PythonWin error and crash

[d. savitsky]

greetings all,

why i would do this is certainly a good question, but if i do something like
this to 'open' a bitmap in PythonWin
>>> x = open('somefile.bmp').read()
>>> # things are okay at this point
>>> x

i get an error saying
'The instruction at "0x00007cf8" referenced memory at "0x00007cf8". The
memory could not be "read".
Click on OK to terminate the program
Click on Cancel to debug the program'

if i do the same from the command prompt i get a long string of numbers.
i am at the beginnings (the very beginnings) of learning about graphics
files.  i thought i would maybe 'look' at one. very very small bitmaps (3x3
pixels) opened fine.  this particular error was caused by a 50x50 pixel
bitmap.

The details are Python 1.5.2, PythonWin 132, Windows 2000, 700mhz, 256mb.
The bitmap itself was created in Photoshop 4.01.

doug