The miniature Snipping Tool window lets you choose one of four capture methods (hand-drawn, rectangle, active window, or full screen).

This is a convenient place to activate it, but you can also right-click any shortcut to the program, choose Properties, click in the 'Shortcut key' text box under the Shortcut tab, enter your chosen key combination (Ctrl-Alt-P is popular), and click OK. When you open the Snipping Tool, you're asked if you want to put a shortcut to the program on your Quick Launch toolbar. Check Tablet PC Optional Components to install Vista's Snipping Tool screen-capture utility. Check Tablet PC Optional Components, click OK, and close the Programs and Features applet. Click 'Turn Windows features on or off' in the left pane and click through the User Account Control dialog box, if necessary. If you can't find the program, press the Windows key, type programs and features, and press Enter to open the Programs and Features Control Panel applet. There's also a Snipping Tool shortcut under Accessories on the Start > All Programs menu. In Vista, you can open the utility by pressing the Windows key, typing snipping tool, and pressing Enter. (Note that the program runs on all versions of XP, not just tablets.) The rest of us can make do just fine with the Snipping Tool that comes with Vista and is available in XP via the Microsoft Experience Pack for Tablet PC. Others need the industrial-strength features of a commercial screen-grab utility such as TechSmith's $50 SnagIt (30-day free trial available). For many Windows users, the only screen-capture tools they'll ever need are the Print Screen key (in conjunction with the Alt key when they want to capture only the active window) and Windows' own Paint utility.

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