Hi CC, and
First, have you tried a System Restore to before this happened? Did this happen after installing or uninstalling something, or after any other particular event?
Two other things I can think of for the moment, assuming you have XP:-
1. Start > Control Panel > Date, Time, Language and Regional Options. Check the settings in there, and make sure they are set to English (assuming that is your required language).
2. Right click your Desktop, then > Properties > Appearance and check the fonts in the Advanced settings. Something in there may have been changed, which affects the whole of Windows. Make sure all the settings with changeable fonts are set to something standard, like Verdana, Tahoma, Ariel, etc.
Come back to us when you've done that, and we'll go forward from there.