Why has my computer started showing "A7N 8X VW(M)/400" when I boot up?

For the last month or so, whenever I boot up my PC it shows a strange graphic with the letters "A7N 8X VW(M)/400" before starting the Windows XP sequence. This never happened before and has coincided with the PC not being able to recognise the printer. Could these be connected? From some diagnostics I've done the printer port seems not to be working correctly but none of the standard fixes seem to work. Can anybody help me?