I bet you use Snipping Tool/Prt Screen for quick references. And I know you use OneNote for documentation. But have you used the Problem Steps Recorder? This nifty hidden tool is great for two scenarios:

• Having a user recreate a problem that just can’t be described over email/phone.
• Creating step-by-step documentation for trainings or reference.

Here is the great thing about Steps Recorder – it is built into every Windows 7+ machine! Even Windows RT will run it.

So try it out with me. Go to start, search for Steps Recorder and launch it. Press Start Record, do what you need to do, and stop the recording. Scroll down the through the recording – you will see each application that you used and how it was used. Passwords/etc are not stored in the recording. The saved file will be an MHT. By default, this opens in IE. Steps Recorder will then zip it up.

When you need a user to recreate a problem for you, have them launch Steps Recorder. The next time that you need to document a configuration change (or type up a how-to), start Steps Recorder first.

*Special thanks to reader Jeff for the documentation automation idea!