opening an rar file.

it appears to be similar to a ZIP file...

Have no problems with opening zip files. This one when I try to open asks for the program I want it opened to. Have no Idea what that is or I even have that program on my computer.

maybe they can re-send as a .ZIP instead...

You need to have the WINRAR program to open a RAR file.
You can download a 40 days trial version from here:
http://www.download.com/3000-2250-10007677.html
Once installed, just right click the file and choose Extract Here or Extract Files or Extract To a special folder just as you deal with WINZIP program.

Cyanure

Thanks for the heads up.