installed updates, now can't work!

[swartell]

I tried being a responsible and dutiful user and just
installed the updates for Windows XP. Now my computer
appears to be working fine, but it is useless! All of the
text on the desktop (icon and button labels, title bars,
menus, most popups, etc.. etc. is in some bizarre font.
(Not any Roman alphabet, nor any Oriental one, nor Cyrillic
- I recognize all of those. My son tells me the font is
Marlett; it's angles and dots and semicircles and check
marks... and unintelligible. Safe Mode doesn't help - it
displays the same screwy font. Fortunately Netscape is
displaying English.
This happened once before (possibly the last time I tried
to update), but I don't recall how I got out of it. I may
have used System Restore. Unfortunately, I can't figure
out which buttons to push to get that to work. I did find
the note on doing it from the command line, and I will try
that if I must, but I'm hoping for some explanation of what
happened and why, so I can avoid it in future.

Thanks,
Sue

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

How to Change the Font, Size, and Colors of Desktop Items
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310543&Product=winxp

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


|I tried being a responsible and dutiful user and just
| installed the updates for Windows XP. Now my computer
| appears to be working fine, but it is useless! All of the
| text on the desktop (icon and button labels, title bars,
| menus, most popups, etc.. etc. is in some bizarre font.
| (Not any Roman alphabet, nor any Oriental one, nor Cyrillic
| - I recognize all of those. My son tells me the font is
| Marlett; it's angles and dots and semicircles and check
| marks... and unintelligible. Safe Mode doesn't help - it
| displays the same screwy font. Fortunately Netscape is
| displaying English.
| This happened once before (possibly the last time I tried
| to update), but I don't recall how I got out of it. I may
| have used System Restore. Unfortunately, I can't figure
| out which buttons to push to get that to work. I did find
| the note on doing it from the command line, and I will try
| that if I must, but I'm hoping for some explanation of what
| happened and why, so I can avoid it in future.
|
| Thanks,
| Sue

 

[swartell]

Thanks, I am now about 3/4 of the way back to normal, I
think. The icons are now labeled in English. Most of my
applications are still in gibberish, though. My fonts
directory seems to be entirely empty. I have searched the
Microsoft site and found the information in installing
fonts at
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/TrueTypeInstallXP.mspx

I searched my C drive and found a whole assortment of .ttf
files in C:\WINNT\Fonts. Unfortunately, my applications
are not looking there, and so the window that comes up when
I click on Add New Font is all in gibberish, and I can't
navigate to the location from which I want to copy these files.

I don't know how to copy them directly (i.e., on a command
line), either. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks,
Sue