Typing out the message is both time-consuming and prone to typos. Besides that, the trouble you may have to take to switch between your browser and the message windows, in case the window is hidden. Copying the error message and pasting it in any search engine search box, is the best way to ensure that you are searching for the exact message. But unfortunately, most of these messages cannot be selected or copied in the normal way.
How to copy Error Codes & Messages from Dialog Boxes
While some standard dialog boxes allow you to copy the text using Ctrl+C, some do not. There are two freeware programs I know of that let you copy error codes and messages from all dialog boxes. Using these tools, you can easily extract or copy text from images.
1] GTText
GTText helps create fast and quality Ground-Truthed data-sets from color text images. It performs fast OCR text recognition and copies image text to the clipboard. It can load data from screen snapshots, image files, and scans documents. The highlighted text can then be used in online searches. The program can be useful if you need to copy an error message for a bug report or want to find out additional information via online search engines without having to manually type the text. You can use GTText.
2] JOCR
JOCR lets you copy text from images. JOCR lets you capture the image on the screen and convert the captured image to text. It also lets you copy text from any files and images on the screen such as protected Web pages, PDF files, error messages. The program offers several capture modes. But JOCR requires Microsoft Office to be installed to be able to work. You can download it by clicking here. You may also want to have a look at these posts: If you know of any other such freeware or free online tools that let you copy Error Codes & Messages from Dialog Boxes, do let us know below in the comments section.
