Installed Fonts Not Showing Up in Programs

[Guest]

I have a brand new Dell system (only 2 weeks old), running Windows XP SP2. I
am having problems with the Times New Roman font, as well as Wingdings font.
These two fonts do not show in ANY drop-down list in
ANY program that supports changing of fonts (ie: Word, AOL, graphic editors,
Word Perfect, Thnderbird email, etc., etc.). If I view the Windows\Fonts
folder, they are not listed there either (neither are the other variations of
Times New Roman, like Bold, Italic, etc), even if I try choosing the option
to show hidden files and folders, as well as to not hide OS files. Anything
written (on the web, in email, etc) with Times New Roman or Wingdings,
defaults to another, sometimes unreadable font. Thinking these fonts were
never originally installed on my system by Dell, I copied them from my other
Windows XP system and tried using the "Install New Font" option in the Font
applet in the Control Panel, but I keep getting the message that those fonts
are already installed, and to uninstall them first! But as I said, they are
not showing at all, so I can't even uninstall them (if they are somehow
corrupt) to even replace them! I even downloaded TWEAK UI and tried it's
Repair Fonts option, to no avail. Any help would be greatly appreciated
before I tear the rest of my hair out. Thank you in advance!

 

[Guest]

To answer my own post...
After wracking my brains on this problem for the past 2 weeks, I finally
figured out that just like a web browser has cache files, so does the Windows
Fonts. So after much searching around, I found a file named FNTCACHE.DAT in
the Windows\System32 directory and I deleted it. When I rebooted, it
regenerated a fresh copy of itself and then all was well with the fonts that
I previously had problems with.
Maybe this info will be of some help to anyone else who is having the same
problems I did.

 

[Guest]

I had your question marked down to notify me if anyone replied. I am glad you
did this, because I have always found Fonts a maddening item. I am grateful
to you for explaining how how you cured the problem.