Hello cbbi and welcome to TSF,

When you say you've set all languages to English, are you sure you've set the Display Language aswell? If you've done so, most likely your install is corrupted by a malware/virus.

Please try to boot the machine into Safemode (Press F8 during startup) and see if the problem persists in there.

If you can start an administrator Command prompt (Start > Search > type "cmd" > Rightclick "cmd.exe " > Run as administrator) you could try to run a system files check and see if that clears it up, simply type in:
sfc /scannow

Also try restoring the system to a previously known working restore point (Start > Search > type "rstrui" > Hit ENTER).

Let us know if any faults occur and how you get along.

 

Try rebuilding the Icon Cache

 

I agree looks like corruption. Using SFC /Scannow or rebuilding the Icon cache should work.

If not scan for viruses malware.


Also is your copy of Windows a licensed copy?

 

I don't have a solution other than what has already been suggested but I think I know what is happening. What is being displayed appears to be the the marlett font. This is a special font that Windows uses to display some GUI elements such as the window close, minimize, and maximize symbols. This allows easy scaling of these symbols. It appears that this font is being used for just about everything.

 

I'm at work currently. I'll be home in about 4 hours and I'll let you all know if any of these possible solutions work.

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. I'll keep you posted.

 

UPDATE

I went into safe mode and ran sfc /scannow

After a few minutes the scan went to 100% and said

"Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations"

So I then tried to rebuild the icon cache and followed all those steps and also nothing changed.

I'm really at a loss as to what could be the case. The computer functions normally, its just in marlett font.

I figure its some sort of virus, and I really have no idea how to fix it.

 

• 1Right-click on an empty spot on your desktop.
  
• 2 Scroll down and click "Personalize."
  
  
• 3 Hit the "Windows Color" icon at the bottom of the window that appears.
  
  
• 4 Click on the "Advanced appearance settings ..." link at the bottom of the next page.
  
  
• 5 Choose "Icon" in the drop-down menu under the heading "Item." Select a new font with the drop-down menu below it. Change the size of the font with the "Size" drop-down menu.
  
  
• 6 Hit the "OK" button.
  
  

 

I physically can't do that. I've attached a picture to show you what's going on.

As you can see, for whatever reason, I can't access the area under "Icon"

This is incredibly frustrating. I appreciate everyone's help.

 

This is for Windows 95 but it seems to partially describe your problem:

"If the Marlett.ttf file is damaged or missing, numbers or garbled characters appear in place of controls."

Description of and Troubleshooting the Marlett TrueType Font

 

If you change your Display Language to something other than english, German, Swedish, or something in that sort. Does that change this fault?

Also don't forget to check out MPR's suggestion.

 

You might try this fix -- it deals with rebuilding the Windows font cache, which may have become corrupted.

Ranger Studios: Firefox Showing Garbled Characters Fix

If you have tried all of the suggestions thus far in the thread and none have worked, it may be time to start thinking about backing up your data and doing a repair install (or even re-install) of Windows.

 

Note that you will have to show hidden files and folders to see the folder mentioned in the post above.