B
Bob Cunningham
I'm suddenly getting weird characters in all messages and
labels displayed by the OS. Somehow the OS seems to be
working from a crazy code page.
Characters are okay in newsreader message lists and in the
newsreader editor.
Weird charcters start with the "Welcome" message XP starts
with when I boot. When I select "Start", all of the options
are in the weird characters. The "Start" button itself is
labeled with the weird characters.
The problem is systematic in that I can see the same weird
character appearing every place a given letter should be,
except that the first character in a string is a little
square.
"a" is a check mark. "r" is a big "X". "s" is a question
mark. "n" is a large filled circle. "i" is a small filled
circle. "h" is a medium-sized filled circle. "g" is a
large filled square.
A lot of the other characters have signs that I now
recognize, but they're hard to describe.
I can bring up the DOS emulator, and I've been able to write
the Help for "Format" into a file that I can read in "Edit".
I'm about ready to reformat my C: drive and re-install XP.
Is there something I can do that's not so drastic? Can I
even format the hard disk from the DOS emulator? If not, is
there any way I can re-format without being able to read any
of the options in the Start menu?
The only unusual thing I did that I can think of is that I
inadvertently booted with an Encyclopedia Britannica
installation disk in the CD drive.
Any help anyone cares to give me will be greatly
appreciated.
labels displayed by the OS. Somehow the OS seems to be
working from a crazy code page.
Characters are okay in newsreader message lists and in the
newsreader editor.
Weird charcters start with the "Welcome" message XP starts
with when I boot. When I select "Start", all of the options
are in the weird characters. The "Start" button itself is
labeled with the weird characters.
The problem is systematic in that I can see the same weird
character appearing every place a given letter should be,
except that the first character in a string is a little
square.
"a" is a check mark. "r" is a big "X". "s" is a question
mark. "n" is a large filled circle. "i" is a small filled
circle. "h" is a medium-sized filled circle. "g" is a
large filled square.
A lot of the other characters have signs that I now
recognize, but they're hard to describe.
I can bring up the DOS emulator, and I've been able to write
the Help for "Format" into a file that I can read in "Edit".
I'm about ready to reformat my C: drive and re-install XP.
Is there something I can do that's not so drastic? Can I
even format the hard disk from the DOS emulator? If not, is
there any way I can re-format without being able to read any
of the options in the Start menu?
The only unusual thing I did that I can think of is that I
inadvertently booted with an Encyclopedia Britannica
installation disk in the CD drive.
Any help anyone cares to give me will be greatly
appreciated.