Windows 7 Special characters insead of alphabet

helpifIcan · Oct 8, 2011

Strange problem about a month ago maybe once every 4 to 10 days the PC boots up and all the characters are strange, instead of the usual alpabet they are spercial characters. I do a system restore and all is fine. If anyone has any thoughts on this as how to solve this short of reloading windows. I included a screen shot to help with understanding what happens.Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Link Removed

Trouble · Oct 8, 2011

helpifIcan:
Seems that this issue has been around for a while, dating back at least to Windows XP and from a little research seems to be linked with Windows Updates coupled with perhaps an overzealous AntiVirus program (which one is unknown, at least I can't find any reference to it).
The fix as you seemed to have already discovered is either a system restore to a point in time prior to the problem having occurred or one of these two manual methods discussed Link Removed, which would seem to necessitate the use of a second computer and perhaps a flash drive since it would be difficult to navigate a computer who's system fonts had been converted to WebDings or WingDings or whatever those characters actually are.
Since this is the...

Andrew Butler · Oct 8, 2011

That's Weird, I've Never Heard Of Anyone Having That Problem. It's Probably A Reg-istry Issue. I Assume you've checked for viruses?, You could also try using a System repair disk if you haven't already. Or You Could Try A Registry Repair Program, Like Advanced System Care 4. And See What It Finds.

Trouble · Oct 8, 2011

helpifIcan:
Seems that this issue has been around for a while, dating back at least to Windows XP and from a little research seems to be linked with Windows Updates coupled with perhaps an overzealous AntiVirus program (which one is unknown, at least I can't find any reference to it).
The fix as you seemed to have already discovered is either a system restore to a point in time prior to the problem having occurred or one of these two manual methods discussed Link Removed, which would seem to necessitate the use of a second computer and perhaps a flash drive since it would be difficult to navigate a computer who's system fonts had been converted to WebDings or WingDings or whatever those characters actually are.
Since this is the third such post here in as many days, I'm wondering what AntiVirus product you're using and if it's a common denominator in the issue. And have you thought about possibly replacing it with Link Removed due to 404 Error, provided that is not what you are currently using.

helpifIcan · Oct 9, 2011

Thanks to both for the help.

@ Trouble I have using AVG for many years on all my PCs (5) without any issues like this, but as progams get update new fun is just around the corner. If the deep clean dosen't work Il try MS essentials, I have been putting that on all my friends & family pro bono work and seems to work fine, I've just always been a fan of AVG as I have never had a problem on any of my PCs. I have 1 WIn7, 1 Vista, 2 XP, and 1 Android tab all AVG on them.

@ Andrew I've done most of the easy things, but thanks for the suggestion I downloaded it and did a deep clean so we'll see that sovles the poblem.

RonNona · Oct 11, 2011

The computer I am working on has Microsoft Security Essentials. I have scanned the computer and also scanned it with Spybot and MalwareBytes. I changed the default fonts to Ariel and will let you know if that has a positive or no effect. It does not revert at each boot, or each windows update, it just randomly occurs every few days. I cannot rule out a windows update that occurs in the background. Thanks again for any assistance anyone has.

Windows 7 Special characters insead of alphabet

helpifIcan

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Trouble

Andrew Butler

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Trouble

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helpifIcan

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RonNona

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