Snipping involves clicking and dragging a box (which you'll see outlined in red) around the area of the screen you want to save. The moment you release the mouse button, that captured area will appear in the Snipping Tool window.

From there you can save the snip (in your choice of GIF, JPEG, PNG, or HTML formats), copy it to the clipboard, e-mail it, or add some basic notations using a pen and highlighter.

Reader Mark is a frequent user of Windows' Character Map utility, which is helpful for finding and copying to the clipboard various special characters. He wants to know how he can pin it to the Quick Launch toolbar for fast and easy access.

Well, for starters, Mark, you made my life a little harder by not telling me which version of Windows you're running. (Yep, you flunked ) However, because I'm gooood, I've determined that it's Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3. (Now, now, a magician never reveals his secrets.)