I get the same message when I try and open a gcode in mach3.."bad character used line 0"     and there is no picture.  The code looks like this...   
code:
(cutoff)
auto optimization=1
climb cut=0
code snip=1
comment=

...so on and so forth

 This is the same for both new drawings from draftsight and previous files that I had already cut.   I am new to cnc and bought a viper last fall.   It came with draftsight, sheetcam and mach3.   Their tech dept won't respond to my questions so I am on my own and pretty frustrated. The sheetcam and mach3 were already loaded on the machine...so...I don't have a cd to reload mach3...HELP   thanks

Would really need to see the rest of your code but the first few lines you posted are not legal G Code.
If they are meant to simply be comments then they should be surrounded by parentheses the same as the first line is.
Hood

you really want me to type out all the code...I wrote them out this morning and it took  an hour...typing would triple that time. I could scan what I wrote and email that to you if I had your email address
paul_boccolucci@yahoo.com

that's
paul   underscore   boccolucci@yahoo.com

Try copy and paste. Remember, your using a computer, not a typewriter.

You can just attach the code from the reply page by using the additional options button.
Hood