You first have to know what the file is, what program created it, in addition to 
the version of program (if something like MS Word) created it and/or what version 
it was saved as, before it was sent to you.  Notepad and Wordpad handle only the 
basic word processor files (such as Office 95 docs) and can not handle many of the 
MS office/word formats since then.

Ask the sender what program, version, and "saved as" version the files were created 
in.  You then have to use a program able to open and read the files correctly if 
Notepad and Wordpad can't do it.

A free app that can handle most doc files is "Open Office" but not sure if newer 
versions work on Win 9X.  I've had problems with it handling some file formats correctly 
and crashing so can't endorse it whole heartedly, but it may work for you if you 
need something to read the files.

Also make sure they aren't compressed.  you would have to decompress them first. 
 What is the file extension?  (3 digit extension after the dot--  Example:  myfile.zip 
)







On Friday, April 11, 2008 at 6:22 pm, Terry wrote:

>I rec'd an email attachment and when I opened it a window popped up asking me which 

>program to open attachment with. I chose wordpad and open attachment was scrambled. 

>Now all attachments open scrambled in wordpad. How do i change the program to something 

>that will open attachments so I can read them?

>Thanks 

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