HELP! Arial font changed after bad installation

[Guest]

I installed a program which was messing up my computer so I removed it but
now it has affected the Arial 12 pt. font in everything: Windows, Office,
Browser, etc. It's not as smooth as it used to be; it's a little more
pixellated.

However, it is NOT the ClearType feature. I still have that feature checked
in Control Panel > Display > Appearances > Effects. I have restarted the
computer but the font is still altered.

How do/can I get the original Arial font back to its original smoothness?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Guest]

I deleted my old arial.ttf file and replaced it with the file on my backup CD
but that did not change the look of the font, so that troubleshoot method is
out. Does ANYONE know what the problem could be? Could it have to do with
my display? HELP and TIA!

K.S.

 

[Aleckie59]

Display>appearance>advanced>drop-down for desktop and change all fonts
where you can. Then apply.

 

[Nightowl]

I deleted my old arial.ttf file and replaced it with the file on my backup CD
but that did not change the look of the font, so that troubleshoot method is
out. Does ANYONE know what the problem could be? Could it have to do with
my display? HELP and TIA!

Hello Keith

Are you sure it is actually the Arial font that's affected? What I mean
is, are you seeing the problem when using Arial 12pt in a Word document,
for example? Or is it on Windows components like dialog boxes and so on,
where a system font is used that may look like Arial? I'm wondering
because you mentioned you saw the effect in Windows and in your browser
too.

This helped me when I had a problem with the font in a program's dialog
boxes suddenly becoming large and bold; it's worth a try, and won't harm
anything in your setup.

Right-click desktop > Properties > Settings tab > Advanced. Change the
DPI setting to Large (120). Have your XP disk to hand and insert when
prompted. Reboot.

Everything will look terrible, but don't worry -- this is temporary
Go back in and change the setting back to 96 DPI. Again insert disk if
prompted, and reboot.

This reinstalls and resets the necessary system fonts.

Hope it helps.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestion but this did not work either.

- Keith

 

[Guest]

See replies below...

Hello Keith

Are you sure it is actually the Arial font that's affected? What I mean
is, are you seeing the problem when using Arial 12pt in a Word document,
for example? Or is it on Windows components like dialog boxes and so on,
where a system font is used that may look like Arial? I'm wondering
because you mentioned you saw the effect in Windows and in your browser
too.

Yes, it's actually *all* Arial fonts, not just the 12pt. It's affected in
everything: Windows, Office files, Web pages using Arial.

This helped me when I had a problem with the font in a program's dialog
boxes suddenly becoming large and bold; it's worth a try, and won't harm
anything in your setup.

Right-click desktop > Properties > Settings tab > Advanced. Change the
DPI setting to Large (120). Have your XP disk to hand and insert when
prompted. Reboot.

Everything will look terrible, but don't worry -- this is temporary
Go back in and change the setting back to 96 DPI. Again insert disk if
prompted, and reboot.

This reinstalls and resets the necessary system fonts.

Hope it helps.

Thanks Nightowl. Unfortunately, it did not help. The arial fonts look the
same. Blast that stupid program I installed...

Thanks again! I will entertain any other suggestions.

K.S.

 

[Nightowl]

Thanks Nightowl. Unfortunately, it did not help. The arial fonts look the
same. Blast that stupid program I installed...

Thanks again! I will entertain any other suggestions.

Keith, if you're still reading, here's a long shot to check:

Open RegEdit and navigate to:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes]

Have a look in the right-hand pane and check whether Arial is being
substituted by another font.

 

[Guest]

Nightowl: Yes, I'm still checking because this Arial font thing is very
irritating and I'm hoping a solution can be found. It looks like some cheaper
version of Arial.

I checked RegEdit and this is what is listed for Arial (font on left, "Data"
on right in parentheses):

(default) (value not set)
Arial Baltic,186 (Arial,186)
Arial CE,238 (Arial,238)
Arial CYR,204 (Arial,204)
Arial Greek,161 (Arial,161)
Arial TUR,162 (Arial,162)

There is nothing else for "Arial" listed.

I don't see a plain 'ol "Arial" so does this mean something else is being
substituted?

Thanks again!
Keith

*****

Thanks Nightowl. Unfortunately, it did not help. The arial fonts look the
same. Blast that stupid program I installed...

Thanks again! I will entertain any other suggestions.

Keith, if you're still reading, here's a long shot to check:

Open RegEdit and navigate to:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes]

Have a look in the right-hand pane and check whether Arial is being
substituted by another font.

 

[Nightowl]

Nightowl: Yes, I'm still checking because this Arial font thing is very
irritating and I'm hoping a solution can be found. It looks like some cheaper
version of Arial.

I checked RegEdit and this is what is listed for Arial (font on left, "Data"
on right in parentheses):

(default) (value not set)
Arial Baltic,186 (Arial,186)
Arial CE,238 (Arial,238)
Arial CYR,204 (Arial,204)
Arial Greek,161 (Arial,161)
Arial TUR,162 (Arial,162)

There is nothing else for "Arial" listed.

I don't see a plain 'ol "Arial" so does this mean something else is being
substituted?

Hi Keith

No, you would see an entry for plain ol' Arial if it were.
The entries you've listed are normal.

Oh well, it was a long shot. . . sorry.

 

[Guest]

The answer was pretty simple. Thankfully I have restore points automatically
created everyday so I just had to think when I installed this blasted program
and choose the System Restore point a day before and it worked!!!

Keith

 

[Nightowl]

The answer was pretty simple. Thankfully I have restore points automatically
created everyday so I just had to think when I installed this blasted program
and choose the System Restore point a day before and it worked!!!

Great news, Keith! Glad you got it sorted out.