2003.05.06 14:54 "Decode Message : Help/", by Harring Figueiredo

2003.05.06 15:07 "RE: Decode Message : Help/", by John Carter

at a guess (seeing code word) I'd say there's a problem with LZW decoding.
55 = 00000110111 assuming 11 bit code
1864 = 11101001000

can you open the tiff file with something like hexedit and use the scan offsets to confirm that the image file is ok.

how does it know what to expect