Can't parse "bad" characters - need help

Question

Hey everyone, this should be simple. I am trying to parse (DOM parser) and XML string that has some funky characters in it. I am getting the following error:
Illegal XML character: & # x 1 d ; (had to use spaces so that it would print out properly...otherwise: 
I have a findAndReplace method that I can use to replace the bad characters with their proper values (copy paste from Word to notepad of single quotes really screws things up), but I can't seem to get it to work. What should I pass in to be replaced? I know that this is a hexadecimal for '29', but I can't seem to get my findAndReplace to work by passing in &#x1d, & # x 1 d ;, or java.lang.String.valueOf(29). Please help, thanks!
FYI...here's my findAndReplace method.
public static String findAndReplace(String original, String replaceThis, String withThis) {
if (original==null || replaceThis==null || withThis==null) {
return null;
int i = original.indexOf(replaceThis);
if (i == -1) {
return original;
int replaceThisSize = replaceThis.length();
int withThisSize = withThis.length();
while (i != -1) {
String beforeString = original.substring(0, i);
String afterString = original.substring(i + replaceThisSize);
original = beforeString + withThis + afterString;
i = original.indexOf(replaceThis, i + withThisSize);
return original;

Answer 1

warnerja, you're right. That character should not be
there. However, I can not guarantee that it will not
be there as it comes from a different system and
people are pasting Word docs into this system all the
time. You can train people all you want, but they
don't always listen. So, I need to make sure my code
doesn't blow up when the do do this. Hence my issue.I'd follow the GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) principle. Are you also going to need to code it to read their minds when they provide no sensible input whatsoever, like:
<hey, figure this>junk<out/>man</hey, figure this>