Mozilla firefox displaying unknown characters on some web pages

[KABIRA16]

I have been using Mozilla firefox for long time now and have never faced such problem with it. I have a desktop computer which is running on Windows XP service pack 3. Internet connection is connected to the desktop computer and Mozilla firefox is installed as the default browser on the system. Recently Mozilla firefox is behaving very weird. The browser displays some unknown characters on the web pages of some websites. This never used to happen before and I am confused what must be causing such problem. So if anybody is facing similar problem like Mozilla firefox displaying unknown characters, kindly suggests some solutions.

[Billie]

It is possible that the websites which you are visiting are in different language than the default language of the browser. If the default language of the browser is set to English and if a website which in Russian language is opened then the browser will display special characters for the alphabets which are not recognized by it. Hence first check if the web sites which you are visiting are in default language of the browser and if the web sites are in some other language then use Google translator to translate the website in default language of the browser and then check if the browser displays unknown character or not.

[Ricky58]

I think the version of the browser which you are using has got corrupt and needs to be reinstalled. If the files associated to the application are missing on the computer or have got corrupt then application will not work properly and will create problems like the one which you are facing. Uninstall the current installed version of the browser from the computer and remove all the files and keys associated to it from the computer. To remove the keys related to the application, use regedit. Be careful while editing the registry as it will cause system failure if edited incorrectly. Once all the traces of the application are removed from the computer, download the latest version of the browser and then install it.

[GhostRider]

There is preference known as "Character encoding settings" which encodes the normal text into special characters. If this setting is enabled then the browser will not be able to display the text properly. Check if this setting is enabled and if enabled, disable it. Check the performance of the browser after disabling the character encoding setting. If the problem still persists, then remove any language conversion software which may be installed on the computer as it may be conflicting with the language which is set for the browser.

[arturro]

By looking at the problem it seems like a typical virus issue. Virus's get downloaded while visiting certain websites or while downloading some data. If the virus infects the files which are used by an application then the application will constantly give errors while executing. I think virus has infected the language support file of the mozilla and hence it is not able to disable the text properly. Scan the system with an updated antivirus and repair the infected files. Try using some other browser to perform free online scan provided by many of the antivirus solution providing companies. Once the system is clean from all the virus's, you will not face the same problem again.

[Grohu]

The installed applications and addons of Mozilla can create issues like the one you have mentioned above. If the application or the add on which is installed on the browser is corrupt it will lead to problem similar to these. To be sure that the problem faced is due to the installed application or addon, start the browser in safe mode. To start the browser in safe mode, type "firefox.exe/safemode" in the run tab. In safe mode all the applications and the add ons are disabled, hence if the browser works properly then the problem is with the application or addon. If the browser works properly in safe mode then find and remove the application or add on which is creating problem. Hope the post helps.

[BarneyRubble]

I was getting unusual characters appearing in some fields in web pages while using Firefox.
FIREFOX 3.5.13

The problem did not occur in other browsers.

Solution: From the menu bar choose TOOLS then OPTIONS then under Fonts & Colours select ADVANCED and finally UNCHECK the box that says "Allow pages to use own fonts, instead of my selections above"

The "spurious characters" should then revert to standard fonts.

Barney