special characters in query string

["Tanner Postert" <tanner.postert@xxxxxxxxx>]

i am trying to send a query string in a query string..

i need to send a dynamic script as a variable to a flash object so i am trying to use the special characters to get the page to show up but i keep getting a 404... example:

<embed src="" variables='file=www.example.com/index.php%3Fid=%3D1&color=black&user=5' />

the problem is, when i bring up: http://www.example.com/index.php%3Fid=%3D1, i get a 404, but when i bring up index.php?id=1, it works fine. 

is there a configuration change i can do, or a rewrite i can put in to make this work?