My document is encoded how do I read it?

[amanda]

when I downloaded my document and tried to open it in microsoft it was
encoded. How do I get it where I can read it?

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

Maybe it's a pdf, and you can't open it in "microsoft" but only in
"adobe" (or one of the many pdf readers out there).

By "microsoft," you mean Word? By "adobe," I mean Adobe Reader, which
you can get for free from just about anywhere.

 

[JoAnn Paules]

How do you know it's encoded and not corrupt?