HexPad

HexPad is a feather-light and portable application you can use to find out the hexadecimal code of any string of characters. It's also possible to perform the operation the other way around, by entering hex code to discover the message behind it. Information can be saved to file for closer inspection and safekeeping.

View text and hex code

The interface is represented by a small window split into two vertical panes. You can either enter text on the left side to view its hex counterpart on the right, or vice versa.
The status bar reveals the selected hex character. There's also a basic search tool available, which can find the next occurrence of the specified string.

Quickly translate text and hex

Worth noting is that the translation is carried out in real time, so there's no need to click any buttons to confirm the action, in order to undo your changes if you're not satisfied with the results. The text or hex code can be saved to file (.txt format) by just specifying the output directory. There are no options implemented for indicating the file name.
Furthermore, HexPad has a simple text editor called "QEdit", which enables you to type, select and copy text. However, it doesn't have options for opening or saving files. Apart from the fact that keyboard shortcuts are supported, there are no other notable features.

No setup required

The entire program's packed in a single .exe file that you can save to a preferred directory on the disk or copy to a USB flash drive, in order to seamlessly run it on any computer with as little effort as possible.
It doesn't need DLLs or other components to work properly, create files on the disk without your permission, or add new entries to your system registry. In order to uninstall it, you simply have to delete its executable.

Evaluation and conclusion

It worked smoothly in our tests, without causing the operating system to hang, crash or indicate errors. Unsurprisingly, CPU and RAM consumption was minimal, so it didn't hamper the machine's performance.
Although it doesn't have a rich set of features, HexPad offers a simple and straightforward solution for viewing the hex code of any text, and vice versa.