can't install font

[dorothyroeder]

Since I reinstalled Windows 98 over the old install, I haven't been able to reload a font I was using. I keep getting the message that it is already loaded and I must uninstall the old one. I searched find for anything that looked like it and deleted them. rebooted. didn't work. It doesn't show up in the list of fonts.

Fonts are part of Windows, right? If I delete the whole of all the fonts file  can I reload it from Windows? Will that work?

Hope you aren't sick of me by now. One problem leads to another.

[ale52]

First off, why did you do a reinstall over the old?  Couldn't you save what you needed and do a fresh install?  No scolding here, just curious.    I've found that in my experience a 'clean' install is far better than a reinstall.  Way too many things can (and do) go wrong.

Do you have the capabilities to back up all your "stuff" to be able to do a clean install?

Do you have ALL the software to be able to reinstall if you do?

Alan <><  

[dorothyroeder]

Not really knowing what I was doing I stuck in the Windows CD thinking I would be able to uninstall or do corrections like in MS Works. All it wanted to do was install, so I decided to try that and it solved my problem. (See "Can't get andydocuments up in MS Word" or something to that effect.
I think I needed a different disk to uninstall.

I have the font I want on a floppy, one of two. This disk worked before, but won't now. Actually it is the Windows font install feature that won't work. I also tried dragging it from the floppy to the font file, but that doesn't work either.

[2k_dummy]

Warning: Win98 will not load with an empty fonts directory!!!!!!

From the win98 help section:

To add a new font to your computer

Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Fonts.
On the File menu, click Install New Font.
Click the drive, and then click the folder that contains the fonts you want to add.
Click the font you want to add.
Notes
To select more than one font to add, hold down the CTRL key, and then click each of the fonts you want.
For TrueType, Raster, or Adobe Type 1 fonts, you can also add the font by dragging the appropriate files to the Fonts folder.

[dorothyroeder]

That's what I did. I know how to install a font, but I keep getting a message that the font is already installed and I have to remove the old one first.

[Rob Pomeroy]

The procedure to fix this can be a little bit tricky.  Deleting the font from within Windows may not have the effect you expect.

Do you know the exact filename of the font?  Often they are quite obscure, e.g. "MG______.TTF" is the name of the Marriage TrueType font.  If you know the filename, we have a chance of solving the problem, as follows:

Boot to DOS.  Then run the following commands:

 c:
cd \windows\fonts
del [font filename].*
exit

On that third line you'd put, eg del MG______.*.  You may need to delete more than one filename if there are several different filenames associated to the font.  (Sometimes there are different font files for the italic, bold and bold-italic renderings of the typeface.)

Once you're back in Windows, you should be able to reinstall the font.  Ensure you check the "copy to Windows folder" box.

[dorothyroeder]

That sounded straightforward enough, but my computer won't restart in DOS. Come to think of it, I have tried before and I have never been able to since I first got the machine. Now I feel totally inept? I just go to Start, reboot to DOS and Enter, right?

[dorothyroeder]

What is happening now is that is hangs up on either simple  Restart or on Restart in Dos. It does a complete shutdown O.K. What I get at the top of the list if I do Cont-Alt-Del in winoldap. I found that in filesearch in a Temp folder and deleted it, but it came back. I don't know if that is the problem or not.

[dorothyroeder]

I forgot to add, once I end task on whatever is not responding it shuts down and restarts in Windows.

[dorothyroeder]

O.K. I went to MS support and found out how to "Specify a new MS-DOS configuration" and got into DOS. It still is hanging up, but still worked after I pressed the restart button.

Sadly for me, it didn't work. It said "file not found". I even tried deleting one that I knew was working and it couldn't find that one either. I got the name from the file "properties" so I am pretty sure they are right. One is HEBREW.TTF, the other which is working is HEB____.TTF.

[2k_dummy]

Fonts in W9x can be really weird creatures. For example, printer fonts will not show up in the fonts directory but will in a programs fonts lists. Fonts installed by a program often do not show up in the fonts directory but are located elsewhere and may or may not show up in programs fonts list. If the font actually exists on your computer, use the windows find option to locate it. The dir/s command in DOS often will not find fonts. If the find option locates the font, you might be able to copy it to the fonts directory. If it does not find the font, it has been deleted but there is reference to it in either the registry or one of the .ini files. This will cause windows to think the font still exists, even though it doesn't. It this case, references to the font will have to be deleted. You should then be able to install the desired font.

[dorothyroeder]

That makes sense, but I have no idea how to find a reference to a deleted font in the registry. All I know how to do is use find and it isn't finding anything.

[dorothyroeder]

So is uninstalling and reinstalling Windows my only recourse?  Will that take my files with it?
I finally found the uninstall program listed alphabetically under "u" not W.  I guess that makes sense.

[2k_dummy]

Have you tried restoring the registry to a date just prior to the reinstall?

[soybean]

So is uninstalling and reinstalling Windows my only recourse?  Will that take my files with it?
I finally found the uninstall program listed alphabetically under "u" not W.  I guess that makes sense.

If you format your hard drive and do a fresh installation of Win 98, then yes, all your files will be erased.  So, be sure to backup everything you want to save if you proceed will a full reinstall of Win 98.  And, be aware that you'll probably need to re-install various device drivers also.