Font problems

Discussion in 'Software' started by Curlews, Jan 16, 2012.

  1. Curlews

    Curlews Private E-2

    A little while back my computer rebooted overnight for a windows update. Since then my browser, Firefox, has converted to arial bold for nearly all websites and will not change. Other applications (eg turbolister) which, I think, use the same engine also have problems displaying the correct font. My desktop publisher, PagePlus, also is playing up!

    On boot up I get an error message, essentially: Font 'Arial' does not support style 'Regular'. This relates to Yadis, my backup software. There is a lot more detail to the message. I cannot attached the error log file as it is too big for upload limit (412,926 KB).

    OS Windows Vista always updated. Virus, malware and firewalls in place and up to date.

    Any ideas will be most valued!
     
    Curlews, Jan 16, 2012
    #1
  2. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    This maybe more difficult without registry ending than meets the eye, as their could be corruption of the OS, but try the basic way to change the default font back to Segoe UI and size 9 HERE then reboot and check.
     
    DavidGP, Jan 16, 2012
    #2
  3. Curlews

    Curlews Private E-2

    Tried that. The default font had not changed. I changed it and changed it back. No improvement. Nice try but next idea please?
     
    Curlews, Jan 17, 2012
    #3
  4. plodr

    plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

    Define a little while back. Was it the December updates or the January updates or maybe even earlier?
    If it were my computer, I'd restore to a point before the updates were installed then look over all the offerings and install one at a time, rebooting and running FF between each update until I found the one causing the headaches. Once I found the problem update, I'd uninstall this then go to Windows Update and click the + in front of the update for more info and check/tick to not offer this update again.

    I have an update hidden on an XP tower because in my reading, I discovered it causes BSOD. I put a name label on the top of the tower with the kb number and reason why it is hidden. That's when I look at what I've hidden and wonder why I chose not to install it.
     
    plodr, Jan 17, 2012
    #4
  5. Curlews

    Curlews Private E-2

    It was the January update. For some reason my computer does not store restore points going back far enough!
     
    Curlews, Jan 18, 2012
    #5
  6. _nullptr

    _nullptr Major Geeky Geek Geek

    The most likely reason I can think of for the font display problems would be that some of your fonts have been deleted or corrupted during installation/uninstallation of a program or update. Hence some other font gets used in place of the missing font.
    Do you have a Vista installation disk or some other means of obtaining and restoring the original fonts?

    Go into the Control Panel > Fonts and have a look if the default font used for Firefox is present. If it is then right click on it and select display.
     
    _nullptr, Jan 18, 2012
    #6
  7. plodr

    plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

    I don't run Vista so I don't know how many January updates you were offered.
    I was offered 7 in XP Home and Pro and 5 in Windows 7. We can forget worrying about the Malicious Removal Tool so you might have 6 or 4 updates that caused the problem.

    I will give my numbers in windows 7 because that is closer to Vista than XP might be.
    2584146, 2631813,2644615 and 2585542.

    Because of problems I read about, I did not install 2585542.

    Go to your add/remove and see if you have that update installed (same # on XP and Win 7 so I suspect it would have been offered in Vista also).
    If it is listed, remove it and reboot. See if that fixes things.
     
    plodr, Jan 18, 2012
    #7
  8. Curlews

    Curlews Private E-2

    Finally found a solution. Had to reinstall the fonts. Thanks to all who offered solutions and ideas.

    BTW I tried uninstalling the update. It was automatically reinstalled on reboot.
     
    Curlews, Jan 23, 2012
    #8
  9. plodr

    plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

    First step to troubleshooting a Windows update is to turn off auto update before you start. I'll mention this in case you have problems in the future.
    I have my updates set to inform me when available. I then look over what is offered, write down the numbers and wait a few days to see which, if any, cause problems.
    I've also been known to make an image before I do the updates just in case one or two cause major problems. Both of these things have saved me from major headaches.
     
    plodr, Jan 23, 2012
    #9
  10. thomasjdawson

    thomasjdawson Private E-2

    L had an extremely difficult time with this problem, tried default settings, uninstall/reinstall, I was about to go and uninstall all windows/microsoft updates received in January 2012, which is when this problem started, but I decided to try Microsoft first, I called their customer service number, explained my problem, and they fixed it!! free of charge! they are evidently aware that this problem exists and their software caused it!!
     
    thomasjdawson, Feb 7, 2012
    #10
  11. thomasjdawson

    thomasjdawson Private E-2

    ps, customer service # is 1-800-642-7676.
     
    thomasjdawson, Feb 7, 2012
    #11

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