How do I manually create a file with a . (dot) prefix in Windows? For example, .htaccess

Question

I want to create a .htaccess file manually and discovered it seems impossible through the Windows UI. I get a "you must type a filename." message. There has to be a way to create files with . as a prefix in Windows.

Can this be done manually?

Answer 1

If you start Notepad and then File -> Save As -> Write .htaccess and choose "All Files" as the type - then it will create the .htaccess file for you.