boxes are once again becoming more popular. Now HD tutorials may be overkill, but recording HD isn't the sole province of gamers & movie/TV fans either -- if you start out with HD & render edited video to standard frame sizes it'll most always look better than if you captured your video at that final frame size... it's no different than using a 10+ megapixel camera because the smaller prints you make look so much better. If you decide to work through all the difficulties & hassles, you may well find it worth it.

Already have this.

But mostly use SnagIt - the King.
Also use ABBYY Screenshot Reader and PicPick.

Ashampoo makes pretty decent software. However, the footprint of their software is very large.

How do you screen record with windows built in print screen? As far as I know, you can't. So that makes this a different (better) product. I will use to record tutorials. Installed fine.

Re: spam, I didn't see a box to uncheck during installation. Once it was installed and I got the email for the key, there was an option to complete your profile on their website. I suspect most people ignore it since it is not required. That was where I could uncheck the options to receive emails from them. If they send anyway, no big deal, I'll just add their domain to my spam filter. Problem solved.

IMO:

1. Love other Ashampoo products. Have had no problem with spam from this company. But if you worry about this, use the options in your free email program to auto-direct all their email into one folder. Read/delete at your leisure.

2. Free today for Snap 5 -- and only $7.99 to update to Snap 6 IF you like the product. Works for me!

3. This program has just what I've been looking for -- the ability to capture a scrolling window.

4. The ability to record audio from the computer or the mike with the screenshot? Wonderful!

5. Those of you who keep carping about the wonders of PrtSc or Snipping Tool: see #3 & #4 above.

6. Some computers/keyboards will NOT allow PrtScn to work.

7. I appreciate the comments from those of you who have tried this program and/or others and provide meaningful info about the good and bad features of these programs. You know who you are -- and I thank you!

8. But those of you who have tried none of the 3rd-party software -- in today's offering or any others -- the rest of us already know what tools are available in Microsoft OS's and are well aware of their usually minimal benefits and frustrating limitations. At least try the software offered before lecturing the rest of us about the wonders of Windows!

9. Thanks, Ashampoo. And thanks again, GAOTD! I don't have time to try or use all the software you provide, but I do have all my Computer Science college students check the giveaway AND the comments every day.

Nr 5, I agree. I purchased Novastor back in December, in 2 weeks, I started getting the 'an update is available" popup. The update is a new version and the upgrade cost more than the orig program. As good as NS is, I won't be recommending it for that reason. With that said..

I started out with snap 4. Then purchased Ashampoo Snap 5. I love it. I was in school at the time and it came in VERY HANDY during test time taking screen shots and recordings of my labs (was working with Linux server (in a virtual setting), MS Server and Exchange server to name a few. Though Ashraf mentioned it’s annoying to have a program default to run each time windows starts, if I recall, I was able to turn that off during the setup process but it is an option in the configuration settings. The program works well and was worth the money. Oh, and if I recall right, I once used the printkey2000 program that started every time you booted your PC so Ashampoo doesn’t own the market on that feature.

Its annoying as hell though. You keep catching the green line and the box opens up AGAIN AND AGAIN I ended up closing it and will probably uninstall

Being highly averse to any "Spam policy" I'll stick with my daily used open source screen capture util and use other programs for vids.
"Cropper" (size 439kB) from http://cropper.codeplex.com/

@Ralph Bressler / @#5
Gonna have to call you out on this: Ashampoo has easy and effective controls for email/spam. You can use them. I know you can. Go ahead. OK.

Thanks Ashampoo & GAOTD.

I bought Ashampoo Snap6 to use with an outdoor IP wireless camera (security) and the software worked much better than the freebies I tried. I like its simplicity, it gets the job done and it doesn't use up the hard drive space like the others did. I'm now considering using it for video tutorial purposes. Is it perfect? No. But it is worth the $8 to upgrade from the free Ashampoo Snap5 to Ashampoo Snap6 (today only I believe) if you what to capture what's on your monitor.

For simple capture and editing of screenshots, just hit the PrintScreen key (for the entire screen) or Alt-PrtScr (for just the current window).

Then paste it (Ctrl-V) into Irfanview, a powerful freeware graphics editor.

Wonderful program. I got a free version 5 a while ago and being so pleased with the program, I bought the version 6, more to thank Ashampoo than for need. Also, recording video with sound, otherwise impossible to record, works perfectly. The help is wonderful and you can do everything in a minute. 1000 thanks to Giovanni again for his wonderful work. And thanks to Ashraf also. Without them, this site would lose 75% of its interest.

todays offer via giveaway of the day won't activate. snap5 8th feb 2013 the button to request full version key doesn't work after reinstalling uninstaling many times
har dor

Fancy interface, but there are better alternatives. One cood contender is Screenpresso.
And as a comment to Ashraf I think a screensnatcher is very welcomed to autostart, if you use it often. The thing is - you want it ready when you need it. How boring it would be to start it up every time you need it.