14Jul/0811
Can’t find the ‘Snipping Tool’ in Windows Vista? Read this.
OK, so the other day my friend told me about the Windows Vista Snipping Tool, which can capture nice little screen shots via a slick little interface:
I wanted to give it a try, as it seemed like a free replacement for SnagIt. I'm running Vista Ultimate x64, by the way.
Anyway, my friend told me the Snipping Tool lived in 'All Programs -> Accessories'...but it was nowhere to be found. So I did some Googling, and found out that—in order to install it—you sometimes have to go to 'Control Panel -> Programs & Features -> Turn Windows Features on or off' and then check 'Tablet PC Optional Components' (apparently the Snipping Tool is a Tablet PC component).
No dice there, as 'Tablet PC Optional Components' was already checked.
So I did some poking around, and finally found the Snipping Tool in the '\Windows\System32' folder. It's called SnippingTool.exe, unsurprisingly.
So if you're using one of the supported versions of Vista, have verified that 'Tablet PC Optional Components' is installed, but still can't find the Snipping Tool in your Start Menu...well, now you know where to find it: \Windows\System32\SnippingTool.exe. Just create a shortcut on your Start Menu and/or desktop, and you'll be snip snipping away happily in no time. 
Hope someone else finds this helpful.
P.S. My friend referenced this Lifehacker article.
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Ava
July 16th, 2008 - 14:29
The snipping tool is not quite as good as SnagIt, but for free (relatively speaking), it’s not bad.
July 17th, 2008 - 06:53
What about just going to the “start search” (my new best friend since moving to Vista) and typing in Snip, Snipping, or Snipping Tool? In Vista Business (work laptop), it was immediately available in the start menu. On my Vista Ultimate, it’s available via start menu search.
July 17th, 2008 - 08:41
Nope, tried that. It wasn’t installed into the Start Menu for me, for whatever reason.
September 8th, 2008 - 04:51
Do you know if I can run it on XP too? And where I can download it from? I like it because it’s that extreemly simple to use.
September 8th, 2008 - 12:55
@ GoatCreek,
I don’t think it’s available in XP. Of course, you could always copy the “SnippingTool.exe” file from the “\Windows\System32\” directory of a Vista machine to an XP machine and see if it works, but I have not tried it myself. I’m not sure if there’s more involvement than that or not.
Here are a couple links I found about this; try at your own risk!
-http://www.joejoe.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=9435
-http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/25144
September 8th, 2008 - 23:55
Thanks Andrew!
I’ve downloaded the tablet pc pack, and unpacked it. At last I have a snippingtool.dat wich I can rename tot .exe. Only when I try to run or unpack (/a /? /x) it keeps telling me I don’t Ms tablet (obvius).
I’ll try the sites you suggested and keep you posted
September 10th, 2008 - 01:19
I’ve tried the links you suggested and found some options myself too. Unfortunaly all of the suggestions didn’t worked.
Now I descided to use Snippy (www.bhelpuri.net/snippy) and spend no more time to it.
Thanks for the help.
September 10th, 2008 - 07:52
@GoatCreek,
Glad you found something that worked.
I prefer SnagIt myself, but everybody has a favorite.
September 6th, 2010 - 00:00
Yeah it’s a cool little tool.
The Naked Truth About PC Hardware
September 6th, 2010 - 09:40
Yeah it is. It’s kinda buried so I don’t think a lot of people know about it.
September 7th, 2010 - 15:19
I did all this.. at the top of the page.. and every name i was soppost to look for that it might be named wasnt their..