Strange symbols in WinXP

[ComputerSmith]

My WinXP has been working for a year plus. Today I get symbols instead of
letter, on the startup screen, on the desktop, etc.

I checked c:\windows\fonts and it is empty. There is a windows\fonts\fonts
dir which was also empty; however, I found fonts in a backup dir and copied
them into the c:\windows\fonts dir, and XP ran the font installation app.
Ten minutes later, and the dir is empty again...

Not everything is symbols, though. Explorer shows files and folders, but
with a tiny font. Some of the start menu entries are symbols, some tiny
fonts.

I don't recall doing anything different (no new installs, etc.) so I'm
confused...

Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

Please email (e-mail address removed), as OE newsgroup listings are symbols,
too.

Thank in advance!

Mark Smith

 

[LaLa]

Did you install a program the day before this happened to your fonts..

Sounds like the fonts folder was over written and corrupted.

Reinstall your fonts per this MS page:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q314960

Or reinstall XP

 

[ComputerSmith]

Thanks, LaLa.
I did the re-install, and it worked. Gotta reconfigure Spam Assault Pro and
AVG, but now I can see things!

So, M$ has a re-installation KB article... Does this mean that XP, and other
their OSes, lose the fonts dir often? This is the first (hopefully last)
time it's happened.

Any ideas what happened or why?