emacs spellcheck (especially on windows) #emacs

.emacs

; configure the f8 function key for spell checking
(global-set-key [f8] 'ispell-word)
(global-set-key [(shift f8)] 'ispell-buffer)

; enable flyspell mode for text-mode
(add-hook 'text-mode-hook
	  (lambda ()
	    (flyspell-mode t)
	    (auto-fill-mode)
	    ))

(if (eq system-type 'windows-nt)
    (progn ; This is the "then"
      (message "you are on windows ...")
      ;; spellcheck
      (setq-default ispell-program-name "c:/Program Files (x86)/Aspell/bin/aspell.exe")
      (setq ispell-personal-dictionary (concat (getenv "HOME") "/.ispell_dictionary"))
      )
  
  ;; the rest is the "else"
  (message "you are NOT on windows!")
  )

My starting point for setting up emacs aspell/ispell spellchecking was
http://www.johndcook.com/blog/emacs_windows/#aspell. My summary is:

Install the aspell for windows (Yes, this release of aspell is from 2002, but it works and there is not a newer release that I could find anywhere!) and your dictionary of choice. If the installer for the dictionary warns you about Aspell already installed, ignore the warning and proceed.