Corrupted/Crumbling Fonts

This might effect Icon fonts also....if I re-boot,things are OK for a short while ...5 minutes.

Edited text of question

I'm a little confused... 68 MB RAM?  Don't you mean 64?  And if you do have 68, I'd suggest pulling out the old 4 since that could be causeing your problems and might actually ve slowing down your comp.

Are you overclocking (running your comp at a higher cpu speed than it's rated for)?

Check for viruses too.  It sounds like something is slowly corrupting your data, which is usually caused by either a virus or by some hardware fault.

Regards,
jeremy

1. Sorry...I have 65536K of Ram...not 68(but also not 64).
2. No aI am not overclocking
3. I have run the latest updated viruscheck to no avail.
4.The condition is exactly as bad as it was when I first noticed it (a week before Xmas)and has not progressed in it`s severity.

Can you check your FONTS folder, are any shown as damaged or corrupted?

Can you go to start - run - SFC and run system file checker and see if any key system files are reported as corrupted and/or older than prior ones, at which time damaged, corrupted or older files can be replaced from your initial Win98 CD.

It could be lots of reasons, this will be one series of checks.

Did you also run SCANDISK and/or DEFRAG?  You may have some cross-linked files or other errors that could be problematic.

Do you also happen to have ATM fonts installed?  If so, version.

Almost forgot, did you ever have some Windows 98 Desktop Themes installed which you subsequently uninstalled?  Were that the case, fonts may be removed with the uninstall and/or create some conflict.

Almost forgot, did you ever have some Windows 98 Desktop Themes installed which you subsequently uninstalled?  Were that the case, fonts may be removed with the uninstall and/or create some conflict.

Here's a link to the Microsoft Windows 98 Knowledge Base relative to FONT problems, perhaps that will help.
http://search.support.microsoft.com/searchbin/kb/mts.idq?D=win98x+or+ierelease+or+crossnet&A=T&T=B&G=&Fr=0&S=F&T1=&Sz=%28win98%29+and+font+and+problem&O=font+problem&MSCOM_SRV=http://www.microsoft.com

1.Checked the font folder before posting...no problems
2.SFC...no problems
3.Scandisk...no problems
4.Defrag......Done last Monday..OK

1.I have installed some win98 desktop themes but still have them
2.I will check out the knowledge base if time allows

Do Windows98 Desktop Themes work OK, or do those fonts corrupt as well, worth a try.

If I met that problem, I would:
- Check virus
- Check all hard drive
- Check error interrup
.... and I would run Safe mode... for it repair

What is"error interrup" ?

how does one "check error interrup" ?

It seems that answers are mistakenly accepted here all the time.
When you accept (grade) the "proposed answer" in the green box, it closes your question and awards the points to that person.  Please reject any answer proposed if you are not satisfied that it solves your problem.  Many experts can then participate in a solution for your problem.
When the solution is found, you can then simply invite the expert of your choice to submit his answer for you to grade.
 
Boot the computer into safe mode. (Hold control key during boot-up, or press F8 key for menu)

Does the problem still occur?

If not, I suggest you replace your display drivers.
If you need help with it, just ask.

Regards,
Ralph

I`ve been off the PC for quite a while since the proposed answer.....please give me a day or so to evaluate and I will return to accept and grade or reject and wait for more suggestions...am off to work.

As your aware I did not mean to "Accept" the "Answer"
        I did not get a clear answer to a confusing part of the "answer"...read my comment.
My system is still showing screwed up fonts.I waited to see if your "answer" was the one to work,and by doing that and posting a comment I guess that means I agree with the "answer"
I don`t.....It`s not any different than when I first posted so I don`t think a grade is appropriate.

I have tried to see if safe mode would have the same effect...it did not (fonts OK)...but I only gave it 30 minutes.When I returned to normal mode it took so long to screw up I thought it was somehow fixed...but no...after an hour it started again.That`s the way the font crumbles!

Some ideas...

The way I seem to understand it is, you open a document and leave it open, and the display begins to get garbled - the characters deteriorate.  But if you print a document, or close and reopen a document, or restart your comp, the text appears normally again, although only temporarily.  Therefore, the data on your hard drive is not being corrupted, it is probably a display problem or a memory/processor problem.  Since you are not overclocking, and you have 64 MB RAM (I'm guessing this is relatively new memory), I will assume the video is the problem.

You should check if the problem persists if you:
1.  boot up into Safe Mode, as rmarotta suggested
2.  boot up into MS DOS mode
3.  fire up a DOS shell from within WIndows, set as a window (so that you can see the desktop from behind)
4.  Open a full-screen DOS shell from within Windows (Press Alt-Enter to go from full screen to window mode)

Please tell us what happens in each of the four cases.  If you want a word processor in DOS, use Edit (edit.com) to open any text file and play around with it.

Once we know what happens in each case, the exact problem can be pinpointed.

Regards,
Jeremy

sorry, I must have started typing before your last post came up, CricketMonkey.

Have you replaced your display driver yet?
I suggest you find out if there is an upgrade available.
Let me know if you need help to locate one on the web.
Regards,
Raalph

I have upgraded "all" drivers...I have also brought up a Dos window......and left it up all night to see if it corrupted the font files again.AND....I found that when I checked out my PC this morning it had "NOT ENOUGH FREE MEMORY"..and wouldn`t open anything at all...but the fonts I had up on my edit screen were fine.....now this is biginning to look like a gimme.Come on guys...let`s keep it simple(as myself)and understandable.
               Survey said?

I still think your problem lies with the driver for your Windows Display Adapter.
There are no problems while in safe mode because a standard VGA driver is used at that time.
If you're using a "new" video driver, then go back to the "old" one that worked previously.

Or, has this problem always occurred in Windows?

Ralph

Maybe off the wall, but a friend had a screen saver that crumbled images as the screen saver routine, that couldn't be the case with your fonts, could it?

This sounds like a conflict in the registry with kernel32.dll

Try this...

Go to start, run and type regclean into the box.
If it cannot fine the program, you will need to download either from the Win98 CD or from the MS website.

If it finds any errrors, it will correct them... Re-boot and see if that fixes it..

Mike

No...Astaec...it`s not a screensaver.
I`m going for the regclean after reversal of display adapters.
I`ll let you know what happens

Regclean is not available at this time from Microsoft and any other site that links you here for this download due to internal problems found by the company.I`m off to do display adapters

I didn`t replace the display adapter...when I updated..it was noted that the one installed was the latest one....so I left it be.
             Dosen`t anyone see a memory swap files type of problem here?Am I the only one?If that`s it will I have to award myself 100 points?Just kidding boys and girls.
   This happens in Windows....in Outlook, reading mail,desktop icon names,etc.

CricketMonkey,

I don't understand why you keep avoiding the solution to your problem!  As I said earlier, the problem may be with that "latest" driver.

What video card do you have installed?

Ralph

Hi Cricket::))
Let's boot to safe mode again>>Device Manager and check every item. If you see any duplicates, remove them.

Get back to us. I've invited another very good teck to help with this.
Ralph is a guy you should listen to. He's not a point grabber and he knows his stuff.

Regards,
Bud
http://www.geocities.com/~budallen/

Ralph...your not reading my post.Their is no LATEST DRIVER.It`s the same..and it would be the same if I replaced it...which I didn`t...which is essentually exactly what you wanted.
                 Matrox mellinium card

Hi Bud!

Cricket.....
If there wasn't a driver upgrade, then download what is available.
I suspect the one you have on your system is corrupt.
Copy a new one over it, even if it's the same one.
Then let's see if there's an improvement.
Ralph

Sorry Ralph...no offense.I`m off to safe mode and checking for dupes.
             I`ll change driver also if that`s what you want.

The latest Microsoft WHQL certified driver can be found here:

ftp://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/millg200/win95/1677_412.exe

Let me know if you have trouble with it.
Ralph

I did the safe mode and found in device manager
1.Dupe of my cd rom...removed
2.Dupe of my monitor....removed
3.Dupe of Microsoft streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink converter....removed with some trepidation,but removed anyway...and re-booted
4.The old lady wants me to......go shopping.
5.I`ll get and install the driver Ralph,hit the discount mall and bring my sorry ass back here to see what else you have in store for me.
Thanks all...........

Hmmmmm,
Honeydoos!
Got some to take care of myself...........

Since you got rid of the Dups, lets let it go for a while and see if it's better.

If not, follow up with Ralph's suggestion.

Regards,
Bud
http://www.geocities.com/~budallen/

YAY!  Road to recovery ... and ... Honeydos, what a combo!

I always thought that if a duplicate device appears in device manager that all occurrences should be removed.  Wrong?

So far...I`ve been on line for an hour or so and no font problems.....and I know that as soon as I say for sure it`s fixed it`ll go to hell....so...is it OK iffin I wait a day to see if the problem is gone.AND...AND....which fix did it (if did it it did do)on the fix?I did all that you asked.Who would be the lucky gal?Let me know....
     Oh...and momma said thanks for lettin me out of the house.

Remember reading that the REGCLEAN facility is a problem in Windows98, due to changes in registry design.

Tell us please all the steps you've followed, or what you have done?

Bud

I`ve been at the PC all day today and "no font problems"...as of yet!Here`s what I did in the order I did it in...............
1.Installed and ran successfully the latest virus checker
2.Checked font folder for damaged/corrupted fonts)all OK)
3.Ran SFC...all OK
4.Ran scandisk...all OK
5.Changed themes..........Hmmmmmmm!
6.NEVER DID FIND OUT WHAT ERROR INTERRUP WAS
7.Booted to safe mode to see if problem was there...opened edit and left it up all night.The next day it was ready to crash due to insufficient memory...but fonts were OK
8.Booted to safe mode to see if the problem was there...is was not
9.Failed to find and use regclean
10.Removed all duplicate files from device manager and rebooted
11.Replaced my display drivers
                And the winner is ????????

Door number three!

Even though duplicate entrys were present in safe mode, there was no font corruption because Windows changed your display driver.
Regards,
Ralph

I may change my mind on this...this is my first time here and I`m not sure how things are properly done.
The "ANSWER" stated something true.....but it wasn`t a fix was it?  Help me out guys....
              C.Monk

For my database,
Did you load new display drivers.
What do you think fixed it??
I assume the problem is fixed??
Yes, is it fixed??

If so simply grade ralph.

Regards,
Bud
http://www.geocities.com/~budallen/

1.Yes I did load display drivers
2.I think ,either the new display drivers...OR...switching to a new Win98 theme (possibly a corrupted theme file)
3.And yes you do assume the problem is fixed
4.Yes ....the problem IS fixed
5. And I agree...Ralph gets the points AND the cruise behind door number three!
                  Thanks to all of you.This has got to be the neatest idea I`ve seen on tech help!