how do i translate symbols and squares in a word document?

[vabob13]

I received an document in an e-mail, when I opened it in word all I saw was
symbols and squares. How do I translate the document into something I can
understand and read?

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

Are you certain that the email attachment is a Word document?

If the attachment is a Word 2007 .docx file and you have Word 2003 or
earlier, then you need to install the Office 2007 compatibility pack as
described in http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=923505 "How to install
the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack so that you can use earlier
versions of Excel, PowerPoint, and Word to open and to save files from
2007 Office programs".