Symbols Instead Of English Language

Symbols have taken over my computer. I have Windows XP. Instead of words using the English alphabet, I'm seeing little squares & other symbols (e.g. icons on my desktop do not have English words to describe them...it doesn't say "My Computer"....symbols appear below every icon). It looks like all of my files have been replaced with symbols. I have tried starting it in safe mode & have used anti-virus & spyware removal software, but nothing has worked. Does anyone know of a virus or trojan that could be doing this to my computer? How can I fix this? I don't have any system restore points. I'm using a different computer right now because I'm afraid of losing all of my files.