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I get Chinese symbols at boot and when I go into safe mode. I am using Windows 7 - why is this?
2013-02-11 10:09:40
Download Autoruns for Windows http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902check for strange entries http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-remove-a-trojan-virus-worm-or-malware/#removeAutoRunschttp://www.windowscommandsyntax.com/command-library/autorunsc/you can use CCleaner to check startup itemshttp://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=13906#entry93242look this thread and check if you have similar characters in startup section.look at this registry keyhttp://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=15338
2013-02-11 08:48:43
Are you sure they're actually Chinese, or are they just nonsense characters - geometric shapes like squares and such? If it's just nonsense, it would suggest a corrupted boot partition or Windows install. I don't know of any virus that changes your core system language to Chinese; unless your computer was Chinese to begin with and the Windows language was changed to English upon sale in the US? Is this a brand name PC, or something cheap from China? Have you tried running Windows repair from the install disk? Can you give some more details about the error - is it a blue screen, or is it actually going into the windows desktop?
2013-02-12 01:14:44
As rightly pointed out, can be due to corrupted boot partition or Windows install. Also can happen due to corrupted video drivers (have you updated your video graphics driver via windows update), or a loose memory card or dirt on them. It is worth a try to open the cabinet and dust of the dirt inside and take out the memory card and dust off all residue particles and fit it back in snugly. My neighbor used to face the same problem, and I noticed that the hardware engineer came and cleaned up the memory card and fitted it back tightly, and that resolved his problem. Worth a try.