Once I got the squares right on a fresh install of windows 7, so no 3rd party software or anything was installed yet.
The problem is present in Windows 8 too. :)
I have them now in Windows 7, and deleting fntcache.dat does not solve the problem anymore...
I've got these crazy squares too.
Windows 8 Pro (retail copy) and all patches applied.
I use Realtek HD Audio (because it's built into my PC -- no choice!)
The squares come and go. So annoying. Actually I've seen them in other places in my OS too, e.g. they appeared when installing Update 1 for Visual Studio 2012. No idea where these came from. Seems like a font issue. Just wanted to throw my 0.02c in - hope someone figures this out one day !!
I had the same problem and it was affecting a lot of different programs, including Firefox:
Here are the steps I used to fix it:
Step 1:Step 2:Step 3:Step 4:Step 5:Step 6:
This fixed all of my "strange text" issues, including Firefox:I hope someone else finds this useful.
I think i may have found a solution. Its all because of Internet Explorer 9. If you dont use it, uninstall it but if you use IE, please update to IE10. Im doing it now and I think that should fix it.
Nope, it does not fix it. I have IE 10 nad Realtek on all my system, and encounter this text glitch on all of them from time to time.
IE9 causes the squares, and so does IE10. I have had them on my brand new Windows 8 laptop too. Nothing out of the ordinary was installed either.
If you have Windows 7, stay on IE8 - since IE9 and 10 cause the squares. If you're on W8, like me, well, what can you do? Help!
Last edited by spotify95; 07 Aug 2013 at 13:53.
That's what I thought it was to do with, on Windows 7! However, I would recommend NOT updating to IE10 - instead, drop back to IE8 (which was fine), and use Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome as your default browser.
Also, you can disable IE totally, from the Control Panel, under Programs and Features.
Back on topic, IE10 will also give you the squares. I have IE10 on my Windows 8 machine, and virtually nothing is installed on it. See image
Help
Last edited by spotify95; 19 Apr 2017 at 14:26.
@princechromey
Just wanted to let you know, you have like 3 antivirus programs from what I have seen from your screenshots. I would recommend you only have 1. I have seen avira, norton and mcafee on there.
Sorry I do not know how to fix your issue. But that needs to be corrected. Also for having an i5 your cpu meter was really high for only having 3 programs open...
@andrew129260
On my Windows 8 machine, we have Norton (which we don't use, and hasn't been activated, so doesn't do anything) and mcAfee. This machine has the squares on it
The Windows 7 machine has Avira, Lavasoft Ad-Aware, and McAfee on it. Maybe it is OTT but I want to make sure that I am protected. All I had open at the time, as Google Chrome and Windows Picture Viewer (or whatever it was) and it had the squares (when IE9 was installed). Once I reverted back to IE8 the squares disappeared. But although CPU usage was high, that isn't my main concern. For a laptop with an i5-480m (TJ Max = 105'C), look at the temperatures reported...
I still don't know how to get rid of my Windows 8 squares though....
Just to let you know that the University computers I use at De Montfort University also have the squares, under windows 7.
Reason? They're using IE10!!!!
It's definitely IE9+ that's causing the problem.
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