-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Fonts Tutorial

  • From: "Lois Yaw" <jyaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 11:53:44 -0400

I know I can delete the shortcuts that either I or programs have placed on 
my desktop but where in Explorer do you find shortcuts that should be 
deleted?  When I look, I see exe. files but I wouldn't know how to recognize 
an unneeded shortcut.
Lois Yaw
Hopewell,Ohio
jyaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "GMan" <gman.pctt@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 3:10 AM
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Fonts Tutorial


> Sandi,
>    You'd get your info from someone else.          lol
>
>    The old lists most likely both pertain to older operating systems.
> Fixedsys, MSDOS, and System are all fonts that are used for Win9x/ME OS's
> since they had a true DOS underlayment (NT based OS's only emulate DOS 
> when
> you call for a Command Prompt window).
>
>    I'll go through my Fonts folder and type out the names of the ones 
> shown
> (to eliminate those numbered ones) so you'll know for sure.  I have yet to
> add any fonts from any source to this newer install, so the list will only
> include the ones supplied by WinXP upon installation.  I'll suggest that 
> you
> save the post for future reference.        :O)
>
>    Like I said in my last post, delete ALL of the shortcuts in your 
> Windows
> Font folder and start over.  There's absolutely no sense in leaving
> something that could confuse the situation and deleting shortcuts won't 
> hurt
> a thing.  It's deleting the originals that you have to avoid.
>
>    Once the shortcuts are gone, wait for my post of the original fonts
> before proceeding.  I'll include a short tutorial on how to make the rest 
> of
> it much easier that how you've been doing it.  The rest of this reply 
> should
> be added to what I've already discussed, but not acted on until I send in
> the next post to this thread.
>
>
>    There are several different types of fonts.  Describing them fully 
> would
> be well beyond the scope of this post (and more than most folks could
> probably tolerate), so here's a link with a well worded full description 
> of
> the different types.
> http://anakin.ncst.ernet.in/~aparna/consolidated/x1057.html
>
>    The READ ONLY files were most likely set like that intentionally by the
> app that put them there in order to discourage you from removing them.  It
> seems to be working, too.  hehe.  Right click in a blank area of the Fonts
> folder and select View > Details from the resulting context menu.  Then,
> look to the column titles for one called Attributes.  It tells you what
> attributes have been set for each font.  If you click on it, the window 
> will
> reorder the list so that all of the READ ONLY files are together on a row.
> Then you can more easily scroll down (or up) to them and select the bunch 
> of
> them at once (click the top one, scroll down as necessary to see the last
> one, hold down the SHIFT key while you select that last one).  Once 
> they're
> all selected, right click on one of them and select Properties from the
> menu.  Uncheck the READ ONLY box and click on Apply.  It may ask you to
> confirm your choice.  Select Yes to that.
>
>    Finally, as long as it's not a font needed by Windows, it won't
> permanently hurt anything to Move it out of there and into your Xtra 
> folder.
> If it turns out that one of the apps you use actually needs it in order to
> function, you can move it to your 'In Use' folder and create a shortcut 
> for
> it in Windows/Fonts then.
>
>    I thought of a small modification to my last suggested order for 
> getting
> this the way you want it.  The results are below.
>
>    Before you start any fo the following, your font storage area (the one
> away from the Windows folder and preferably on a different partition or
> drive) should be set up like this.  The actual names of these folders is 
> up
> to you, but the meanings should be cleared up by the instructions 
> following
> it.
>
> +My Documents
>    +  FONTS
>        +  IN USE
>        +  ORIGINAL
>        +  XTRA
>
> 1.    Delete every shortcut you find in the Windows Fonts folder.  No
> Exceptions!  This will eliminate the possibility of any remaining broken
> ones and anything that could complicate the rest of this procedure.  Any
> that you really want will be recreated shortly.
>
> 2.    Using Windows Explorer (along with the instructions and list of
> original fonts in my next post), Move ALL of your non-original Windows 
> fonts
> from the Windows/Fonts folder to the My Documents/FONTS/XTRA folder.  This
> will leave the Windows/Fonts folder with nothing in it except for the
> original fonts.  The original Windows fonts should then be Copied (not
> moved) from the Windows/Fonts folder directly to the "Original" folder so 
> as
> to leave the originals in the Windows Font folder.  Finally, run a search
> over your entire collection of hard drives & partitions for any other 
> stray
> fonts that may be lurking in program folders or elsewhere.  Since those
> programs probably need the fonts left right where they are, Copy them from
> the Search results window into your XTRA folder (CTRL+A will select them 
> all
> in that window).  If you get a warning that a font already exists while
> copying them there, select No to replacing it.
>
> 3.    At this point, every font everywhere in your computer should be in
> either your 'XTRA' or 'ORIGINAL' folder.  The original Windows fonts are
> also in the Windows/Font folder and any that you found in other locations
> will still also be in those other locations.  So, it's now time to start
> going through the entire XTRA folder to choose which of the fonts in the
> XTRA folder are good enough to be chosen for an "IN USE" upgrade.  To do
> this right, you'll need to install and use a Font Manager type program.
> Several have already been suggested and this is the perfect time to give
> each of them a spin.  Install one of them and use it to go through all of
> the fonts that start with a number (if there aren't enough of those,
> continue through til the end of the A's).  Any fonts that you really like
> should be immediately Moved into your IN USE folder.  When you're done 
> with
> the numbered files (and perhaps the A's), install another manager and use
> that for the next batch.  Rinse & Repeat as necessary to get through all 
> of
> the managers you choose to test out.  Using these apps for a relatively
> small group of fonts should give you some idea of which one is best for 
> your
> needs.  Once you've chosen your favorite manager app, uninstall the rest 
> and
> get to work going through the remaining fonts in the XTRA folder.  When
> you're finished, move on to step 4 below.
>
> 4.    Select (CTRL+A) all of the files that made it into the IN USE 
> folder,
> Right drag them to the Windows Fonts folder and select Create Shortcut 
> from
> the menu.  Note that from now on, all of your "In Use" fonts MUST remain
> where they are or you will break these shortcuts.  That includes the fact
> that you will not be able to move the folder anywhere other than where it 
> is
> right now.
>
> 5.    If at any time in the future you choose to move or remove a font 
> from
> your IN USE folder, you will also need to delete its shortcut from the
> Windows Font folder.  If you choose to add a font to the IN USE folder, 
> you
> will have to create a shortcut to it in the Windows Font folder before you
> can use it like the others.
>
>    I hope that this post is able to fully clarify all of the semi-random
> thoughts I've given up to this point.  I know all too well that my posts 
> can
> sometimes feel like they're leading you folks in circles, but that doesn't
> make it any easier for me to type out things that I normally do on
> autopilot.  Still, making mistakes & fixing the mess has always been the
> absolute BEST way to learn anything worth knowing.  Besides, if this stuff
> was easy, everybody wou ..., oh wait.  Everybody IS diong it.          ;O}
>
>    Have fun!
>
> Peace,
> GMan
>
> "The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask!"
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Sandi Beach" <sandib2@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 9:21 AM
> Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Fonts Tutorial
>
>
>> Whatever would I do without you???   One more thing though.  I am working
>> from an old list of necessary fonts which was created by Nightsneak in
>> 2001
>> plus a newer one I got from"ABC~All 'Bout Computer" which started out 
>> with
>> "I am not an expert on fonts but here are a few that you need to keep for
>> Windows to run well, so make sure you don't remove these:"
>> I guess as long as I an not deleting anything but shortcuts I can always
>> correct any mistakes I make.
>> Some of those that are on these two lists I do not have such as:
>> Fixedsys,
>> MSDOS, and System.  There may be others as I have not gone completely
>> through all 700 + yet.  I spent about an hour last night moving fonts I
>> did
>> not think I would ever use, being careful not to touch the essential 
>> ones,
>> and got through the C's.
>> I got messages on some of them that they were read only and did I still
>> want
>> to move them.  I left those alone as I did not know what that meant.  I
>> think they may have come from Open Office as they had a large O instead 
>> of
>> the usual font icon.  Some said that particular font was already there so
>> I
>> didn't move those either.  Maybe the ones I "rounded up as loose in C
>> Windows"?  Anyway I put all of those in their own folder labeled loose
>> fonts!
>> Now what will happen to all of this that I have done when I go back and
>> start over and follow your instructions to the letter???  Am I beyond
>> redemption?  I have none at the moment in the "in use" folder since I
>> moved
>> Amazone back successfully.
>> Also I was afraid to move any Hallmark fonts or CAC
>> fonts for fear of messing up those two card programs.
>> Amazone no longer has a little arrow showing it to be a shortcut but 
>> there
>> are several in the Windows fonts folder with shortcut arrows.  I have no
>> idea how they got there as shortcuts.  Perhaps I should carefully write
>> down
>> those that are shortcuts before deleteing them just in case?
>> Sorry to be such a pain but so glad you see the humor in it!!!!
>> Off to the wedding.
>> Sandi
>
>
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