Rob Cheng
Dave Methvin
Steve Hogan
Lyle Schuknecht
Bill ZahrenNotepad Tips and Tricks
A day does not go by that I do not use Notepad. As a heavy Notepad user, here's some quick Notepad tips and suggestions.
Note taking - We are now in the digital age. When talking on the phone, if someone says "Got a pen?". I say "Yes", and I open Notepad. One problem that I have is that I don't save all my notes. Then when Windows reboots without asking, I lose my notes. Wouldn't it be cool if Notepad had an autosave feature like Word?
Writing for a web site - I prefer to write my PC Pitstop articles in Notepad because Word puts a lot of formatting junk that makes a mess of the HTML. So normally, I write the article in Notepad, then place the tags on the article and then paste it onto the web site. Wouldn't it be cool if Notepad had a spell checker?
Writing code - I have been doing my personal web site in PHP, and I usually use Notepad. But man, Notepad is really lacking for coding purposes. My wish list is long but the key features would be a more robust undo function, and also color coding PHP code.
Here's some big news. There are ton of alternatives for Notepad. I am currently writing this blog using Notepad2. Just type "notepad alternative" into your favorite search engine and there are hundreds of great and free replacements for Notepad.
And that's the point behind this article. Notepad was introduced close to 20 years ago in Windows 3.0. One would think that in 20 years, a company as rich, powerful and innovative as Microsoft would figure out how to put a spell checker into Notepad. Microsoft should be committed to continually improving their products, and not just settling for good enough.
Enough railing. Here's another Notepad tip. Have you ever tried to move information between a web page and Excel? It can be maddening. All these artifacts show up in Excel and it's hard to get rid of them. Or worse yet, the information may show up in one big humongous cell. Sometimes there is an hour glass for up to 5 minutes when trying to paste into Excel. What's the solution? Notepad. Highlight the information on the web page. And then paste the information into Notepad. Highlight and copy the information from Notepad. Then Paste Special into Excel choosing Unicode. Try it sometime. It's a great way to make a cool chart from data on a web page.
But now I'm back to railing again. I think that there are a lot of people that want to move data from web pages into Excel. After all of this time, shouldn't there be an easier way?
HEY MICROSOFT. This is not rocket science. We put a man on the moon in less than 20 years. Is it so much to ask to put a few basic features into your products? I am not angry nor am I being facetious. This is serious. It is happening all around us. People are moving to alternative operating systems every day. The issues in front of you guys are not insurmountable, but you guys need to WAKE UP!
May 16th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Microsoft reminds me of the big 3 automakers back in the early 90's. Mr Gates & co are just now realizing that if they don't innovate, update and improve their products they will be left in the dust. Look at the rise in popularity of Linux based systems. And don't even talk to me about Vista! Microsoft's Edsel! All I ask for is something simple to use, STABLE, and doesn't take a terabyte of storage.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Which of several programs all called Notepad2do you use?
None of us want to install a baddy called Notepad2.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Hi chengrob
I'm using Notepad++ and have a plugin installed that checks speling. Its an awe inspiring piece of software and its free. Like you I use my Notepad variant every day. writing web page content, blog entries and email messages then just pasting them into the application. Maybe for once MS has just decided to keep things simple for a change with Notepad
May 16th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Thanks for the tip for alternatives to Notepad - I'll check them out. But, it's nice to have something simple like Notepad from MS - I use it every day and enjoy it for its very simplicity.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I also use Notepad extensively and have recently begun using Notepad++ to do quick updates to HTML pages when I don't want to bother with a full WYSIWYG editor or don't have access to one. Also, Notepad++ will run from a USB drive!! When editing HTML (or other code types) it color codes the various elements and indents. So cool! I've never seen a FREE program as useful as this one.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Note to Geoff: what you're using isn't enough to correct your poor writing skills! "Speling" instead of "spelling," "its" should be "it's" and that period after "day" should be a comma. Sometimes one is better off to use a full-featured word processor, but - unfortunately - even a grammar checker wouldn't have caught the redundant "for a change" after the "for once" in your last sentence.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I switched from Notepad to Metapad several years ago. It works much like notepad, but has a quick exit feature (escape key)which prompts for a save before exiting. It also supports a transparency mode, allowing you to make notes about material on another screen without constantly alt/tabbing…you can see both documents at the same time without changing windows display settings.
May 16th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Note to W Junger — WOW! Another "speling" nitpicker just like me — and Geoff's "awe inspiring" should be hyphenated, since "awe" is the object of the participle.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I use Crimson Editor. Spell checking, keyword coloring (syntax highlighting) for known filetypes, line numbering, autosave, macros, and loads more. http://www.crimsoneditor.com
May 16th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
"Bob Wildman Says:
Note to W Junger — WOW! Another "speling" nitpicker just like me — and Geoff's "awe inspiring" should be hyphenated, since "awe" is the object of the participle."
Mrs. Hutchison would be so proud of you guys. Most of us can't even define 'participle' anymore, let alone save one from dangling…
I vote for Notepad++ as well. It's simple when you need simple and fully featured when you need that. A great little proggy.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Why screw with a program that is perfect for what it was designed for? I look at notepad as the gui version of the dos edit program. It wasn't a feature packed editor either but was good enough to create and edit batch files. Much better than the old line editor, remember that one?
May 17th, 2008 at 12:15 am
God said.. " let there be light and there was light " Chengrob said " i want a spell checker and here comes W Junger "
May 17th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Anytime I want to copy just the text from a web site with no formating, pix and advertisements, I copy and paste into NoteTab Light. I've been using it for some years now and it has never let me down. Plus it's search and replace tool works quite fast.
- Brian
May 17th, 2008 at 2:37 am
I use sync notes
Then I have all my notes on all the PC´s. Home, work and laptop.
May 17th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Note to Bob Wildman -
is that more than one Geoff?
Or perhaps you meant to type Geoff's?
May 17th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Note to W Junger
I should have used a colon after day not a comma; as I was introducing a list. My usual problem is very looongg sentences, using commas, to make my statements easier to read; MS Word does not suggest fewer commas, as, I suppose, but don't know -well not for sure- that technically one can do so; that is use lots of commas! You're right about the "its" I am always doing it. Just to see what MS Word would do to what I had written I copied and pasted my post above and run the spell check (but altered "writing" to "Writing" it accepted the text except for "speling". I also have StyleWriter and decided to check the post with that software - it did not regard the "for a change" as being redundant. And it's not, as the meaning is: that MS software tends to be bloated and anything but simple (well you know what I mean!). I also ran this message through StyleWriter, part from objecting to the sentence above with 45 words it didn't find anything else wrong (except for wanting "plug-in") with it. (whereas I would have thought it should have objected to "part" which should be "apart")
I deliberately used "speling" For a larff!
May 17th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Most Notepad replacements are big and unnecessarily bloated for most text jobs. At 90 KB, metapad is my notepad-replacer of choice.
May 17th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Notepad exists since Windows 3.0 but Edit.exe exists since early DOS years and still available on Vista!
Simply enter "Edit" in Start->Run editbox and enjoy
May 17th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Notepad++ is amazing. Definitely check it out
May 17th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I also use Outlook's "Notes" facility. They look like sticky notes but actually they are like a Tardis as hundreds of words can be pasted in to a single note. They add the date and you don't need to save them as they autosave when the notes is closed. The user can search them as well which is quite handy.
May 17th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Gee IF it was easy , we would have all kinds of time our our hands!!HAHHA but I agree that with so many programs it gets confusing the older we get. Gee, some pepole still refuse to get a computer orhave one but the still don't know how to use it with all the confussion?? I don't have Excel and my boss sends me things in the program, I get frustrated not know which program to retrive it in ?? But LIVE GOES ON!! WORK until you figure it out or else??
May 17th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
If you are looking for a really good notepad replacement and aren't afraid to learn some shortcut keys, then try VIM. It was originally used on *nix based systems, but they made a windows port that isn't too shabby. I will warn however it uses some very non-microsoft key conventions (like moving the cursor with the 'h' 'j' 'k' 'l' keys.) So if you are willing to learn a little, then this editor is a great choice for fast editing of most code.(Even does the fancy colorcode for easier editing.)
Cheers
May 17th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Right click the desktop,
create a new text document,
Open it and write "this app can break" (Without quotes),
Close it and save.
Open it again.
It fails!
This does not happen with any other text editors!!!!
Sort it out MS!
May 17th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Thanks for the useful tip, Eldad Kuperman!
May 17th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
'Microsoft Works' = oxymoron
May 18th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Clip Trak
May 18th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
You may be wasting your time on your recommendation of copy/paste data from a webpage to Notepad and then into an Excel worksheet.
Just copy the URL on the webpage with the data, open a new workbook, click on Data, then Import External Data, then New Web query. Paste the URL into address bar, click OK, and when the web page comes up, select the tables or tables to pull the data directly, click Import, and the data will download into the worksheet.
May 18th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
For all my text editing, programming code, data manipulations, etc. I have been using
Boxer Software's Text Editor since 1992. It is WONDERFUL. Boxer upgrades it regularly but I have not, as yet, tried their HTML editor, but will soon.
I deal in massive amounts of data and their macros are superb (with keystroke recording).
It will bankrupt you at %59.99 and their upgrades usually run around $10.
Try it, you'll like it.
http://www.boxersoftware.com/
John Hathorn
President of Applied Meteorology, Inc.
May 18th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
One alternative (without spellchecking) is:
-open microsoft WORDPAD
-put a few textletters there
-highlight the text
-drag the highlighted text to the desktop
-close wordpad (you do not have to save)
-change the name of the icon, if you wish
-this is a good working pad, like-"do you have a pen…"
-never needs saving (leaves itself as is
May 19th, 2008 at 9:15 am
1 use notepad2 that's what it is called. are there others named that same name? there are directions on the developers site to replace windows notepad with notepad2
and i am typing in all lowercase because i like ee cummings
people who complain about spelling on a blog either are perfect typists or don't have enough to do. lighten up, laugh a bit, your ulcers will thank you.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Robert Smith,
Thank you. I did not know the Get External Data features was to import from IE. I just ran a test and it worked great.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I have been using RogSoft Notepad+ for the past 5 years or so. It's a very small application but performs extremely well for any text based file. The best part of it is it's FREEEEE!!!! Give it a try - http://www.mypeecee.org/rogsoft/ is the home page for this product. Oh and by the way, if I've mis-spelled or used improper grammar - GET OVER IT!