I love the Vista snipping tool! I use it probably, every other day. But today I needed it and got this error:
The Snipping Tool is not working on your computer right now. Restart your computer, and then try again. If the problem persists, contact your system administrator.
Very odd. Of course I had about 12 tabs open in FireFox and three programs running so I resisted the urge to reboot and turned my attention to my friend Google. I ran across several blog posts about this very error. Those with solutions said to run the Microsoft Office Diagnostic tool and for some unknown reason that would fix it.
But alas it was not to be so for me. The only thing that correct my error was to do what the error said. Reboot the machine. *sigh* Oh well, it had been about 3 weeks since my last reboot so this must be my clue it was time. So, sometimes (although it’s rare) doing what the error message says may fix the problem.
© 2009 – 2010, Robert Owen. All rights reserved.
John says
February 15, 2010 at 3:31 pmhttp://fic-john.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5AE3AAD424462C0B!331.entry
Kill snipping tool in task manager normally fixes the problem.
Victor says
November 7, 2010 at 9:56 amHi all,
I THINK I CRACKED THIS ONE!
I’ve gnashed my teeth with frustration because of the same probelm with the snipping tool and couldn’t get any solution online: I run Windows 7 Ultimate on my laptop. I have established the following:
The snipping tool stops working only when
(1) a browser is running (Firefox or Internet Explorer). As soon as I close all browsers on my laptop the snipping tool starts working again.
(2) when PrevX with SafeOnline (an anti-malware program) is running. When I “stop protection” by PrevX the snipping tool starts running again!
Therefore, the snipping tool seems to be blocked by anti-malware programs that are meant to protect one from spyware by, among other things, blocking remote users from taking snap-shots of your desktop. If you want to take a snap shot of your screen while browsing you need to either:
(1) Close all browsers IF the snap shot you want is not a website
(2) Disable the anti-spyware program protecting your browser TEMPORARILY and resume protection after taking your snapshot. I don’t advise changing the settings of your anti-spyware program as blocking of the snipping tool is a safety feature (I suspect it can be run silently on one’s PC by some malware).
I hope this helps others!
Victor
Tarryn says
October 12, 2011 at 5:32 amWow, this works!!!
I have been looking all day for a solution and none of them worked. If I briefly disable the SafeOnline my snipping tool works! You’re awesome! Thanks!
Naina Siingh says
July 4, 2013 at 11:51 amRight click on “Snipping Tool” and select “Run as administrator”, it will work….