Thanks for your reply. Yes his files have a .doc extension. He has used
Word many times and knows how to save files . Of his last 5 Word files
, he said he saved them all the same way he always does, 3  have this
coded look. One he emailed to school as an atachment. and that file was
sent correctly. but when he went to open the original later it was
coded. The other 4 were not sent email. 2 look coded. I don't know what
they looked like when he saved them because he didn't reopen them right
after saving. as far as cutting and pasting , there is nothing but J's
on all the pages. I take it there's no way to view in a different
manner?  Thanks  again,  John