A slightly modified version of Brian's answer allows optional management of read start, This seems to be the easiest method. probably not the most efficient, but easy to understand and use.
Public Function ReadAll(ByVal memStream As MemoryStream, Optional ByVal startPos As Integer = 0) As String
' reset the stream or we'll get an empty string returned
' remember the position so we can restore it later
Dim Pos = memStream.Position
memStream.Position = startPos
Dim reader As New StreamReader(memStream)
Dim str = reader.ReadToEnd()
' reset the position so that subsequent writes are correct
memStream.Position = Pos
Return str
End Function