And More: How To 'Browse' Steam Screenshot Folders with PaintShop Pro [Fix / Tutorial with Steps]

After playing around with both Steam and PaintShop Pro recently, I have found a 'Fix' for an issue where PaintShop Pro was not able to see any Screenshots in the Steam-created Screenshot Folders, when trying to "Browse" within PaintShop Pro... Here is what it looks like in PaintShop Pro when trying to "Browse" to a Steam Screenshot Folder within the graphic editing application itself:

As seen above, the Browsing utility in PaintShop Pro says "No Files Found" [circled in Red] - but obviously there are files/images in the folder, as opening the same folder with Windows Explorer just below it (Windows 10) shows there are tons [I take way too many Screenshots, heh]. 

I examined the Properties of the Screenshots generated by Steam, but they are nothing out-of-the-ordinary, they are typical .JPG (JPEG format) image files. 

PaintShop Pro is able to "Browse" other folders I have with Screenshots, so perhaps it had something to do with Permissions [was my thinking]...

I ran PaintShop Pro as Administrator, but it seemed to make no difference. 

I then examined the Preferences of PaintShop Pro. I have been in there before, to change some of the behaviour of the editing program, namely Caching and Colour Correction/Import and Precise Cursors [I really prefer the Precise Cursors, I Recommend using them!]

In PaintShop Pro's Preferences, I found there are some Exclusions that were already in the program [built-in, on install] that, while helpful, interfered with where Steam keeps game Screenshots by Default.

These Exclusions, in PaintShop Pro, are located in:

File > Preferences > General Program Preferences 

In the Manage category, Excluded Items section, there is a button for Uncataloged Folders.

[These folders are not utilized by PaintShop Pro, and while I'm not sure why, I assume it is because they are large System Folders and may result in duplicates or 'garbage' images being read, which would take up time and excessive space for Thumbnails]

In these "Uncataloged Folders", I found a listing of
C:\Program Files
and Steam itself is installed (by Default, in Windows) to
C:\Program Files (x86)

It appears that PaintShop Pro thinks that "Program Files (x86)" is part of, or is, "Program Files" [due to the space in the former] - so it excludes that folder from use; thus, it is not possible to Browse those folders with PaintShop Pro [was my thinking].

Removing the "C:\Program Files" from the Uncataloged Folders, I tried to open a game's Screenshots Folder (unchanged, where Steam normally keeps them by Default) with BROWSE in Paintshop Pro...

It worked! 😁

That was it then - it appears removing that Folder (C:\Program Files) from the Uncataloged Folders category, is all that needs to be done and Paintshop Pro can then Browse and Catalogue [create Thumbnails for] those Folders.

In the image I created just below, there is an open Steam Screenshots Folder in the background, showing that Steam's Screenshot Folders indeed now work with PaintShop Pro.

Here is a large collage/screenshot showing what I found and how to change it [It looks a little busy/crazy - so I will explain it just underneath, heh]:

In the 'Tutorial' image above, I have indicated the following areas below on how to 'fix' this issue with PaintShop Pro:

» The Large 'Green Arrow' shows that I have a Steam Screenshot Folder open in the Browse/Manage are of PaintShop Pro [It now works! There are Screenshots seen in the background middle workspace] 

» The Smaller 'Yellow Arrows' are indicating the 'trouble folders' of "Program Files" and "Program Files (x86)" that PaintShop Pro seems to have issue with [These folders, generated automatically by Windows, hold most Programs and installed Applications. The 'x86' Folder is generally used for backwards-compatibility with older (32-bit) Programs] 

» The Red 'Roman Numerals' (I., II., etc.) indicate the Steps To Take to navigate to the "C:\Program Files" listing in the "Uncategorized Folders" section of the Excluded Items in PaintShop Pro 

» The Red 'Information Icon' is simply the Panel that must be opened, using these Steps, to see/edit the Folders to be discluded from the "Browse" capability of PaintShop Pro

Here are the Tutorial Steps, in order, to remove this Exclusion and allow PaintShop Pro to Browse/Manage Steam Screenshot Folders and Images:

1. Click on "File"
2. Select "Preferences"
3. Go into "General Program Preferences "
4. Click on the "Manage" section on the left of the Preferences panel that comes up
5. In the "Excluded Items" section on the right, click on the button for "Uncataloged Folders"
6. In the "Uncataloged Folders" panel, select the "C:\Program Files" listing and click on the Delete button
7. Click Ok, above the Cancel button
8. Click Ok, to close the Preferences Panel
9. You are now back at the main PaintShop Pro interface

That's it!

Hopefully this finding can help others that want to use Paintshop Pro with Steam Screenshots, now easily Browsing them all (with Thumbnails being Cached for faster access/listing) with PaintShop Pro.


Hope That Helps!

~ Troy from The Game Tips And More Blog



[Note: I am not affiliated with Corel or Steam/Valve, and have not, and will not, receive any compensation in any form, for mentioning them here. I am merely an enthusiastic gamer who utilizes their products, and likes to share helpful information for others when I can]

And More: Corel's VideoStudio - Crashing When Using 'Open With' To Import Clips Into VideoStudio [Fix/Workaround]

Just last Month, I picked up version 20 of Corel's recently-updated video editing suite "VideoStudio" (nomenclature "X10") and am having a lot of fun learning what it can do and how to do it all (coming from mainly editing videos with Sony's Vegas 'Movie Studio' line of products [now taken over by MAGIX]). However, I quickly ran into a little issue with importing clips using the "Open With" option in Windows and wanted to share what I found...

Normally, in Windows you can 'right-click' a video file and mouse-over the menu option "Open With..", which brings up a sub-menu of known applications, to 'send' the file to ('opening the file with the chosen application'). Doing this, whichever application you select will startup and the file will be sent to it to work with.

However, doing this with a video clip and VideoStudio x10 I found, every time the program would open up, it would immediately 'crash' (close/stop/etc). Hmm... time for some Troubleshooting! I double-checked that the file in question was not corrupted excessively by playing it, testing it in a couple of video/media players, and even tried a few other clips that were 'known good' (that VS worked with before). Each time, using "Open With...", the Splash Screen for VSx10 would show up and then just as the program itself looked like it was opening, the entire thing would crash and show this message:

Example of the "Corel VideoStudio has stopped working" Error Window Pop-Up
when trying to import a clip into VideoStudio X10 utilizing the "Open With" shortcut in Windows

And More: "An Internal Error Occurred When Overlapped Buffer Is Full" in VideoStudio X10 [Error Workaround]

[This post is currently Text-Only for speed of Posting. I may return and add example Screenshots and more, Soon™]

Update 2017-05-02: While not a 'Fix' for this issue, I have done more testing and found what is essentially the issue
Go to "Update 2017-05-02"

Just a quick bit of information, for those using Corel's VideoStudio X10 to edit and render their video projects and running into this error...

I was working on trying to finish some of the many, many, many projects I have in various stages of completion, and ran into an odd error when trying to render a Project in VideoStudio X10. The error said only:

"An Internal Error Occurred When Overlapped Buffer Is Full"

This is somewhat odd, as this is more of a generic Windows Application error than it is a VS (VideoStudio) error. So, I went to the Official Corel Support Forums and did other online searching...

Quick Tip: Corel's ScreenCap Recording Utility - Problem Recording Audio, "Prepare Record Failed" Error [A FIX]

[Update/Addendum 2016-12: I recently received PaintShop Pro X9 as a 'Christmas Eve Gift From Santa' and did a quick test of this again, to find that this 'FIX' also works for the Screen Capture "Stand-Alone" version that was recently released with PaintShop Pro X9! Thank you to everyone that is stating this 'still works' with VSPx10!]

I just wanted to share a Quick Tip for those having problems recording audio with the Corel ScreepCap utility, especially if you are seeing a "Prepare Record Failed!" Error/Popup, upon trying to begin recording. I experienced this myself at first, when trying ScreenCap, so began Troubleshooting to see what could be the cause. While I did not find out the exact reason for the error I did find a fix that worked and is repeatable, allowing me to record audio with Corel's Screencap utility from then on. Hopefully, this will work for you, too...

I purchased VideoStudio x8 about a week ago [as of the time of this post] - and I have been having a blast learning it and exploring all of the great content that came with it. While I might do a "First Impressions/Review" article on the program, and maybe even some Tutorials eventually, for now I want to focus on this error/problem with the ScreenCap module, especially since experiencing it myself and then seeing it in the Corel User Forums, finding out that it is in fact an 'older' problem for many. To begin, I will present the steps I found to enable working audio recording with ScreenCap.

The "Prepare Record Failed" error from Corel's ScreenCap module that pops-up when this problem is encountered,,
captured within Windows 8.1, at the time (the solution below was done in Windows 10)

Here are the steps I took, that solved the problem with 'no audio' when recording with the ScreenCap utility, causing it to crash (and display the error message shown above):

[Note: These steps assume that the user is attempting to utilize the onboard (built-in) audio adapter of the mainboard - if you are using a differing device (eg. a sound card), then merely follow the steps replacing that device with the ones mentioned below. As well, I took screenshots of these steps in Windows 10, which is why my Desktop may appear slightly different than if you are running Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 - the steps should work in the same manner, however]

• There are a few ways to open the Sound Devices list in Windows, but one of them is to right-click the little speaker icon in the System Tray (the area in the lower-right corner with the date and time).
  In the sub-menu that pops up, click "Recording Devices".

• In the Recording Tab of the Sound panel/window that comes up, let's make sure you can see Disabled and Hidden devices in the list. To do this, right-click somewhere in the white inner area (but not on a device in the list) and a pop-up menu should appear, saying "Show Disabled Devices" and "Show Disconnected Devices".
  If these do not have a checkmark beside them, click on each of them one at a time, to enable these options. Now, you should see all the recording devices currently attached to your system. Some will be 'greyed out' if they are not plugged in or nothing is plugged into them.

• In the list of devices, right-click the "Stereo Mix" device and choose "Enable", to 'turn on' the recording capability of your onboard audio adapter (the built-in audio capability in many modern mainboards).
  If a green checkmark is on the icon representing the device, it is also the Default Device  for Recording (that is, the one that a program will try to use first, for recording).
  If there is no green circle with a checkmark, right-click once again on the same device and choose "Set As Default Device", and now one should appear next to the "Stereo Mix" device.
  [if your system is already configured with the motherboard audio enabled and recording, this step may not be required]

• Click OK to close the Sound panel/window and close the list of audio devices.

• Start up Corel's ScreenCap utility by double-clicking the icon on the Desktop for it, or navigating to the Tile or Shortcut in the Start Menu, to launch it.
  [In my case, I had an icon on my desktop that said "Corel ScreenCap x8" and I used that]
  Once it opens, click on the word "Settings" near the bottom of the panel, to open up the options/settings for Screen Capture.

• In the Audio Settings category/area, click on the Circle next to "System Audio" to Disable Screen Capture from attempting to record from there
  [this seems counter-intuitive, but this is what I tested in Troubleshooting and doing this 'workaround' allowed me to 'fix' the problem and get it working - it seems more of a 'workaround' with getting the program to work, than a true 'fix' however, but this is what can be done, for now]. 

• Just above the "System Audio", click on the "I" next to "Voice" to Enable recording from that input
  [this seems counter-intuitive again, as we are not going to use a microphone in this example, but this is the second part of the 'workaround' to get Screen Capture to record audio, for now].

• Now, we will tell Screen Capture to use a different device for recording sound (as input).
  Click on the "Sound Check" button, next to the "Voice" setting.
  This will open up the Sound Check window/panel.
• Next to the "Input Device" setting, click on the pull-down menu and your device that we enabled earlier should show up in the list, as "Stereo Mix".
  
  
  
  Choose that device from the pull-down list and if you want to check to make sure it is receiving sound, you can click on the "Record" button.
  Once you click on this button, it will automatically record for ten seconds. If you quickly start a sound file, song or game, it should record exactly what you hear. Then, it will play the short test recording back for you, automatically.
  [this should verify that ScreenCap can now record audio through that device]
  
• Click the "X" in the upper-right corner, to close the Sound Check panel/window. 

That's it!


Now you should be able to hit the big red circle button at the top of the Screen Capture panel to begin recording - and it should now capture everything that you can hear through your speakers/headphones...

The ScreenCap utility does not seem to like 7.1 (8-channel) or 5.1 (6-channel) or even Quadrophonic (4-channel) audio as of the time of this post - you may still get the "Prepare Record Failed" Error if you do not change your system's audio adapter to Stereo (2-channel) Mode.


The above steps are the ones I took to enable these devices - and although it is mainly for users who have a similar type of audio device that I have at the time of this posting (a "Realtek High Definition" audio adapter/chip in their system (on their motherboard)), other devices may be slightly different in the naming if you are using a different audio device (the hardware and name listed for it, eg. "VIA HD Audio" or "SoundBlaster Z", etc) - but the steps should still be quite similar (the windows to open up, what to click on, etc). These are the exact steps I took, and they enabled me to record audio through the Screen Capture utility; and so I wanted to share them in the hope that they will work for you, too.

 [I may return to this post and add a tutorial video showing visually how to do the steps in Windows in the near future - if I do, it will be located here]

Enjoy -  and See You In The Games!




[Editor's Log: Just a note about my Wallpaper in the images within... For fun, I had created a background (desktop wallpaper) and a logo (shown in the above material) about The Blog , done in the style of the AMD Badge Logo and AMD Background Pattern - as I am currently enjoying an AMD GPU - but I do not have a preference between AMD GPUs and NVIDIA GPUs, I have owned both in the past and will use both in the future. I am not endorsed or affiliated with either AMD or NVIDIA in any commercial manner. Just letting my precious readers know I am impartial and like both of them!]