Quick Tip

006-2007

Create a Captain's Log with Notepad.

TIP:  Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad.  When the Notepad window opens type .LOG (make sure you enter this all in  uppercase).  Press Enter twice.  Then choose File and Save.  The Save As window opens in My Documents.  Click on the create a new folder icon in the tool bar.  (It’s the one that looks like a folder with a starburst on the right side).  Name the new folder and press the Enter key.  Double click on the new folder to open it.  Look toward the bottom of the Save As window for a box called File Name.  Type a name for your file.  Then click Save.  Next close the notepad window.
 

Open My Documents, find the folder you named, double click to open it.  Inside you will see the file you created using Notepad.  Right click on that file and you will get a drop down menu.  Go down the menu to Send To and a new menu will open. Go to Desktop (create shortcut) and click. Close the folder window and you will see a new shortcut on the desktop.

Click, hold and drag that icon to the Quick Launch area of the taskbar so that you can easily access it any time.  You can delete the shortcut on the desktop or leave it, either way it won’t affect the program.
 

Next, open the file.  Notepad adds the date and the time to the next line of the file and moves the cursor to the next line so you can start typing.  It will do the same every time you open the file.  Before saving and closing the file, you may want to press ENTER once or twice to put some space between the text you just typed and the next date/time stamp.  You can copy (highlight what you want to copy, press Ctrl + C) and paste it (Ctrl + V) instead of typing after the date/time stamp.