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How to record what is happening on the screen. Recording screen actions using standard Windows tools

Have you ever had a need to find out what other people are doing on their PC in your absence? For these purposes, there are programs whose task is hidden recording computer screen. Let's take a closer look at what kind of software this is.

How it works

The principle of operation of such software is the hidden collection and analysis of user actions on the PC, providing a full report. There are programs that conduct hidden monitoring. It is difficult to find out that such an application is installed on a PC. Some are not even in the Task Manager.

Program for hidden computer screen recording

The principle of operation is to secretly collect information about what a person is doing on a PC while you are away. Let's look at the TOP 3 such applications.

SpyGo

A free utility that you can download from the developer’s official website at: http://spygosoft.com/. Distributed according to conditional free license.
IN trial version There are limits on monitoring duration to 20 minutes per day. You won't be able to send reports by email.
Possibilities:

  1. Keystroke tracking;
  2. Records everything that appears on the “Desktop”;
  3. Saves everything that happens on the monitor in video format: opening applications, operations with files;
  4. Control over opened sites (frequently visited resources, time spent);
  5. Monitoring switching on and off, connecting flash drives.

ZD Soft Screen Recorder

The application is designed to record information from the monitor to . The main advantage is simplicity. Video is recorded in high quality and takes up little space on the HDD. Configure it so that it records on a schedule, follows the cursor, hidden mode.
Download it from the official website at: https://www.zdsoft.com/downloads/. Installation is simple. Double click on the installation “exe” file. The application window will appear.
By clicking on the “Settings” button (gear), a window will open where you can determine where and what format to save the video. It is proposed to use three formats:
Main advantages:

  1. Record full screen or parts thereof;
  2. Webcam video overlay;
  3. Recording games.

NeoSpy

A distinctive feature of NeoSpy is that it is invisible to the user during operation. Can hide presence during installation.
Choose one of two installation options: administrator, hidden.
Possibilities:

  1. Records what is displayed on the “Desktop”;
  2. Keyboard monitoring;
  3. Tracking sites visited;
  4. Shows the screen online via the Internet from another PC;
  5. Screenshots of the screen, webcam;
  6. Control system events. Turning on or off the PC, connecting removable media.

Conclusion

We reviewed the TOP 3 programs that are used to secretly record video from a computer screen. The most functional is NeoSpy. The main feature is that it is visible in the “Task Manager”. Screen Recorder is easy to use. You don't have to waste time understanding how it works.

Hello.

Better to see once than hear a hundred times.

That's what the popular saying goes, and it's probably right. Have you ever tried to explain to someone how to do certain actions on a PC, without using videos (or pictures)? If you simply explain in your fingers what and where to press, 1 out of 100 people will understand you!

It’s a completely different matter when you can record on video what’s happening on your screen and show it to others - this way you can explain what and how to press, as well as show off your work or game skills.

In this article, I want to focus on the best (in my opinion) programs for recording video from the screen (with sound). So...

Very, very interesting program to create screenshots and videos from your computer screen. Despite his small size, the program has quite significant advantages:

  • when recording, the video size is very small when high quality(by default presses in WMV format);
  • there are no extraneous inscriptions or other debris on the video, the image is not blurred, the cursor is highlighted;
  • supports video in 1440p format;
  • supports recording video with sound from a microphone, from sound in Windows, or from both sources at the same time;
  • starting video recording is as easy as shelling pears, the program does not “torture” you with a mountain of messages about certain settings, warnings, etc.;
  • takes up very little space on your hard drive, and there is portable version;
  • supports all new Windows versions: XP, 7, 8, 10.

In my humble opinion, this is one of the best programs for recording video: compact, does not load the PC, high-quality video (with sound). What else is needed!?

Start the start of screen recording (everything is simple and clear)!

Ashampoo is a company famous for its software, main feature which is aimed at the novice user. Those. understanding programs from Ashampoo is quite simple and easy. Ashampoo Snap is no exception to this rule.

Main features:

  • the ability to create collages from several screenshots;
  • capture video with and without sound;
  • Instantly capture all visible windows on the desktop;
  • Windows support 7, 8, 10, capturing a new interface;
  • ability to use the color dropper to capture colors from various applications;
  • full support 32-bit images with transparency (RGBA);
  • possibility of capturing by timer;
  • automatic addition watermarks.

In general, in this program (besides the main task for which I added it to this article) there are dozens of very interesting opportunities, which will help you make not just a recording, but also turn it into a high-quality video that you won’t be ashamed to show to other users.

Great program for quickly and efficiently creating demonstration training videos and presentations from the PC screen. Allows you to export video to many formats: SWF, AVI, UVF, EXE, FLV (including GIF animation with sound).

Can record everything that happens on the screen, including mouse cursor movements, mouse clicks, and keyboard presses. If you save the video in UVF format (the “native” format for the program) and EXE, the resulting size is very compact (for example, a 3-minute film with a resolution of 1024x768x32 takes 294 KB).

Among the disadvantages: sometimes the sound may not be recorded, especially in free version programs. Apparently, the program does not recognize external sound cards(this does not happen with internal ones).

Best program for recording videos and creating screenshots from games (I emphasize, from games. You won’t be able to simply record your desktop using it)!

Its main advantages:

  • the program has its own codec built in, which allows you to record video from the game even on a weak PC (although the video size is large, but nothing slows down or freezes);
  • the ability to record sound (see screenshot below "Sound Capture Settings");
  • ability to select the number of frames for recording;
  • recording videos and screenshots by pressing hot keys;
  • ability to hide the cursor when recording;
  • free.

In general, for a gamer the program is simply irreplaceable. The only drawback: to record big video, it takes a lot free space on your hard drive. Also, in the future, this video will need to be compressed or edited to “distill” it into a more compact size.

A simple and free (but at the same time effective) program for recording what is happening from the PC screen into files: AVI, MP4 or SWF (flash). Most often, it is used when creating video courses and video presentations.

Main advantages:

  • Codec support: Radius Cinepak, Intel IYUV, Microsoft Video 1, Lagarith, H.264, Xvid, MPEG-4, FFDshow;
  • Capture not only the entire screen, but also a separate part of it;
  • Possibility of annotations;
  • Ability to record sound from PC microphone and speakers.

Flaws:

  • Some antivirus programs find the file suspicious if you write it in this program;
  • There is no support for the Russian language (at least official).

6. Camtasia Studio

One of the most famous programs to record video from your PC screen. The program implements dozens of various options and features:

  • support for many video formats, the resulting video can be exported to: AVI, SWF, FLV, MOV, WMV, RM, GIF, CAMV;
  • the ability to prepare video presentations with high-quality video (1440p);
  • based on any video, you can get an EXE file in which the player will be built in (useful for opening such a video on a PC that does not have such a utility);
  • can apply a number of effects and can edit individual frames.

Camtasia Studio.

Among the shortcomings, I would highlight the following:

  • the program is paid (some versions insert captions into the resulting video until you buy the software);
  • sometimes it is difficult to adjust so as to avoid the appearance of smeared letters (especially when high quality video);
  • you have to "suffer" with the video compression settings to achieve optimal size output file.

If we take it as a whole, the program is not bad at all and it is not for nothing that it is a leader in its market segment. Despite the fact that I criticized it and do not really support it (due to my rare work with video), I definitely recommend it for familiarization, especially for those who want to professionally create videos (presentations, podcasts, training, etc.).

7. Free Screen Video Recorder

A program designed in the style of minimalism. At the same time, this is sufficient powerful program to capture the screen (everything that happens on it) in AVI format, and images in the following formats: BMP, JPEG, GIF, TGA or PNG.

One of the main advantages of the program is that it is free (while others similar programs shareware and through certain time will require purchase).

Free Screen Video Recorder - program window (nothing superfluous here!).

Among the shortcomings, I would highlight one thing: when recording video in a game, most likely you will not see it - there will just be a black screen (though with sound). To record games, it is better to choose Fraps (see about it just above in the article).

8. Total Screen Recorder

A very good utility for recording an image from the screen (or a separate part of it). Allows you to save video in the following formats: AVI, WMV, SWF, FLV, supports audio recording (microphone + speakers), mouse cursor movements.

HyperCam - program window.

A good utility for recording video and audio from a PC to files: AVI, WMV/ASF. You can also record the actions of the entire screen or a specific selected area.

The resulting files can be easily edited with the built-in editor. After editing, the videos can be uploaded to Youtube (or other popular video sharing resources).

By the way, the program can be installed on a USB flash drive and used on different PCs. For example, we came to visit a friend, inserted a flash drive into his PC and recorded his actions from his screen. Mega-convenient!

HyperCam options (there are quite a few of them, by the way).

10. oCam Screen Recorder

A tool for recording actions to reproduce problems in the operating room Windows system 7 is new feature, which allows users to record their activities in any application they use and provide a detailed view of the activities with screenshots with corresponding comments. Using this feature, you can record all the activities performed on your computer over a specified period of time, including text description dialogs, mouse clicks performed, and screen images for each click (which will be referred to as screenshots). Once the recording is complete, the actions can be saved to a file so that technicians helping to fix a problem on the computer can learn about all the actions performed by the user.

Unfortunately, when recording actions on a computer, any text that the user enters from the keyboard will not be recorded in the file. If the data that the user enters from the keyboard is important for reproducing the problem, then you can use the ability to add comments in the highlighted area, which will be described below. There may also be some errors in programs or games that use full screen mode, due to the fact that they are often unlikely to help solve the problem.

To open the application "Problem Reproduction Recorder" you need to click on the “Start” menu button and enter in the search field psr
When you open this application, you will notice that its interface is very simple and intuitive. Most likely, it was designed this way so that users could record their actions without having issues related to the functionality of the action recorder to reproduce problems. Next, despite the simplicity of this application, I will tell you about all the nuances of its use.

In order to start recording actions with which problems or questions arise, you just need to click on the button "Start Recording". After this, you can perform any actions with operating system And installed applications to reproduce the problem. You can pause and then resume recording at any time.
To pause the recording of actions for a while, you need to click on the button, as shown in the following screenshot:

To resume recording actions again, click on the button "Resume recording".
After all actions have been recorded, recording should be stopped. To do this, click on the button "Stop recording".
Immediately after recording stops, a dialog box will open. "Save as", in which you need to enter the file name and click on the button "Save". After completing these steps, the file will be saved in the specified directory with a ZIP extension.
To view the recorded sequence of actions, you need to open the directory with the saved ZIP file and double-click the left mouse button on the file. The document will open in your default browser.

In order to make it as easy as possible to transfer files with recorded problematic actions, they can be sent directly from the "Tools for recording actions to reproduce problems". After recording and saving the ZIP file, you need to click on the arrow icon, which is located to the right of the help and select “Send message to recipient Email" Your default email program will immediately open a new email message with the most recently recorded file attached.
Until the file is saved, the Send Email Recipient menu option will not be available. The location of this item is shown in the following screenshot.

As mentioned above, immediately after opening the application you need to click on the button "Start Recording", but when recording actions on a computer, any text that the user enters from the keyboard will not be recorded in the file. In order to source file it was possible to see the text that the user enters from the keyboard or other notes; it is possible to comment on actions. To do this, just left-click on the button "Add a comment", which is located to the left of the recording time indicator.
Next, using the mouse, you need to select a part of the screen that you want to comment on when the dialog appears “Identification of a problem and commenting” Enter the text in the text field of the dialog and click on the “OK” button.
The saved file will display a comment next to the specified action. Dialogue “Highlight problems and comment” can be seen in the following screenshot.

To open the Troubleshooting Recorder options, click on the arrow icon to the right of Help and select "Options". A dialog will open "Problem Reproduction Recorder Options", which is shown in the following screenshot:

In the Application Settings, we can change the following options for the Reproduction Action Recorder:
Output location. In order to disable the request to save the file, which is displayed every time the recording is completed, you need to click on the “Browse” button and specify the name of the default resulting file.
Include screenshots. If you do not want to save screenshots along with click data, then you need to change the radio box to “No”. This option Useful only if you don't want to take screenshots of a program and share them with someone else.
Number of screenshots stored. The default value is 25 screenshots, but this number can be reduced or increased as desired by the user. The Reproduction Activity Recorder only records the number of screenshots specified in the application settings. For example, if 30 screenshots were taken during recording and the default value is 25, then the first five screenshots will not be recorded in the file.
The following screenshot is an example of an MHT file created using the Problem Reproduction Action Recorder.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

Cross-platform program with open source code. Very fast and functional. After spending a few minutes getting to know Russian-language interface, you can easily record your screen.

Simultaneously with the video display, you can record the sound of the microphone and overlay the image from the webcam. OBS Studio allows you to choose the resolution and recording format (FLV, MP4, MKV, MOV and others). In addition, she can broadcast videos on Twitch and YouTube, so she is very popular among gamers.

If you want to use the full potential of OBS Studio for recording games or other advanced tasks, you can find instructions on the Internet for manual setting programs. They will help you achieve perfect balance between performance and picture quality.

The only drawback I would like to note is the lack of a built-in editor. But if you need to trim or otherwise change ready-made records, you can use special .

2.DU Recorder

Platforms: Android.

Very popular in Google Play screen recording program. She has the highest grades. In addition, DU Recorder is completely free and does not bother you with advertising.

In terms of functionality, DU Recorder is also quite good. You can simultaneously record video from the screen, camera, microphone and pause the process at any time. The program supports recording in resolutions up to 1080p at 60 frames per second.

In addition, DU Recorder allows you to stream videos to YouTube, Facebook and Twitch. And thanks to the built-in editor, you can trim finished videos and even turn them into GIFs.

Platforms: iOS 11.


In the last one at the moment iOS versions There's now a built-in feature that lets you record screen content and audio on your iPhone or iPad. Thanks to her you won't need third party software or computer.

To enable you to use the recording feature, add to the control center special button. To do this, go to “Settings” → “Control Center” → “Customize elements. Controls" and click the plus next to the "Screen Record" button. It will appear in the Control Center, where you can use it to enable the recording function.

After a simple click on this button, recording begins without external sound, and after a long press an icon appears to activate or disable the microphone. Once you tap it again, the recording is saved in the Photos app, where you can edit it.

Platforms: iOS 8–11 (via Mac), macOS.

QuickTime Player, which can be found on any Mac computer, records video of both the screen of the Mac itself and iOS gadgets connected to it. So if you can't write the content iPhone display or iPad using the built-in function, the QuickTime Player + Mac combination will help you out.

To record video from Mac screen, open QuickTime Player and click File → New entry screen." Then click on the arrow next to the red button that appears and select necessary settings sound. By clicking on the red button you will start recording. You can stop it using the “Stop” button, which appears in the upper right side of the screen.

To record the screen of your iPhone or iPad, connect your gadget to your Mac using a cable, open QuickTime Player and click File → New Video Recording. Then click on the arrow next to the red button that appears and select the necessary settings. By clicking on the red button you will start recording. You can stop it using the “Stop” button, which appears in place of the red one.

Platforms: iOS (via Windows PC or Mac).

If it is not possible to upgrade to iOS 11, and instead of a Mac you have a Windows computer, then the easiest way to record the screen of an iPhone or iPad is using the LonelyScreen desktop program.

When you run it on your PC and connect your mobile device to it via a cable, you will be able to display iPhone image or iPad on the monitor. To do this, click in the “Screen repeat” control center and select LonelyScreen. After this, to start recording, you just need to click on the red button in the program window on your computer.

There are no settings in it, everything is simplified to the limit. In addition, the program writes sound from video and audio files, but does not pick up the microphone.

On the official website of LonelyScreen there is a free and paid version programs, the differences between which are not indicated. But while testing the first of them, I did not find any limitations. Unless LonelyScreen periodically offers to switch to a paid option.

Screencasting is video recording of what is happening on the screen of a computer or other device (phone, tablet, TV), sometimes accompanied by audio or text comments from the author.

Record a video playthrough of a game or create a training video on how to use the program - what’s so difficult about that? Nothing if we are talking about a computer. Screencasting on mobile devices- the matter is completely different: there are restrictions here - from technical to legal. We'll tell you how to record video from your Android or iOS phone screen in the most convenient way. in simple ways- without root or jailbreak.

Creating a screencast on Android devices using the AZ Screen Recorder application

Advantages and disadvantages

The most significant advantage of AZ Screen Recorder is its rich functionality: in many free analogues There is no sound when shooting video and you cannot change settings. Of the minuses - advertising (the disadvantage of all free programs), lack of Russian locale and Android support only from version 5.0.

Features of screencasting on Apple devices

iOS devices - iPhone and iPad, unlike Android, do not support screen video capture due to policy Apple security. Therefore, to make screencasts without jailbreaking, users resort to tricks:

  • Connect the iPhone to a computer running OS X and record video using QuikTime.
  • Record the screen with an external video camera.
  • Connect the iPhone to the computer via a Lightning-HDMI adapter and capture video with any suitable application.

And yet, how to record a video with iPhone screen without similar difficulties and is this even possible? Maybe! For example, using the Reflector program, available in versions for OS X, Windows and Android. The application is paid, the license price is $14.99.

Reflector is an Apple TV emulator that turns your computer into an AirPlay-compatible device - broadcasts streaming video and audio from iPhone to PC screen. Reflector supports all versions of iOS starting from 5.0. Does not require cables or adapters, as data is transmitted via Wi-Fi.

How to shoot video with iPhone using Reflector

After launching the application, the “Preferences” window will open. Go to the “Settings” tab and specify the desired iPhone screen resolution (“Optimize for” option). Then write it down with Latin letters computer name (“AirPlay Name”), which will be shown in the list of AirPlay devices on the iPhone.


Open to iPhone window multitasking and go to player controls. Launch AirPlay and select your PC from the list. Enable AirPlay Mirroring (video repeat).


After this, the working screen will be displayed on the computer screen. iPhone table. If desired, it can be rotated horizontally (option available in context menu). Now everything you do on your iPhone will be repeated on your PC screen. Along with the picture, the sound will also be played. If there is no sound, increase the volume level.


After this, all that remains is to launch any video capture program on your PC (Fraps, Bandicam, Movavi Screen Capture) and shoot. Setting up and pairing devices via Reflector does not take even 5 minutes.

We have not considered all methods of screencasting on mobile devices, but only the most, in our opinion, universal ones. In addition to the applications discussed, there are others with similar functionality. For Android we counted more than 25 of them, for iOS - less, but there are also some. Choose what you like.