XP installation problem.

[Stancee]

Hi!
So, I'm trying to repair a computer for a friend. It's not a high end pc, it only has a dual core pentium and only 1gb of ram.
When the windows finishes copying the files it restarts. No problem here, but when it passes the boot screen it stucks on that screen, like in the picture. ( http://i.imgur.com/7Q0MgNE.jpg )
My question is:
Why are those symbols there?
And why I can't get pass them?
(I know it might be a hard drive fail, but I want a second opinion)

 

[tomr4lph]

It doesn't look like a hard drive fail as it's pre-boot. It looks like motherboard, ram, or BIOS fail. Try taking out the CD and booting, you may be able to get past them then, although it's a bit of a long shot.

 

[Ninjawithagun]

Try to see if there is a diagnostic readout provided by the motherboard or if there is a series of beeps when attempt to boot into Windows. Then reference the motherboard manual to see what the fault is. From the appearance of the odd looking symbols on screen, it looks like the motherboard has gone bad and will need to be replaced. That's just a guess for now, but more thorough investigation required to know for sure.

 

[Stancee]

Try to see if there is a diagnostic readout provided by the motherboard or if there is a series of beeps when attempt to boot into Windows. Then reference the motherboard manual to see what the fault is. From the appearance of the odd looking symbols on screen, it looks like the motherboard has gone bad and will need to be replaced. That's just a guess for now, but more thorough investigation required to know for sure.

(Sorry that I didn't respond to the message)
It was actually from the windows(I don't know how and why). I tried installing 7 and all of those characters were gone.
The pc still has a hard drive problem, but now I know that the motherboard, processor and ram are good. Thank you anyway