My other laptop is an Inspiron 1545 and does NOT have a numeric keyboard. The one I'm using now does have one and by using:
Fn + Alt 0151, I have the ability to generate an em dash.

Does anyone happen to know how I can create an em dash on a keyboard which has no numeric pad and when programs don't autocorrect consecutive hyphens like MS Word does?

Thank you

Answer:
Are you sure it has no numeric keypad? My laptop does not have a true numeric keypad, but my 7,8,9,u,i,o,j,k,l,m keys, when numlock is on, act as a “numpad”. (I have to push Fn + ScrollLock to turn numlock on. It's painful, but it works…)

Alternatively, there’s Character Map. Push begin, push run, type “charmap”, and hit enter. (It's also in Program Files -> Accessories -> System Tools, if I recall correctly.)
charmap will show you all the characters a font has, em dash should be among them. (Fonts like Arial Unicode have more characters. The characters are in order by unicode code point - em dash is U+2014)

Finally, you can copy & paste from the web. Googling for “unicode [character you want]” will usually get it.

Answer:
from wikipedia:
On Microsoft Windows, an em dash might be entered as Alt+0151, where the digits are typed on the numeric keypad while holding the Alt key down. It can also be entered into Microsoft Office applications by using the Ctrl-Alt-hyphen combination.

that's a good question, but it looks like you're stuck without a numeric keypad. Unless your browser has a way to do it.
a double or triple hyphen is close enough, people will know what you mean by it.

EDIT: actually, the guy/girl above me was right. press win+r and type “charmap” and click ok.
on the bottom left you will see “U+####”
scroll down til U+2014, which is the em dash.
click it and press select and then copy, and it will be on your clipboard.
ctrl+v, and there you go, an em dash!
—
=]

Answer:
Alt+196 ─