Black screen, what the?

I am having a problem to do the screencaptures from the movies... They do usually end up in the black screen without an actual picture in it.... I tried to fix the preferences, and I couldn't find anything that is wrong... I am using the JASC Paint Shop Pro 7 program for screencapturing... Also, I did try with other movie players, and they do still show the black screens! Do you mind tell me how to undo the black screen? OR Just tell me the better programs to use for making animated icons? Thank you.