SCREENSHOT HOT BUTTON WOES | ONE NOTE WITH 8.1

Question

I apologize for being so blunt, however this is one of the most annoying "features" ever. I work daily (for MS) and need to take screenshots daily. I have always been able to use "Windows + S" before with OneNote installed to take
a quick, easy, immediate capture of whatever I need to capture. Now, this is not so easy and believe it or not one of the most annoying things I'm having to deal with as I can no longer take screenshots of drop down menus due to having to click/select something
else first to take a screenshot rather than hot-key directly to screenshot... So, now to take a screenshot with OneNote, I have to "Windows + N" then either click on "Screen Clipping" or "S", which makes any drop downs or
selected items I have open go away... Now if I press "Windows + S" it takes me to search things, which is ridiculous and redundant as all I have to do to search things is to press "Windows" and then start typing. Why would we add a
redundant feature that negates another Microsoft Product feature? Please help to resolve and/or let me know how to change search "hotkey" so I can use "Windows + S" to screenshot with OneNote as I used to be able to with Windows 7 and
Windows 8, prior to 8.1.
Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi,
This is by design. Here is a work around for your favorite WIN + S shortcut key:
http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-onenote/archive/2013/06/27/try-windows-8-1-preview-and-bring-back-your-favorite-shortcut-key.aspx
Karen Hu
TechNet Community Support
That solution by itself is crap!  Why do we want 3 ways to bring up the search box?  We can already do so by pressing Windows+Q or just hit the Windows key and start typing like others have said. 
Here is how I resolved the issue for myself.  Using the method described in the link above in combination with AutoHotKey I am now back to my normal way of life and using the Windows+S to getting screenshots.  Here is a quick rundown:
As per the Blog post, add the ScreenClippingShortcutKey = 41 REG_DWORD to the HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\OneNote\Options\Other registry key.
Download and install AutoHotKey (Google it if you don't already have it).
Create a new .ahk file and put in your startup to run at startup called myKeys.ahk.
Add the following to the myKeys.ahk file:
#s::#a
Log off and back in and give it a shot, it worked like a charm for me.
Note: The # stands for the Windows Key, s is the key s, :: means translate to, you get the drift.
Hope this helps others!