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Solve : SYMBOLS INSTEAD OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE? |
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Answer» When I start my computer, there are symbols instead of the English alphabet. I shut it down & moved to another computer. Is this the result of a a virus or trojan? How can I fix this? It is an IBM computer with Windows XP Pro operating on it."CONTROL panel"->"Regional and Language"->"Regional" When I start my computer, there are symbols instead of the English alphabet. I shut it down & moved to another computer. Is this the result of a a virus or trojan? How can I fix this? It is an IBM computer with Windows XP Pro operating on it. When are you seeing the symbols...in the startup screen before Windows loads or after ? ? If before .... that hard drive may be failing. DLoad and run the diagnostics from the drive manuf. site. Another thing it could be is the CMOS battery but i would test the drive first. If it is afterwards what program is it showing up in ? ?The symbols show up at my sign in screen. If I click on Start, the list is all in symbols. All of the shortcuts on my DESKTOP are named with symbols. If I click on "my computer", all the files are named with symbols. I've started the computer in safe mode & ran virus & spyware software. The symbols still show up in safe mode. I have disconnected the computer & I'm using another one until we can figure out what to do next.Quote from: qinghao on January 28, 2008, 02:51:30 AM "control panel"->"Regional and Language"->"Regional"Did you try this? I think a question as to whether you're looking at foreign language such as Chinese still needs to be answered.The first thing I did when this problem started was to check "Regional and Language" & it was set properly.I'm thinking now that this may be a hardware problem. I took the cover off the computer & vacuumed the dust out. The drive is a Seagate Barracuda ATA IV Model ST340016A. I went to their site & downloaded their diagnostic software. I haven't used it yet, but I noticed that, what I would call a belt, is twisted & ripped.And, that "belt" is a flat, wide cable that is connected to the hard drive, right? Being twisted is not unusual, but "ripped" is definitely a bad condition. If it appears to be damaged, it should definitely be replaced. Quite likely, that's the problem here.Thank you. My next step is to get the computer to a repair person & hope it doesn't cost much to replace that cable. Do you happen to know if my files should be ok or am I going to lose all my pictures?Well, you might buy a cable and install it yourself. It's not difficult. You can buy the cables online or find one at a local computer shop. Here's one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812105909 The files on your hard drive may be OK; I don't think anyone can say for sure without actually replacing the cable and starting the computer.My computer is now at a computer repair shop. The cable is FINE. They come ripped for some reason. The computer man thinks that it is a virus & he will try to fix it tomorrow. I'll keep you updated on the results in case this happens to anyone else. Thanks to everyone for helping. |
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