can't add words to dictionary

I have tried adding words to a dictionary to no avail.  I created the 
dictionary just fine (aspell --lang=en_US create master ./claimswl < 
claims.txt) and I know my test is using it.

I have tried this:

aspell -d claimswl.rws -a
*testword
a#
ctrl+c

Also, when using aspell interactively (aspell --d claimswl -c 
dougfile.txt), I type a for add and the word is never added.

I have verified I have administrative rights to the file and the folder.

I can't seem to follow the instructions for creating a personal word 
list as it requires the file to start with a period (.), something 
windows will not let me do?

I have been reading the documentation for 6 hours and it seems to be 
extremely lacking.

Doug
------
The information contained in this email and any attachments is confidential and may be subject to copyright or other intellectual property protection. If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorized to use or disclose this information, and we request that you notify us by reply mail or telephone and delete the original message from your mail system.