e> When one reads in a binary file to the display it
  e> has the chance of somehow altering the characters
  e> that are used to print normal text so its
  e> unreadable and scrambled up. Loging that term out
  e> doesnt have any effect. How is it that this can be
  e> fixed or prevented ?

cat -v filename

should do it for you. The man page for cat(1) says
about that option:

       -v, --show-nonprinting
              use ^ and M- notation, except for LFD and TAB

-- 
Lynn David Newton
Phoenix, AZ