Problem Step Recorder alternatives

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webfork
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Problem Step Recorder alternatives

#1 Post by webfork »

I've highlighted a lot of record-as-you-work tools over time, but as new versions of Windows come out, I renewed my efforts to find programs that can keep doing this and I cataloged some results.

What is PSR and why do you need alternatives?

PSR is a program that appeared in Windows machines after Windows 7 primarily as a bug detection / troubleshooting program. It's great but not without it's problems including poor JPEG quality, difficulty to edit or modify, and lack of support for the output outside of Windows. If you can't get away from PSR, consider pypsr - https://github.com/roam/pypsr , a program that will break open a PSR file, which is helpful, but doesn't solve the poor image quality problem.

Some free alternatives
  • Use ShareX to autocapture and then run a program that detects and deletes duplicates (I use the command-line SFK), leaving only the screens that have changed. This isn't ideal for especially long processes when you can't remember specifics about what clicks caused which actions.
  • ActivePresenter - has a "Demo Recorder" function in version 7. Problem: it's not freeware and the latest version is 64-bit only, but version 6 is still very workable.
  • Record a standard desktop video (for example with Easy Screencast Recorder) good quality and using something like https://github.com/brookhong/KeyCastOW (you have to build it yourself, requires Visual Studio) and then go back and make screenshots of those steps
  • Use ScreenToGif, which records in frames that can be broken apart and used separately
Might not work with systems above Win 7
  • Imago - small, simple, works great but very old. Has issues with multiple monitors that have multiple resolutions. HTML output is workable but a little broken. You have to edit a text file to modify the config.
  • StepsToReproduce - works great but also very old and the editor is very buggy/crashy. I usually save it's output and open it up with 7zip and just import all those images into PowerPoint or Impress.
  • UPDATE: Snappy has some basic as-you-click functionality
Other tools

Various virtual meet programs including TeamViewer, LogMeIn, WebEx, etc. supposedly have tools on this. I'm not clear on what's available in their free versions.

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Re: Problem Step Recorder alternatives

#2 Post by webfork »

UPDATE: two more programs to add to the list:
  • Captura - in development, an open source tool
  • Snappy has some basic functionality
Related thread:

Screen Sharing + Recording

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Re: Problem Step Recorder alternatives

#3 Post by webfork »

EDIT: The program mentioned below "Folge" is now commercial. Softpedia still has it marked as freeware but Folge has dropped the limited freeware option and now includes limits on guides, watermarks, and limited export and font options. It's similar in functionality to ActivePresenter in terms of function and limitation.

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So PSR is going away in Windows replaced by the full screen recording Game Bar, which is odd given that some images and a bit of text that was included in PSR reports will always be dramatically smaller than even the best video compression.

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I'll try to post a few more items in the days ahead, but right now I can note a program that looks to be going commercial in the months ahead, but at the moment offers a beta program:
Folge is in a stable beta now, you can use the app and all features for free.

After beta ends you can continue using app for Free or upgrade to the paid version for more features. Your existing work will not be lost.
https://folge.me
https://www.softpedia.com/get/Authoring ... olge.shtml

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Re: Problem Step Recorder alternatives

#4 Post by webfork »

Short version: possible activity recorder that is more focused on going idle when nothing's happening rather than capturing every step.

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Because I can definitely attest to as-you-click screenshots as unreliable (at best), this one stops taking screenshots when idle. That means you're going to catch more screenshots, but you're also less likely to miss steps that you're trying to get recorded.

Listing in this thread because it's not portable and doesn't seem to be in active development. My guess is they wanted to take this commercial as solid competition for other, similar tools and for whatever reason it stalled out. I say this because there's an amazing amount of customization options, easily 100+.

Steps: Download, install, copy, uninstall, launch

Status: not portable, writes to C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Sideo

Another one of those cases where Softpedia is SO much of an improvement over the home page so I'm going to list that first ...
Softpedia: https://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedi ... ideo.shtml
Home: https://www.sideo.co.uk/

Screenshot (care of softpedia)
Image

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