win xp alphanumeric characters corrupted

[Guest]

Every instance of text in the os appears as 'giberish'. I was using norton
utilities when this occured. I've no restore points or b/u's saved and
cannot reinstall windows as I get a messsage saying my installed version is
newer than my cd's (I've all the updates!). My system is '96 vintage with
old HD's and optical drives and I am hessitant to format due the problems
I'll encounter. Finally I've much to lose in data etc. Please can anyone
suggest a solution?
p.s. microsoft won't help without charging fees and no guarentees!!

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Several things here, Doing a repair from a cd without sp2 is not possible unless you remove sp2 first. Your fonts are probably
corrupt. SFC might do it, if not, and 'upgrade' setup.

To repair all system files, go to Start/Run, and type (or paste in): SFC /SCANNOW (see: Description of Windows XP and Windows Server
2003 System File Checker (Sfc.exe): http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310747 )


(remove sp2, and 'upgrade' xp.
875350 - How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 2 from your computer: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=875350 How to
Perform a Windows XP Repair Install: http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

..

 

[Guest]

Thank you Mark, your help was exactly what I needed! (But, dumb as I am it
came a bit late, and not before I managed to crash my system so totally by
trying 'blind'). I'm now rebuilding from formatted disks. I lost a great deal
of data and irreplaceable stuff. If only I'd stayed cool....anyway I'll know
for next time!
Ron