don't know what on earth is wrong but here go's

a couple of weeks ago i turned on the thing and all the words have dissapeared off the desktop same in my computer and all the files it gets worse as when i fire up the old internet the words on the toolbar are no longer there either and when i put an address in it doesn't appear in the address bar but the curser moves .Navigating round has become a real problem,when typing on google or on here there appears too be no problem though some help would be greatly recieved.

If it will let you I would try a good antivirus first just to make sure the PC is clean ......someone will be along in a minute with some more suggestions or ideas to try....good luck

nothing comes up when norton is used but it is probably somthing bone i have done.

Not sure which OS you use but you may be able to run it on the "repair" function ....but get someone to go through it with you ..it's a long time since I did mine and there is a chance of wiping your hard drive .....A lot of people on here have a much better undersatanding of this than I do

yep done that too os is xp home wife did the repair thing but please keep the help coming i need it:thumbup:

If you're using WinXP, try restore. Click 'start' - 'programs- 'accessories' - 'system tools' - 'system restore' then choose a date when your PC was running ok.

won't let me choose a date before april 10th:thumbdwn:

hmm. could indeed be a virus. i know you have run norton, but ihave found that to be not too great... try downloading avg free edition (just google it) and run a scan with that instead

adam - andys son

Tried re-installing the driver for your graphics card?

Virus is also a possibility as are a multitude of things.

I would suggest backing up all your data while the machine is usable as a format and reinstall looks a distinct possibility.

have you done a spyware scan ?

Spyware could be playing havoc with your registry.

Download Ad-Aware SE Personal (not beta 6 Version) and also Download CCleaner and remove missing registry entries.

Download from here.

File Hippo - Download Free Software

am running a virus scan and spyware scan as i write so far nothing but will keep trying .

ran sugested virus/spyware no probs so far looks like a re install is on the cards

Sounds like something has affected some of your Fonts (particularly system critical fonts) - from what I read into your description

Either some have somehow been deleted, taken out with an uninstall, or attacked by a virus.

Can you not do a sysyem file checker (sfc) to determine if any of these have indeed been affected - and then restore them ?

System File Checker (sfc)

Scans and verifies the versions of all protected system files after you restart your computer.

From the XP Help Centre - type in sfc

all the words have dissapeared off the desktop same in my computer and all the files

To determine whether the fonts are corrupted - try this if the system will let you -

Right-click on desktop, select Properties

Display Properties window will appear

Select 4th tab = Appearance

[ATTACH]14605[/ATTACH]

Select Advanced - near bottom right hand corner

Advanced Appearance window will popup

[ATTACH]14606[/ATTACH]

Click on 'Active Window' bar in the 'View' window approx 1 inch down from top

Your current font and its size for the Active title bar will be displayed. Try altering this and see if your window titles are now visible.

Also - from another source :-

Font Cache troubleshooting

If your fonts are not appearing correctly in the font menu or in documents (“garbled” is a common term for this), then one of the best solutions is to clear your font cache. Depending upon your system and application programs, this may entail deleting multiple font cache files.

What is a font cache file?

These are files used by the operating system and certain applications to keep track of what fonts are installed. If the font cache gets corrupted a variety of problems can ensue, including fonts not appearing in the font list in an application, or wrong fonts (or missing fonts) in documents.

How to clear the font cache

The best approach to delete the font cache file(s). It’s OK to delete these files, as they will automatically be restored once your system is restarted, or when you relaunch an application.

Windows 2000/XP/Vista

The Windows operating system has a font cache file that is located here:

C:\Windows\System32\FNTCACHE.DAT

Delete this file, and restart your system. A new FNTCACHE.DAT file will be created on startup.

NOTE: You need to be able to view hidden files to see the cache file. To view hidden files, click Options on the View menu in Windows Explorer, click Show All Files, and then click OK.

Check that the default text colour isn't set to white too

And don't swap Norton for AVG Free :thumbdwn:

Check that the default text colour isn't set to white too

Was gonna suggest this ... not that's I'd ever do it as a practical joke. Easy way to tell is to highlight the "invisible" text with the mouse and it will show up....

Chris

gone through everything suggested and still no joy will back up my files and re install.

Hope to see you back in a couple of days.....good luck

Thread moved to "the tech shed"