Keyboard writing in symbols only

A few days ago my one-year-old Macbook Pro started acting very strangely. None of the keys work as they should except the middle row (a through l). They write in strange symbols instead. In Firefox and in Safari, if I click on a link it opens the downloads window and downloads the html file. When I reboot my computer a Macintosh HD icon appears with an arrow, which never happened before. Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be? I can't tell if it's a problem with the keyboard or if there's something going on with the hard drive.

I agree with eew. It has nothing to do with verifying your drive, though that's worth looking at once in a while.
Sounds like your option key is stuck down. If it isn't physically stuck down then there's something wrong with the keyboard.
Open System Preferences. Go into Language and Text. Go to Input Sources. Check the box to show the Keyboard Viewer. If this shows that an option key is being 'held down', then that's your problem.
It isn't your operating system or software, because EFI (firmware) is reacting as well (boot menu comes up when you first power on, this is accessed normally by holding Option).

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I've a big problem with adobe acrobat reader XI pro and I hope you can help me.
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jazzi wrote:
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Keyboard writing in symbols only

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