Create Binary file of text that notepad can't read - vb.net

Question

I am attempting to create a binary file that is not readable by notepad in windows. This file needs to contain text information. The current code I run is readable in notepad (with a few extra characters here and there, but still human readable). Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Using writer As BinaryWriter = New BinaryWriter(File.Open("file.bin", FileMode.Create))
writer.Write(rtbWriter.Text)
End Using

Answer 1

All files can be read by notepad - whether it is binary or not. If you don't want the text to be readable (or to be more accurate - understandable), consider using encryption.
EDIT: For an introduction on how to use encryption, see the link below to see how to use the 3DES cryptographic service provider in VB.NET:
simple encrypting / decrypting in VB.Net

Answer 2

*A more sophisticated approach would chain together the File Stream and Crypto Stream...
...but here's a very simple example showing how to encrypt/decrypt individual strings so you have something to play with and learn from:
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Security.Cryptography
Public Class Form1
Private Key As String = "SomeRandomKeyThatIsHardCoded"
Private data As New List(Of String)
Private DataFileName As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.MyDocuments, "SomeFile.txt")
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
' Some data to play with:
data.Add("User X, Access Y")
data.Add("User Y, Access Z")
data.Add("User Z, Access A")
ListBox1.DataSource = data
End Sub
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
' Write out each entry in encrypted form:
Using SW As New StreamWriter(DataFileName, False)
For Each entry As String In data
SW.WriteLine(Crypto.Encrypt(entry, Key))
Next
End Using
End Sub
Private Sub Button2_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
data.Clear()
ListBox1.DataSource = Nothing
' Read each encrypted line and decrypt it:
Using SR As New System.IO.StreamReader(DataFileName)
While Not SR.EndOfStream
data.Add(Crypto.Decrypt(SR.ReadLine, Key))
End While
End Using
ListBox1.DataSource = data
End Sub
End Class
Public Class Crypto
Private Shared DES As New TripleDESCryptoServiceProvider
Private Shared MD5 As New MD5CryptoServiceProvider
Public Shared Function MD5Hash(ByVal value As String) As Byte()
Return MD5.ComputeHash(ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetBytes(value))
End Function
Public Shared Function Encrypt(ByVal stringToEncrypt As String, ByVal key As String) As String
DES.Key = Crypto.MD5Hash(key)
DES.Mode = CipherMode.ECB
Dim Buffer As Byte() = ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetBytes(stringToEncrypt)
Return Convert.ToBase64String(DES.CreateEncryptor().TransformFinalBlock(Buffer, 0, Buffer.Length))
End Function
Public Shared Function Decrypt(ByVal encryptedString As String, ByVal key As String) As String
Try
DES.Key = Crypto.MD5Hash(key)
DES.Mode = CipherMode.ECB
Dim Buffer As Byte() = Convert.FromBase64String(encryptedString)
Return ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetString(DES.CreateDecryptor().TransformFinalBlock(Buffer, 0, Buffer.Length))
Catch ex As Exception
Return ""
End Try
End Function
End Class