The issue of the drop-down menu going blank is usually caused by one of two things (depending upon if you're using Internet Explorer). The first of which is...in the Tools menu under "Internet Options..." there's a "General" tab in the Options window that pops up. Under there is an option called "History" if you click the button that says "Clear History" it will wipe out everything in your history along with the web addresses in your drop down menu. It may also be automatically set to do that as well which could be the problem you're having.
Additionally if you have a utility called Tweak UI, or Norton Systemworks, or anything that optimizes the performance of your system there may be a option that either automatically clears the history after a set period of days, or you're inadvertantly clicking a button in the utility that's clearing it.
As for the little squares you're seeing instead of quote marks I think it's that your encoding may be off. In the "View" menu look for an option that says "Encoding" and see what language your browser is set to. That may be why you're getting those squares.
<center><IMG SRC="http://www.chaoticconcepts.com/randomizer/random.php?uid=3">
<B>Horde King Forever!! <strike>The Oracle Never!!</strike></B></center>
<font size="1" color="red">
<marquee behavior=alternate bgcolor="#FFFFFF">Right now you could care less about me...
but soon enough you will care, by the time I'm done</marquee> </font>