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Windows98
NotePad |
Simple
word processor: NotePad
 Although NotePad is a simple text editor,
many computer users rely on this program to compose text.
One example is programmers: They love NotePad and use it
to write their programs.
NotePad is a basic editor, it writes just text, so
nothing special is added to your original file, plus .txt
files are easily opened and read by any Text application.
NOTEPAD is fast, reliable and very easy to use.
To launch NotePad go to Start>>Programs>>Accessories and click on
NotePad, a blank window opens with a flashing indicator
You can write anything in the white space...
We have already mentioned NotePad and a command called
Save click File>>Save As or Save to save what
you've just written.
When the Save As window opens select a location for your
file besides Save In and type a name for your file near
File name
If you're saving a file for the first time, you should
specify a name and a location for your file, always
choose a location you know.
Store all your personal files in a directory you can
easily find e.g
My
Documents\Private_Files.
Another
tip is to categorize all your files, store images in a
folder and text in another so you can easily locate
all your files on the computer.
You don't want all your files to sit in one directory,
this can lead to a real mess.
Perhaps you would like to store your text files in
My
Document\Private_Files\Text_Files
Let
us now return to NotePad....
You've noticed two slightly similar commands in the File menu Save and Save As...
In fact there's no great difference except Save As.. is
used to save and name the file.
When you're saving any file for the first time click on
Save As.. to specify a location and name for your file - remember
to call your files with something informative, avoid
using File1 file2 or text1 text1 use something similar to
MyFirstPoem, Imageatbeach...
If you used Save instead of Save As the first time,
you'll notice that they act the same.
Both Save and Save As will open a window for you to type
a location and a name (only the first time) As you go
through your file, you should regularly press on Save to
update your file with the current content. If you typed
"this is my first" then typed "poem"
click Save
to save all what you have written so far.
If you closed the window without saving, you could lose
everything. NotePad will always remind you to save the
file.
If you use Save As to update your file you are prompted
to type a name and a choose a location, so use Save
instead.
If you think you will never be using Save As... since
Save can open the window for the first time and then
update the file, you might want to send an email to
Microsoft and all major Software companies telling them
to eliminate Save As.. from File menu since you never use
it, you might want to suggest another command of your own,
but think again...Suppose you have written a file and
save it to a certain location then wanted to save a copy
to another location and use a different name.
Try to do this with Save and you'll never get it
This is where Save As comes useful. Click Save As...
choose another location and type
a name. Here you go, you've just saved a copy of your
file to another location.
Now Change the content of your email
to something that congratulates the company for the useful Save As...
Getting a Printout
If you installed a Printer on your Computer you might
want to have
a printout of your file (report,
homework) just click File>>Print, make sure your
Printer is on.
In few minutes - depending on your file size - you will
get a printed copy of your file.
We have already
seen the Copy/Paste, Cut/Paste dual commands,
use these commands with NotePad to copy text from another
file without retyping the text. Create two text files and
save as "onefile" and "addfile", to
add the content of addfile to onefile, open addfile
select the text with your mouse or press Edit>>Select
All
if you want to copy all its content, click
Edit>>Copy or CTRL C, next go to
onefile and click Edit>>Paste or just CTRL V, you've just
copied the content of one file to another.
Use Cut/Paste to cut some text from a file then paste it
into the other, remember to Save both files so the
changes can take effect.
Nothing will ever happen to a file unless you Save it...
Copy/Paste and Cut/Paste can be used inside the same file.
To shift the location of a paragraph, Cut the section and Paste it into another
location.
Use Copy/Paste CTRL C/CTRL V to copy a phrase you use
often inside you text file.
Suppose you're writing a report on your family each time
you have to type "First Name" just copy "First
Name and use CTRL V (Paste) to insert the phrase as
needed.
To
delete something from your file just select the text and
click Edit>>Delete or press
Del on your Keyboard.
You can also use  from keyboard
to delete text backwards.
Add
a Date and Time stamp to your files by clicking on Edit>>Time/Date to get to know
when you composed the file, to quickly add Date and Time
press
F5 on your keyboard.
Keyboard shortcuts are very useful, you can do tasks a
lot faster using them.
A shortcut can be found besides each command.
Locate anything in your text file using Find without going
through all the file with your eyes, just click F3 for a
quick Search or select Search>>Find... type the word
you want to search for, you can also specify a direction
for searching so the program can look below or above the
current position. If you're at beginning of document Down
is default, use Match case to search for
AWORD and not aword
if you have "ONE" and "one" you can search separately for "ONE"
without hitting any "one".
Use Find Next to conduct the
same search over and over or press F3. When Windows
cannot find "aword" this means that you don't
have any matches.
WordWrap allows you to warp long lines so you'll never
exceed the window limits. Click Edit>>WordWrap to turn it on/off
The
application itself can give you a hand, just click Help>>Help
Topics to know more about one particular
subject, use Index/Search to find
a word or Content to
browse all subjects inside Help file.
About
NotePad provides info about the software:
software company, program version you're using and to
whom the product is licensed: normally your name should
be there.
About
... command can be found in all application
just click Help>>About...
A
useful feature for printing is Page Setup click File>>Page
Setup..
This command let you control the page layout: A4 or
letter size, take
a look at the preview window to see how
the page will print.
When printing, you can also print information at the top/bottom
of each page in the file. To have Notepad print
information in the header/footer, use the following
character combinations.
Insert the file's name &f
Insert the date.
&d
Insert the time. &t
Insert page numbers. &p
Insert a & mark &&
Align to the left, center, right. &l,
&c, &r
To get the complete list of available commands, open Page
Setup window click on ?
near  when your mouse
pointer turns like this  click
on Header or Footer field,
a yellow window displays all commands.
Click New to create a new file and Open to open an
existing file
NotePad
will always warn you to save your current file if you
forgot
to do so.
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