how do I get spell check on word pad?

Word Pad doesn't have a spell checker so it cannot be done without some helper program...

Here is a link that talks about spell checking in Word Pad: http://malektips.com/windows_xp_wordpad_0002.html

However I would recommend downloading and installing OpenOffice which will give you spell check and grammar check and much much more.

http://filehippo.com/download_openoffice/

Wordpad does not come with a spell checker. It is intended for basic word processing. For spell checking, you would need something like Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org Writer.