Hi,
I use UltraEdit32 - this will take the files in question, and then convert them to a dos format.
You can download a 30 day trial (I think) from their site
www.ultraedit.com - there are other similar products available.
I know that with txt files if I am viewing the site in IE, it will open up the txt file also in IE. If this is the case then I cut and paste to UE and work on updating the files using that.
I also never tend to use threads to edit my templates - always prefer to do it outside.
I would never suggest using Word, or FrontPage or anything like that as it tends to think it knows what to do - and believe me with some of these files - it don't