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Webpages generally use one of a set of fonts. If those fonts are missing then they substitute it with the next one on the list.<br />
Eg Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif. <br />
If Arial is not on the computer it will use Helvetica. If that is not on the computer it will use the default san-serif font. <br />
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On your system the font may have been replaced by a newly installed one, or default san-serif could be set to a cursive one.<br />
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Easiest way to check is to go to regedit and look at the key:<br />
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWAR<wbr />E\Microsof<wbr />t\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubs<wbr />titutes<br />
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The below picture is how I have mine configured. This should be default as I haven't changed anything with it.<br />
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<a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2009/02_w09/111140/font-subs.jpg" target="_blank" class="file-inline" title="font substitutes (53 KB)"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512"><path d="M67.508 468.467c-58.005-58.013-58.016-151.92 0-209.943l225.011-225.04c44.643-44.645 117.279-44.645 161.92 0 44.743 44.749 44.753 117.186 0 161.944l-189.465 189.49c-31.41 31.413-82.518 31.412-113.926.001-31.479-31.482-31.49-82.453 0-113.944L311.51 110.491c4.687-4.687 12.286-4.687 16.972 0l16.967 16.971c4.685 4.686 4.685 12.283 0 16.969L184.983 304.917c-12.724 12.724-12.73 33.328 0 46.058 12.696 12.697 33.356 12.699 46.054-.001l189.465-189.489c25.987-25.989 25.994-68.06.001-94.056-25.931-25.934-68.119-25.932-94.049 0l-225.01 225.039c-39.249 39.252-39.258 102.795-.001 142.057 39.285 39.29 102.885 39.287 142.162-.028A739446.174 739446.174 0 0 1 439.497 238.49c4.686-4.687 12.282-4.684 16.969.004l16.967 16.971c4.685 4.686 4.689 12.279.004 16.965a755654.128 755654.128 0 0 0-195.881 195.996c-58.034 58.092-152.004 58.093-210.048.041z"/></svg>font-subs.jpg</a>
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font-subs.jpg

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If I copy and paste the &quot;cursive&quot; text from Wikipedia's page into a Word Document, it appears perfectly normal in the Word document. So that leads me to believe it has something to do with the browser. In fact I just tested with Firefox and Firefox looks normal, it is only IE doing this.
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i had a similar problem with firefox, i accidentally changed a browser specific font setting which changed the appearance of websites but did not say anything out of the ordinary in the options panel. I had to reinstall the browser - try this
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Firefox is working fine...I have no reason to re-install it. It is Internet Explorer that is making certain websites appear in a strange cursive font.
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yes, i was just saying that i have had the same problem only with firefox - perhaps reinstalling ie will fix it as it fixed my firefox problem?
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uninstalling IE 7 re-installs IE 6. is there a way to completely remove IE? I'm guessing no?<br />

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It is possible to completely remove IE6 but it is a pain, and not recommended. Windows uses some of the files and DLLs that IE uses.<br />
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You can try the following however:<br />
-<a href="http://www.litepc.com/xplite.html" rel="ugc">http://www.litepc.com/xplite.html</a><br />
-Install the European version of XP. By law Microsoft had to remove IE from XP in Europe.<br />
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FYI, WIndows 7 is meant to have the option to uninstall IE as standard.<br />
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Granted uninstalling and reinstalling can fix a lot of things...I'm more curious as to how the primary font got changed and how to change it back. It's not every page as my school website and this site look fine, but Wikipedia for example is in a ridiculous font.<br />
When I copy and paste this crazy looking font into a Word document, it looks normal again! So it definitely is related to the way the browser is rendering the page I believe.<br />

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it sounds like your scripty font has been registered as a sansserif, but on wikipedia the fonts are specified in terms of 'sans-serif' in the css, whereas here the font itself is probably specifially specified
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Rartemass - very astute observation. My primary concern was it happening again elsewhere and not knowing how to combat it. You are right though sometimes it is best to reboot/reinstall and move on.
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<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
Not sure what the heck is going on but some websites appear to be written in some crazy cursive font that I can barely read. One of these sites would be wikipedia. This site however (EE) looks perfectly fine. I can't find ANY font settings anywhere that aren't normal. What the heck could be causing random websites to appear in cursive for me?
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Not sure what the heck is going on but some websites appear to be written in some crazy cursive font that I can barely read. One of these sites would be wikipedia. This site however (EE) looks perfectly fine. I can't find ANY font settings anywhere that aren't normal. What the heck could be causing random websites to appear in cursive for me?

Websites showing up in strange cursive font??

Web browsers are applications used primarily to display documents, files and media from the Internet, identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that can be a page, image, video or other file. Some browsers require the use of add-ons or extensions to safely render the information they receive; others have systems built into them to perform the same functions.

Web Browsers

Microsoft Windows XP is the sixth release of the NT series of operating systems, and was the first to be marketed in a variety of editions: XP Home and XP Professional, designed for business and power users. The advanced features in XP Professional are generally disabled in Home Edition, but are there and can be activated. There were two 64-bit editions, an embedded edition and a tablet edition.

Windows XP

A font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, one piece (called a "sort") for each glyph, and a typeface consists of a range of fonts that share an overall design. With the advent of digital typography, font is frequently synonymous with typeface, although the two terms do not necessarily mean the same thing. In particular, the use of "vector" or "outline" fonts means that different sizes of a typeface can be dynamically generated from one design. Each style may still be in a separate "font file" -- for instance, the typeface "Futura" may include the fonts "Futura roman", "Futura italic", "Futura bold" and "Futura extended" —- but the term "font" might be applied either to one of these alone or to the whole typeface.