Win98 Prn to file problem

Win 98 SE

What is the best way to strip out the contents of a prn file so that only the normal readable characters are left?

I have tried the generic print / text driver and it causes the output program to freeze. It does no freeze if I outputto disk from a HP4 printer driver. However it is very hard to work out where the printer control characters end and the text begins.

Does anyone know of a simple printer driver that adds no printer control characters and is not the windows supplied generic/ text driver.