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strange block symbols in place of all text on web pages

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  • 3 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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I noticed the problem yesterday when I tried to open Firefox, strange blocks of symbols in place of all text on the web page (to include all menus and drop-down tabs). I uninstalled the browser and then re-installed the most recent version, same problem. Have been running Firefox for about six months on this pc with no problems before. It is affecting every web page.

I noticed the problem yesterday when I tried to open Firefox, strange blocks of symbols in place of all text on the web page (to include all menus and drop-down tabs). I uninstalled the browser and then re-installed the most recent version, same problem. Have been running Firefox for about six months on this pc with no problems before. It is affecting every web page.

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Try to set the pref gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.use_gdi_table_loading to false on the about:config page.

To open the about:config page, type about:config in the location (address) bar and press the "Enter" key, just like you type the url of a website to open a website.
If you see a warning then you can confirm that you want to access that page.

  • Use the Filter bar at to top of the about:config page to locate a preference more easily.
  • Preferences that have been modified show as bold(user set).
  • Preferences can be reset to the default or changed via the right-click context menu.