Using Æ, Ø, and Å on the computer First, here is some information about entering the decimal codes required to produce the characters. To see what the decimal codes mean, look at the history of the digitation of Æ, Ø, and Å.  1. Press the Num Lock key on the numeric keyboard on the right-hand side of the keyboard until the light on your keyboard goes on and stays on. This light is either marked as Num Lock or has the number 1 next to it. 2. Press the ALT key next to the spacebar on your keyboard and hold it down 3. Enter the decimal code 4. Release the ALT code, and your character will appear

Here are the codes that you should use:

Note that while English opening and ending quotation marks in publications are " and ", the Norwegian quotation marks are « and ». 

Once you have practiced writing with decimal codes it comes as natural as typing standard characters.

The four-digit codes and the three-digit codes produce the same results where indicated. Note that these decimal codes can be entered in any program on your computer. Well, almost. The three-digit codes will work in any program on your computer, while the four-digit codes can only be used in Windows-based programs. 

You may find that other (higher) number combinations also produce the same characters. This is because this number sequence repeats after 256, so the entering the code 65425 will produce an æ. Here's how you can do the math. (65425/256)=255.57. Take the integer 255*256=65280 Now, take 65,425 - 65,280 = 145, the same as the code in the table above. I have never found a practical use for this knowledge, except for knowing how why. And sometimes someone might ask you, and it will be nice to know.

Complicated ways of writing with Æ, Ø, and Å

Install an additional keyboard driver

You can switch to a Norwegian keyboard layout by specifying Norwegian as an additional language. If you have a Norwegian keyboard, just replace the one that you have with the Norwegian one, and you are set to go. the only problem occurs when you want to write in English again, because the keys that you are used to having in certain places are no longer there. Installing an additional keyboard driver, however, lets you switch back and forth between the two settings pretty easily. Most of the keys are the same, but the ;(semicolon)-key is replaced by Ø, the '(apostrophe)-key is replaced by Æ, and the [(bracket)-key is replaced by Å. Here's how to do it:

Start > Settings > Control Panel > Keyboard > Language > Add

Select Norwegian and decide which hot-key you want to use to switch back and forth between the two keyboard settings. Adding Norwegian to your keyboard drivers requires that you have the Windows CD.

Use character map

You can go to the character map and insert any character from the map, including Æ, Ø, and Å in any application as follows:

Start > Programs > Accesstories > System tools > Character Map

Just click on one or more characters that you want to use, then click on Copy. then go back to your application and paste the characters in.

Even more complicated ways of writing with Æ, Ø, and Å using Word

First option

Using the control (Ctrl), Microsoft Word allows you to write Norwegian characters by combining characters with the various accent marks found on the keyboard. Here's how it's done. To produce Æ in Word, hold down the Control key and press &. Then release both keys and type A. The character Æ should appear. Note that you must press Shift and 7 to key in the & and Shift and A to key in the A. Here are the codes that you can use in Word to produce the Norwegian characters:

Second option

You can enter any character in Word as a hexadecimal code. Hold down the ALT key and type x. This converts the preceding hexadecimal code into the character. For hexadecimal codes, click here.

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