Free Screen Recorder allows you to record your desktop activity and to save it to a video file. It is a very useful tool that can help you create a video tutorial for a computer program or other computer activity. The program saves the video as an AVI file that almost every computer user is be able to view with the default media player.

The program records the movements of the mouse cursor and basically every action that takes place in a certain area. You can configure it to record the entire screen or define an area of interest where subject of the presentation is placed.

The output file can also be configured by choosing the video compressor that is used and the overall quality. For certain codecs you can configure the bit rate and other advanced settings in a separate window. If your actions are not very fast you can set the program to capture a frame per second or even less.

If you need to create a tutorial where the mouse movement has little or no importance, you can choose to hide the cursor in the recording. Conversely, if the cursor is very important for the presentation you can highlight it or even replace it with a special cursor that is more visible and emphasizes it.

Most tutorials have a greater impact if the trainer talks to the audience and explains each step. This program allows you to record the video file with sound that is captured from the microphone. You can change the settings of the sound track such as the recording format or the audio encoder that will be used.

The quality of the output file is rather good, all the mouse cursor movements are clearly visible even without being highlighted. The application uses about 9 MB of memory during the recording and the processor load is insignificant.

The output file is rather large, about 50 MB for one minute or recording at 800 x 600 screen resolution. But if you use a video compressor it should reduce the size without too much trouble.

To focus on the recording you can minimize the program's window and use hotkeys to control the status of the recording that can be paused if you need to take a break or change the settings.

The program is very easy to use and features a tidy interface with clearly visible buttons. It is suitable for you if you need to record your desktop or create a video tutorial.