i can print out unicode characters to screen just fine but I cannot save the into a file properly?
What class are you using to write the unicode characters?
Do you really want unicode or do you want ASCII?
Unicode characters use 2 bytes. With ASCII text every other byte will be a binary 0 which will display as a ? or square with most text editors. Do you have a hex editor that you can use to look at the files you are reading and writing?