Change keyboard output

Ok, so I know a lot of programs will change ' into ‘ or ’ and " into “ or ” - like word for example. But I get sick of typing Alt+0145 (etc) into progs which don't recognise that I'm trying to write an inverted comma or apostrophe... ...or an ellipsis for that matter...

...so, do any of yous geeks know how I can change the keys 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc. to output ‘, ’, “, ”, –, — etc?

Also, am I right in thinking that 1234567890 are “spare” keys since I have two of each of them (my keyboard has a number pad on the right)?

Thanks chums! Toodle...
Later yo.

I would use autoit.
You could make a script that would pop up a dialog box when you hit your "trigger" key. In this dialog box you could have a button for each special character you want.
When you click that button it could insert the character you choose.

There are alot of ways to do it with autoit, the best way would depend on what program you are using.

Or while typing you could just hit 5 or 6 or whatever button you want, and then when you are done you could use find and replace to change all of the 5's or 6's into what ever character you choose.

Or you could pay for some software like this: http://www.keychange.com/

Or maybe you can find a free program that is made for this if you search google for terms like "free key changer".