Permission to remove/uninstall fonts from Vista?
My new Acer Aspire 5570Z laptop came with Vista Home Premium installed. I wasn't too bothered by the "UAC" messages for installing new SW, but when I try to remove some of the many unneeded fonts (Batang, Mongolian Baita, etc.), I get the irritating message "Destination Folder Access Denied" and "You need permaiison to perform this action". The options in the dialog are Retry (which repeats the dialog) or Cancel (which of course doesn't perform the font removal).
I am the only user and have administrator status. What do I need to do to get the proper permission to do this or delete the fonts I don't want?
I am the only user and have administrator status. What do I need to do to get the proper permission to do this or delete the fonts I don't want?
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ASKER
Your message came in as my response was being posted davybrator7.
I tried your suggestion but the Fonts folder doesn't have anything except General in the Properties. It is within the Windows folder which does have the security tab. However, Vista won't allow me to change the permissions for the whole Windows folder. Similarly, if I try to take ownership of the whole drive C (which I gather I apparently don't really "own" even though I paid for it??), Vista puts up a warning dialog making it look like I`d be a fool to continue!
Now I feel even more confused and concerned. I`ve increased the points because this is not apparently as straightforward as I`d hoped.
I tried your suggestion but the Fonts folder doesn't have anything except General in the Properties. It is within the Windows folder which does have the security tab. However, Vista won't allow me to change the permissions for the whole Windows folder. Similarly, if I try to take ownership of the whole drive C (which I gather I apparently don't really "own" even though I paid for it??), Vista puts up a warning dialog making it look like I`d be a fool to continue!
Now I feel even more confused and concerned. I`ve increased the points because this is not apparently as straightforward as I`d hoped.
Okay - try disabling UAC:
http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm
Then - edit the local security policy to remove the UAC functionality. The following to pages should help you:
http://blogs.msdn.com/uac/archive/2006/01/22/516066.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2006/09/20/windows-vista-secret-4-disabling-uac.aspx
Now try again - you can always re-enable UAC afterwards.
http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm
Then - edit the local security policy to remove the UAC functionality. The following to pages should help you:
http://blogs.msdn.com/uac/archive/2006/01/22/516066.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2006/09/20/windows-vista-secret-4-disabling-uac.aspx
Now try again - you can always re-enable UAC afterwards.
As this shows:
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/vista/user_account_control.htm
The other option is to disable "Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode".
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/vista/user_account_control.htm
The other option is to disable "Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode".
ASKER
No success. I turned off UAC and still get the same message if I try to remove a font -- and the Fonts folder Properties does not include a Security tab.
Have any of you tried to remove a font? I find it hard to imagine that I am the only one encountering this problem, but I have not found any other sites with information about it. I am not a newbie (having run pretty well everything from pre-MS-DOS): I don't want to have to fuss around with the internals of an OS; I just want to use the #%& applications!
Have any of you tried to remove a font? I find it hard to imagine that I am the only one encountering this problem, but I have not found any other sites with information about it. I am not a newbie (having run pretty well everything from pre-MS-DOS): I don't want to have to fuss around with the internals of an OS; I just want to use the #%& applications!
Have you tried the method here:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/f144ad40-bc63-43f1-a06e-4cc6b22bde301033.mspx#EZC
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/f144ad40-bc63-43f1-a06e-4cc6b22bde301033.mspx#EZC
ASKER
Yes, that was where I started. In fact, that is the same content as the Help within Vista. I would love to have access to a different Vista system to see if hose instructions work, because they certainly do NOT work for me.
If any of you can actually remove a font successfully with that method, I'd be very interested to know what the various security settings are for your setup.
If any of you can actually remove a font successfully with that method, I'd be very interested to know what the various security settings are for your setup.
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Well, I found a solution of sorts -- but I remain surprised that this is such a complicated issue with Vista.
As noted above, I needed to get the right level of permissions. However, it isn't enough to just run the font folder as Administrator; I need to take control of EACH font before I can delete it. Moreover, some fonts (like the Batang) are apparently part of the OS and cannot be deleted -- or if you do manage to remove them, it apparently may cause "system instability" (although I cannot figure out why if I never use the fonts!)
Here's what I did: a) Open the Fonts folder as Administrator. b) Select the font I want to remove and right-click to get Properties. Now I can do what davybrator7 suggested. However, if the font is considered a system font, you will still get the message and cannot remove it.
A Microsoft MVP suggested a solution using the command prompt, and while it essentially did the same thing, was far too complicated to work effectively for the number of fonts I'd want to manage.
I think I will investigate the last suggestion by and235100 and find a program to help manage fonts. Then at least the permissions business will be handled the way Vista wants it. I can see the benefits of UAC and the security, but this experience makes me wonder how a "normal" user can possibly cope if they attempt to do something that should be a fairly straightforward procedure.
Thanks to all for the help; I've split the points.
As noted above, I needed to get the right level of permissions. However, it isn't enough to just run the font folder as Administrator; I need to take control of EACH font before I can delete it. Moreover, some fonts (like the Batang) are apparently part of the OS and cannot be deleted -- or if you do manage to remove them, it apparently may cause "system instability" (although I cannot figure out why if I never use the fonts!)
Here's what I did: a) Open the Fonts folder as Administrator. b) Select the font I want to remove and right-click to get Properties. Now I can do what davybrator7 suggested. However, if the font is considered a system font, you will still get the message and cannot remove it.
A Microsoft MVP suggested a solution using the command prompt, and while it essentially did the same thing, was far too complicated to work effectively for the number of fonts I'd want to manage.
I think I will investigate the last suggestion by and235100 and find a program to help manage fonts. Then at least the permissions business will be handled the way Vista wants it. I can see the benefits of UAC and the security, but this experience makes me wonder how a "normal" user can possibly cope if they attempt to do something that should be a fairly straightforward procedure.
Thanks to all for the help; I've split the points.
Happy hunting!
Thank you.
Thank you.
ASKER
Sorry James, I'm only being partly facetious because although I sort of follow what you mean, am I the only one who thinks this is way too obscure for what should be a simple task? When I first used the font dialog in Word, I had to scroll through dozens of apparently the same face fonts with all kinds of odd names. I don't need them, don't want them cluttering up my pull downs -- but can't seem to get rid of them!
And since the laptop came pre-installed, I don't have the original DVD. I really hope this doesn't mean I'm stuck being unable to install or uninstall fonts...