The problem was in my stream reader bytes = stream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length); strMessage += Encoding.ASCII.GetString(buffer, 0, bytes); replasing it with Encoding.Default.GetString(buffer, 0, bytes); gave me the correct format. But my problem dosen't stop there, for now I wan't the FileSize of the file, this i do by: Byte[] cmdBytes = Encoding.Default.GetBytes(("SIZE Berlinerbolle bringebær.doc"+ "\r\n").ToCharArray()); stream.Write(cmdBytes, 0, cmdBytes.Length); but then I get the "550 Berlinerbolle bringebær.doc: The system cannot find the file specified. ". I've tried different types of encoding but it all returns somewhat the same error. So now the quetsion is how do I sett the Encoding for an ftp site on a windows 2000 server run by IIS?