Sorting indicators showing numbers rather than triangles after new install

[DrB]

Have 2 new computers with MSI and Asus motherboards and both loaded with
winxp-pro with sr3. When I opened windows explorer the triangles at the top
of the columns to show the sorting order (ascending or descending) are now
the numbers 5 or 6, respectively. Why and how to fix?

Had similar problem when I loaded my Toshiba laptop with the same corporate
winxp-pro disk. Fixed this by reloading the old OEM Intel chipset drivers
from my winxp-home disk. Do I need to find old drivers for the motherboards
above or is there a windows file that is messed up?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Have 2 new computers with MSI and Asus motherboards and both loaded with
winxp-pro with sr3. When I opened windows explorer the triangles at the top
of the columns to show the sorting order (ascending or descending) are now
the numbers 5 or 6, respectively. Why and how to fix?

Have you been deleting fonts?

 

[DrB]

No on all computers.

Have you been deleting fonts?

 

[Richard]

:

No on all computers.

Hi "DrB",

See if you have the hidden Marlett font:

Click Start, click Run, type or paste next line and press Enter:
%SystemRoot%\fonts\Marlett.ttf

The 5 in normal fonts, is up-triangle in Marlett.
The 6 in normal fonts, is down-triangle in Marlett.

Are you having problems with any other fonts?

Did you do a full or custom install of Windows XP Professional SP3?

HTH. (Hope This Helps.
--Richard

 

[drb]

Failed - couldn't find the file. Am I suppose to have it?

No other problems with fonts.

 

[DrB]

Found the file on my other computer having the same problem. Do I need to
extract it from the winxp cd and replace it?

Have the full winxp-pro with sp3

 

[Richard]

Yes, you can get it from the winXP CD, if you do not have an i386 folder
on your drive with: MARLETT.TT_

If MARLETT.TT_ is in C:\i386, use next line at Command Prompt:
expand C:\i386\MARLETT.TT_ C:\Marlett.ttf

If MARLETT.TT_ is in C:\WINDOWS\i386, use next line:
expand C:\WINDOWS\i386\MARLETT.TT_ C:\Marlett.ttf

If MARLETT.TT_ is on CD in Drive D, use next line:
expand D:\i386\MARLETT.TT_ C:\Marlett.ttf

Use "expand /?" (without quotes) for help with expand command.

After expanding, drag and drop it into Fonts folder to install.

Then try this Start>Run command again to view it:
%SystemRoot%\fonts\Marlett.ttf

You might try this Start>Run command right now:
%SystemRoot%\system32\dllcache\Marlett.ttf

If there is still a copy in dllcache, leave it alone, and report back.
You can proceed with the extraction above either way.

(Are you keeping detailed date/time notes on all computer changes?

HTH. --Richard

- - -

Found the file on my other computer having the same problem. Do I need to
extract it from the winxp cd and replace it?

Have the full winxp-pro with sp3

- - -

 

[drb]

Ran SFC /scannow in a dos window with a good winxp-pro CD when it asked for
it and it solved the problem. Must have been a corrupt file, probably
marlett.ttf.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Richard]

Ran SFC /scannow in a dos window with a good winxp-pro CD when it asked
for it and it solved the problem. Must have been a corrupt file,
probably marlett.ttf.

Thanks for your help.

You're welcome. I'm glad your problem was solved. But wait...

Maybe not Marlett. I was reading your message in Outlook Express in the
Preview Pane, and went to click Reply Group, and there was a number to the
left of that button on the tool bar, which I never noticed before. Then I
noticed that was not the only button with a number, and realized that I had
numbers instead of triangles. Oh No! It's happening to me! But wait, (the
plot thickens,) at the top of one of the columns of the message list was a
sorting order up triangle. "This is just too weird." If my Marlett were
messed up, there would not be a triangle there. Long story short, I pressed
my PrintScreen key to copy it, started Windows Paint full screen, but
remembered that I forgot to position my mouse pointer over the clock to
capture the date in the tool tip also. What? The triangles in Outlook
Express were back! "Am I hallucinating?" Quick, back to Paint and paste...
Whew! Yes, there were numbers in the screen capture. I did a quick
FileSaveAs to disk. The screen shot with the numbers instead of triangles
included the top portion of your reply. So, "maybe not Marlett."

Of course, for peace of mind, I'm going to run SFC and maybe CHKDSK, and
check Event Viewer for any system log messages. Back tracking my mystery
numbers problem: I had just downloaded new messages, switched screens to my
dialing program to disconnect, and switched back to OE, and began to view
your reply. So the problem appeared when the OE window was repainted back to
the screen after being covered by another window. I don't know what DLL is
involved with that. Or there could have been a glitch in the font cache.
Hopefully it will never happen again.

I just checked the system log in Event Viewer, which shows the disconnect
time, and 4 minutes later the "Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) services" was
started when I pressed the Print Screen key. No explanation of why Marlett
was AWOL when the toolbar appeared, but not when columns appeared.

(Bad Font, bad Font, whatcha gonna do, when the screen paints you?

Cheers! --Richard


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