Windows XP Default Font?

Question

Hi everybody,   I have a problem that is just driving me insane.  It deals with my fonts changing all of the sudden:  The default font within just about every application on my computer has changed due to something changing my overall system font.  In other words, whenever I open an application, whether it's Adobe Photoshop, Internet Explorer, AOL, or any other application, the font used to display application-specific text on the screen isn't the default (the application goes to the operating system to get the default font, which Windows as replaced by another!).  I have absolutely no idea what caused this change.  I've been told to use System Restore to maybe fix this problem, but I had disabled it (stupid me!), so it is not an option.  To help troubleshoot this problem, I've done everything from scanning for adware/spyware and viruses to playing around with HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes in the registry, but nada!  As a final resort, a friend of mine told me to reinstall WinXP, but there simply has to be an alternative to reinstalling XP.   At any rate, is there a way to change the overall font of my system, or is there a way to revert back to the default Windows XP fonts?  It is affecting every application on my computer, and I would really like to get it back to its default.  Thanks for all your help in advance, and I hope someone could provide some type of solution. Message Edited by Vigilance2000 on 12-24-2004 07:34 PM

Vig2000 · Answer

Denny,

Thanks for your reply. I already tried fooling around with the Advanced Appearance, and everything is as it should be: The default font for Icon was and is still set at Tahoma, size 8. I think that this problem is a registry issue. I don't know. Any other suggestions on how to get my default fonts back would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

Denny Denham · Answer

Vigilance,

See if this corrects the problem. Go to Start|Control Panel|Display|Appearance tab. Click the "Advanced" button. Select "Icon" from the drop down menu in the "Item:" box. The default font should be Tahoma, size 8. If something different appears there, change it back.

Denny Denham · Answer

Vigilance2000,

So that I can see precisely what fonts are involved can you open a page in Internet Explorer, provide the URL to the page, and identify some words or phrases that are in the wrong font. (May not help, but at least I'll be able to see what you're looking at.)

Mele20 · Answer

This is OT but may I ask why you feel it necessary to use such a offensive gif in your signature? Why, for that matter, does Dell allow any gifs or loud, distracting signatures? This is a major reason I seldom visit these forums. My home site, dslreports.com never has allowed such silly frivolity in its excellent forums and Dell shouldn't either IMO.

Denny Denham · Answer

Mele20,

Simply go to Preferences|Display Settings|Personal Preferences section and check "Ignore HTML." You may want to uncheck "View Signatures in Messages" as well. That will present a plain vanilla view of the forum which should not offend your sensibilities.

Vig2000 · Answer

Hi Denny,

A good is example is http://www.hbo.com. Along with with just about the entire page, everything on the left menu (i.e., Original Series titles, Sports, Documentaries) is in the wrong font. Hope this helps.

Vig2000 · Answer

After further troubleshooting this issue, a friend of mine suggested that my fonts may have been altered on the kernal level.  Problem is, he doesn't know how to get the default WinXP fonts back in the kernal level.  Does anyone here have any idea on how to do this?  Thanks.

Denny Denham · Answer

Vigilance2000,

The fonts used on that page are verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif, in that order. If you have verdana installed on your system that is the font which will be used to display the text. If not, your browser will default to the other three fonts, in order, until it finds one installed. Check your fonts folder (C:\Windows\Fonts) and see which if any of these are missing. Post back with which you find missing and I'll provide instructions for restoring it (them).

Vig2000 · Answer

Hi Denny,   It looks like I have Verdana and Arial installed on my system.  I can't seem to find Helvetica and Sans-Serif, although I have MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res), Microsoft Sans Serif (TrueType), and MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res) installed.  Funny thing, though:  Whenever I open the  MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res) font it is displayed as Arial (OpenType).  Could my fonts folder have been corrupted for some reason?  If so, is there a way to reinstall my fonts folder from scratch?  Thanks again.

Denny Denham · Answer

Vigilance2000,

Those two fonts will probably never be used, since they are for VGA resolution, but you can replace the MS Sans Serif font. Extract a new copy to a folder (called myfolder, for illustrative purposes) other than the C:\Windows\Fonts folder by going to Start|Run, typing cmd and clicking OK. With your Windows XP CD in its drive enter the following, substituting the letter of your CD-ROM drive for X:

expand X:\i386\sserife.fo_ c:\myfolder\sserife.fon

Press and the file should be extracted. (Note that there is a space after fo_.)

Once the file is extracted you can go into the Windows fonts folder and delete the existing copy of MS Sans Serif then go to File|Install new font and browse to the copy of the font in myfolder.

Windows General

Was this post helpful?