emacs on Windows: .emacs is no valid file name

Question

I've found out where to put my .emacs file, but it seems it can't begin with a ".".

I tried naming it "emacs" or "_emacs", but how can I find out if it is used?

Answer 1

You can always create the file using Emacs itself: C-x C-f ~/.emacs. The ~ represents your home directory, which you can set as environment variable HOME.

Answer 2

Have a look at this page and this one for start up instructions.