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Font installation in Windows 2000, ME and XP

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Introduction

This TechNote discusses how to install fonts in Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows ME and Windows XP, as well as how to get Windows to display PostScript fonts which are installed but are not displaying correctly. Modern versions of Windows use the Fonts Control Panel for both PostScript Type 1, TrueType and OpenType fonts from Adobe. The Windows core fonts are OpenType fonts from Adobe which have extra tables and capabilities in OpenType fonts from Adobe-enabled applications.

See Font Installation In Windows (TechNote tn_3649) for instructions on installing fonts under Windows 3.1, 95, 98 and NT. See Font Installation on Macintosh OS 8 and OS 9 (TechNote tn_3648) for instructions on installing fonts under Mac OS 8 and 9. See Font installation in Macintosh OS X (TechNote tn_15818) for instructions on installing fonts under Mac OS X.

Installing TrueType, PostScript, and OpenType fonts from Adobe

  1. Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel and double-click the Fonts control panel.



    Note: In Windows XP you may need to click on the "Switch to Classic View" link on the left to see the Font control panel.
  2. Choose 'Install New Font' from the File menu to open the Add Fonts dialog box.





  3. The Add Fonts dialog box has three fields: List of Fonts, Folders, and Drives. These fields help you locate the fonts to be installed.
  4. Click the folder containing the fonts you want to install in the Folders window. If the fonts are on a different drive (for example, on a CD), you will first have to choose the correct drive from the Drives pop-up menu.



    Once you choose a folder that holds valid font files, those fonts should now display by font name--not file name--in the List of Fonts window. This could cause some confusion since the file names are usually much shorter and cryptic, rarely giving any indication of the font's name. If the folder contains no files ending with the .ttf extension (as in TrueType font) then no font names will appear in the window. If more (or different) font styles are expected to show up in the Add Fonts panel, verify that the correct folder is chosen. Otherwise, if the font's family and style names aren't set up correctly, then the fonts to be installed may not appear in the list. Since this is not a problem which the average user can solve, contacting the vendor of the fonts for technical support is the next logical step.
  5. Be sure that the "Copy fonts to font folder" option is selected. This will ensure that the font files are actually copied to the hard drive. If this box is left unchecked the fonts will reside solely on the CD. If the CD is ever removed, Windows will be unable to find the fonts and errors will occur when trying to use the fonts.
  6. Select the fonts which need to be to installed, or click Select All. The fonts will be copied into the Windows System fonts folder. Look in the fonts folder to verify that everything copied correctly.

View a demonstration of these steps.

Additional information

PostScript fonts no longer require the installation of Adobe Type Manager. ATM is now built into Windows 2000, ME and XP. PostScript fonts are installed in the same manner described above for TrueType fonts. PostScript fonts do require PFB and PFM files in order to be candidates for font installation.

Note: Some users are not able to display PostScript fonts after going through the installation procedure. Use the following steps to allow your computer to display PostScript fonts.

  1. Navigate to Select Start > Settings > Control Panel > Fonts.
  2. Inside the fonts Control Panel, select the Tools menu and Folder Options.
  3. Inside the Folder Options dialog box, select the TrueType Fonts tab.
  4. Make sure that the "Show TrueType fonts only" option is not selected.

Additional TechNotes

Keywords: tn_15817

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