To change the encoding of a String using .NET you can use this Extension Method which is part of the Fesslersoft.Extensions. This method needs a source and a target encoding. Some people might find the source encoding parameter needless, but as Joel stated in his excellent blogpost

“It does not make sense to have a string without knowing what encoding it uses” (Joel Spolsky)

Samples

Sample C#

public static string ChangeEncoding(this string input, Encoding sourceEncoding, Encoding targetEncoding)
{
	byte[] utfBytes = sourceEncoding.GetBytes(input);
	byte[] isoBytes = Encoding.Convert(sourceEncoding, targetEncoding, utfBytes);
	return targetEncoding.GetString(isoBytes);
}

VB.NET Sample

<System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Extension> _
Public Shared Function ChangeEncoding(input As String, sourceEncoding As Encoding, targetEncoding As Encoding) As String
	Dim utfBytes As Byte() = sourceEncoding.GetBytes(input)
	Dim isoBytes As Byte() = Encoding.Convert(sourceEncoding, targetEncoding, utfBytes)
	Return targetEncoding.GetString(isoBytes)
End Function

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Related links:

• Encoding.GetBytes (MSDN)
• Encoding.GetString Method (MSDN)
• Encoding.Convert Method (MSDN)
• The Absolute Minimum Every Software Developer Absolutely, Positively Must Know About Unicode and Character Sets (No Excuses!) (Joel on Software)
• Character encoding (WIKIPEDIA)