Fonts disappearing from Windows\Fonts folder

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Guest

Please I need help. I've posted earlier but am really hoping someone can
help me. All the fonst in my Windows\Fonts folder seem to disapper. I've
tried copying fonts from a networked computer but the fonts keep
disappearing. Menu/file commands are garbled until I copy but if I reboot
everything is lost. It may have something to do with another error I see
about the desktop.ini file being invalid or damaged.

How do I make the computer keep the fonts and fix the menu/file text?
 
homemerf said:
Please I need help. I've posted earlier but am really hoping someone can
help me. All the fonst in my Windows\Fonts folder seem to disapper. I've
tried copying fonts from a networked computer but the fonts keep
disappearing. Menu/file commands are garbled until I copy but if I reboot
everything is lost. It may have something to do with another error I see
about the desktop.ini file being invalid or damaged.

How do I make the computer keep the fonts and fix the menu/file text?
Click to expand...

Hello again, home in Georgia.

If the desktop.ini file in your Fonts folder has somehow got corrupted,
you could try creating a new one and see if it fixes things.

1. Open Notepad and copy and paste the following into it exactly as
shown here:

[.ShellClassInfo]
UICLSID={BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}

Put your cursor at the end of the last line and press Enter to create a
blank line. Now Save As desktop.new in your Windows\Fonts folder.
(Remember to select All Files in the Save as Type drop-down, otherwise
you will get a .txt extension added to the file name.)

2. Open a Command window (Start | Run | cmd, OK). Type:
cd C:\Windows\Fonts and press <Enter>.

3. Type:
attrib -s -h desktop.ini <Enter>. (This removes the file's special
attributes and should make it deletable.)

Type:
del desktop.ini <Enter>.

This should have got rid of the damaged file.

4. Now to rename the new file you made earlier, type:
ren desktop.new desktop.ini <enter>

and give it the special attributes it should have:
attrib desktop.ini +s +h <enter>

You can now close the Command window by typing Exit or clicking the
Close button. Reboot and see if fonts you put in the folder will now
stay put.

I hope this helps, although it may be something other than a corrupted
desktop.ini file that's causing your problem. Please let us know how you
get on :-)
 
Among many other things, TweakUI has this function

Repair font folder:
Restores the functionality of the Font folder. Repair the font folder when
you find that the Font folder has begun acting like a normal folder.

1. Open TweakUI.
2. Click on Repair, bottom item on the left.
3. On the right hand side, click on the V to expand the menu.
4. Click on Repair Font Folder.
5. Click the Repair Now button.

You can download TweakUI here...

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

Tweak UI
This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not
exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including
mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.

Version 2.10 requires Windows XP Service Pack 1 or above or Windows
Server 2003.

Scroll down the right hand side and look for...
Tweak UI
TweakUI.exe

TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe is what you get.

If you have Windows XP without any Service Packs, download Version 2.00.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/
EN-US/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe
-----

Some good info here...

Tweak UI for Windows XP Guide
http://www.winxpsolution.com/Tweakuixppro.aspx

TweakUI for Windows XP - Tips
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/twktips.htm

TweakUI PowerTips
http://weblogs.asp.net/jkey/archive/2003/08/01/22303.aspx

All of those tips at the link above are part of TweakUI.

TweakUI
[+] About
Tips

You can cycle through the tips with the Next Tip and Previous Tip buttons.
But, if you click the Save Tips button, you get Tweak UI Tips.txt which you
can save wherever, with all of the tips in a Notepad file.


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Unfortunately this did not work. When I rebooted, the menu/icon text went
back to symbols. Oddly, if I open File Explorer I cannot see any fonts. I
have to re-copy from a networked PC. (Even the screen defaulted back to a
very low resolution.) I can leave the PC turned on for now with no real
hybernation other than the display but would love to fix the root problem.
Thanks for the assist though.
--
home in Georgia


Nightowl said:
homemerf said:
Please I need help. I've posted earlier but am really hoping someone can
help me. All the fonst in my Windows\Fonts folder seem to disapper. I've
tried copying fonts from a networked computer but the fonts keep
disappearing. Menu/file commands are garbled until I copy but if I reboot
everything is lost. It may have something to do with another error I see
about the desktop.ini file being invalid or damaged.

How do I make the computer keep the fonts and fix the menu/file text?
Click to expand...

Hello again, home in Georgia.

If the desktop.ini file in your Fonts folder has somehow got corrupted,
you could try creating a new one and see if it fixes things.

1. Open Notepad and copy and paste the following into it exactly as
shown here:

[.ShellClassInfo]
UICLSID={BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}

Put your cursor at the end of the last line and press Enter to create a
blank line. Now Save As desktop.new in your Windows\Fonts folder.
(Remember to select All Files in the Save as Type drop-down, otherwise
you will get a .txt extension added to the file name.)

2. Open a Command window (Start | Run | cmd, OK). Type:
cd C:\Windows\Fonts and press <Enter>.

3. Type:
attrib -s -h desktop.ini <Enter>. (This removes the file's special
attributes and should make it deletable.)

Type:
del desktop.ini <Enter>.

This should have got rid of the damaged file.

4. Now to rename the new file you made earlier, type:
ren desktop.new desktop.ini <enter>

and give it the special attributes it should have:
attrib desktop.ini +s +h <enter>

You can now close the Command window by typing Exit or clicking the
Close button. Reboot and see if fonts you put in the folder will now
stay put.

I hope this helps, although it may be something other than a corrupted
desktop.ini file that's causing your problem. Please let us know how you
get on :-)
Click to expand...
 
As I just said to Nightowl, unfortunately this did not work either. When I
rebooted, the menu/icon text went back to symbols. Oddly, if I open File
Explorer I cannot see any fonts. I have to re-copy from a networked PC.
(Even the screen defaulted back to a very low resolution.) I can leave the
PC turned on for now with no real hybernation other than the display but
would love to fix the root problem. Thanks for the assist though.
--
home in Georgia


Wesley Vogel said:
Among many other things, TweakUI has this function

Repair font folder:
Restores the functionality of the Font folder. Repair the font folder when
you find that the Font folder has begun acting like a normal folder.

1. Open TweakUI.
2. Click on Repair, bottom item on the left.
3. On the right hand side, click on the V to expand the menu.
4. Click on Repair Font Folder.
5. Click the Repair Now button.

You can download TweakUI here...

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

Tweak UI
This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not
exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including
mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.

Version 2.10 requires Windows XP Service Pack 1 or above or Windows
Server 2003.

Scroll down the right hand side and look for...
Tweak UI
TweakUI.exe

TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe is what you get.

If you have Windows XP without any Service Packs, download Version 2.00.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/
EN-US/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe
-----

Some good info here...

Tweak UI for Windows XP Guide
http://www.winxpsolution.com/Tweakuixppro.aspx

TweakUI for Windows XP - Tips
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/twktips.htm

TweakUI PowerTips
http://weblogs.asp.net/jkey/archive/2003/08/01/22303.aspx

All of those tips at the link above are part of TweakUI.

TweakUI
[+] About
Tips

You can cycle through the tips with the Next Tip and Previous Tip buttons.
But, if you click the Save Tips button, you get Tweak UI Tips.txt which you
can save wherever, with all of the tips in a Notepad file.


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
homemerf said:
Please I need help. I've posted earlier but am really hoping someone can
help me. All the fonst in my Windows\Fonts folder seem to disapper. I've
tried copying fonts from a networked computer but the fonts keep
disappearing. Menu/file commands are garbled until I copy but if I reboot
everything is lost. It may have something to do with another error I see
about the desktop.ini file being invalid or damaged.

How do I make the computer keep the fonts and fix the menu/file text?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
homemerf said:
Unfortunately this did not work. When I rebooted, the menu/icon text went
back to symbols.
Click to expand...

That's probably because Tahoma is not installed or being recognised as
installed. . .
Oddly, if I open File Explorer I cannot see any fonts. I
have to re-copy from a networked PC. (Even the screen defaulted back to a
very low resolution.) I can leave the PC turned on for now with no real
hybernation other than the display but would love to fix the root problem.
Thanks for the assist though.
Click to expand...

Open Windows Explorer to the Windows folder, then go to the View menu,
click on Choose Details and in the list that pops up, check Attributes
and click OK. Now back in the Explorer right-hand pane, what do you see
under the Attributes column for the Fonts folder? Does it say S and R?
 
It says RS.
--
home in Georgia


Nightowl said:
That's probably because Tahoma is not installed or being recognised as
installed. . .


Open Windows Explorer to the Windows folder, then go to the View menu,
click on Choose Details and in the list that pops up, check Attributes
and click OK. Now back in the Explorer right-hand pane, what do you see
under the Attributes column for the Fonts folder? Does it say S and R?
Click to expand...
 
Every time I look in the Windows/Fonts folder I see nothing but dir from the
C prompt shows fonts. If I reinstall I see the fonts until I close explorer.
Same things from the fonts menu out of Control Panel. The seem to disappear
from Windows although something seems to be in the directory windows/fonts.
 
homemerf said:
Every time I look in the Windows/Fonts folder I see nothing but dir from the
C prompt shows fonts. If I reinstall I see the fonts until I close explorer.
Same things from the fonts menu out of Control Panel. The seem to disappear
from Windows although something seems to be in the directory windows/fonts.
Click to expand...

Hello again

I saw both this message and your previous one saying that the Fonts
folder does have the S and R attributes. So now we know:

Your fonts folder has the right settings;
Your desktop.ini is okay (you created a new one);
You can see the fonts in a Command window but not within Windows once
you reboot.

I'm really beginning to think that maybe you have something nasty on
your machine that is sabotaging your Fonts folder. Can you please try
one more thing for me? While this is happening -- that is, when you have
installed fonts but can't see them in Explorer -- open Regedit (Start |
Run | regedit <ok>) and navigate to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts

Is there anything listed in the right-hand pane?
 
There is no folder titled Fonts just one titled Font Drivers, Font DPI,
FontMapper and FontSubstitutes. I checked the other house computer and
obviously there is a Fonts folder on that PC. I am beginning to agree with
you that I have something on this PC.
 
homemerf said:
I checked the other house computer and
obviously there is a Fonts folder on that PC. I am beginning to agree with
you that I have something on this PC.
Click to expand...

Beginning?
 
Hi H I G

I'm guessing you mean there's no Registry key called Fonts in that
location. Hmm. . . that is *very* odd and rather sinister. It does
explain why you're not seeing your fonts after a reboot, but implies
something could be either stopping Windows from making the Reg entries
when you install fonts, or is deleting the key when you restart.

Then again, that missing key could be the answer :-) I suddenly
remembered that a few years back when I uninstalled a no-longer-needed
Dell keyboard program from my PC, it deleted my Fonts key too. It's
possible something similar's happened to you. Let's try recreating it,
then re-installing just a few basic Windows fonts such as Times New
Roman, Arial and Tahoma (for your menus!) through the Control Panel and
see if they'll then "stick".

If you've not had experience in editing your Registry, the easiest way
to create the new key would be to copy and paste the lines below into a
new file in Notepad to make a .reg file that will do the job for you.
Make sure word wrap is off first (Format menu, uncheck Word wrap). Copy
everything between the dotted lines, including the two blank ones
(they're important!) but not the dotted lines themselves:

-------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts]

-------------------------------------------

Now in the File menu go to Save As. Choose a location somewhere you can
easily find the file, such as My Documents. In the Save As Type box be
sure to choose All Files, then enter a name such as Fontkey.reg and
click the Save button. Close Notepad.

Go into the folder where you saved the file and double-click on it.
You'll see a message asking if you're sure you want to add the contents
to the Registry. Click Yes and you should see another message saying it
was successful. Now reboot (so Windows will read the Registry and "see"
the new key).

Now try re-installing just a few core Windows fonts through Control
Panel. Open and close the Fonts folder a few times. Are they still
there? Now reboot again. Have the fonts disappeared again? If they have,
check for the Registry key you created; has that gone too?

I'm really hoping this might fix things for you. Please do let us know
how you get on :-)
 
That worked!!! Thank you very much.
--
home in Georgia


Nightowl said:
Hi H I G

I'm guessing you mean there's no Registry key called Fonts in that
location. Hmm. . . that is *very* odd and rather sinister. It does
explain why you're not seeing your fonts after a reboot, but implies
something could be either stopping Windows from making the Reg entries
when you install fonts, or is deleting the key when you restart.

Then again, that missing key could be the answer :-) I suddenly
remembered that a few years back when I uninstalled a no-longer-needed
Dell keyboard program from my PC, it deleted my Fonts key too. It's
possible something similar's happened to you. Let's try recreating it,
then re-installing just a few basic Windows fonts such as Times New
Roman, Arial and Tahoma (for your menus!) through the Control Panel and
see if they'll then "stick".

If you've not had experience in editing your Registry, the easiest way
to create the new key would be to copy and paste the lines below into a
new file in Notepad to make a .reg file that will do the job for you.
Make sure word wrap is off first (Format menu, uncheck Word wrap). Copy
everything between the dotted lines, including the two blank ones
(they're important!) but not the dotted lines themselves:

-------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts]

-------------------------------------------

Now in the File menu go to Save As. Choose a location somewhere you can
easily find the file, such as My Documents. In the Save As Type box be
sure to choose All Files, then enter a name such as Fontkey.reg and
click the Save button. Close Notepad.

Go into the folder where you saved the file and double-click on it.
You'll see a message asking if you're sure you want to add the contents
to the Registry. Click Yes and you should see another message saying it
was successful. Now reboot (so Windows will read the Registry and "see"
the new key).

Now try re-installing just a few core Windows fonts through Control
Panel. Open and close the Fonts folder a few times. Are they still
there? Now reboot again. Have the fonts disappeared again? If they have,
check for the Registry key you created; has that gone too?

I'm really hoping this might fix things for you. Please do let us know
how you get on :-)


homemerf said:
There is no folder titled Fonts just one titled Font Drivers, Font DPI,
FontMapper and FontSubstitutes. I checked the other house computer and
obviously there is a Fonts folder on that PC. I am beginning to agree with
you that I have something on this PC.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Wow!

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
Nightowl said:
Hi H I G

I'm guessing you mean there's no Registry key called Fonts in that
location. Hmm. . . that is *very* odd and rather sinister. It does
explain why you're not seeing your fonts after a reboot, but implies
something could be either stopping Windows from making the Reg entries
when you install fonts, or is deleting the key when you restart.

Then again, that missing key could be the answer :-) I suddenly
remembered that a few years back when I uninstalled a no-longer-needed
Dell keyboard program from my PC, it deleted my Fonts key too. It's
possible something similar's happened to you. Let's try recreating it,
then re-installing just a few basic Windows fonts such as Times New
Roman, Arial and Tahoma (for your menus!) through the Control Panel and
see if they'll then "stick".

If you've not had experience in editing your Registry, the easiest way
to create the new key would be to copy and paste the lines below into a
new file in Notepad to make a .reg file that will do the job for you.
Make sure word wrap is off first (Format menu, uncheck Word wrap). Copy
everything between the dotted lines, including the two blank ones
(they're important!) but not the dotted lines themselves:

-------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts]

-------------------------------------------

Now in the File menu go to Save As. Choose a location somewhere you can
easily find the file, such as My Documents. In the Save As Type box be
sure to choose All Files, then enter a name such as Fontkey.reg and
click the Save button. Close Notepad.

Go into the folder where you saved the file and double-click on it.
You'll see a message asking if you're sure you want to add the contents
to the Registry. Click Yes and you should see another message saying it
was successful. Now reboot (so Windows will read the Registry and "see"
the new key).

Now try re-installing just a few core Windows fonts through Control
Panel. Open and close the Fonts folder a few times. Are they still
there? Now reboot again. Have the fonts disappeared again? If they have,
check for the Registry key you created; has that gone too?

I'm really hoping this might fix things for you. Please do let us know
how you get on :-)


homemerf said:
There is no folder titled Fonts just one titled Font Drivers, Font DPI,
FontMapper and FontSubstitutes. I checked the other house computer and
obviously there is a Fonts folder on that PC. I am beginning to agree
with you that I have something on this PC.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
homemerf said:
That worked!!! Thank you very much.
Click to expand...

Yay, H I G! You're very welcome. What a tough problem -- I'm so glad you
got it sorted out at last :-) Give yourself a big pat on the back too,
as it wouldn't have been solved without your determination and
willingness to try all the suggestions :-)
 
homemerf wrote on Thu, 24 May 2007:


Yay, H I G! You're very welcome. What a tough problem -- I'm so glad you
got it sorted out at last :-) Give yourself a big pat on the back too,
as it wouldn't have been solved without your determination and
willingness to try all the suggestions :-)
Click to expand...

Nice work guys.
 
Nightowl! Are you still here?? I need help!! My fonts are gone after every restart... Under regedit there is a font folder containing all e default fonts and e ones i recently installed.. But in c/windows/fonts there is only 3 fonts.. I cant read it its in squares and circles symbols... Helpp im using windows 8.1.... I really need some help here... I tried to download a default windows 8 font... So everytime i restart all e fonts are gone so i just copy the default wndows8 font to myc/windows/font folder and its all fixed.. Except my start button(thehouse symbol) are still in symbols...but after i shutdown/restart its all gone again.... Hope you are still here nightowl... Or anyone else that can helpp meeeee
 
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