StevenHook
asked on
How do I delete Windows fonts shortcuts
Hi,
On one of the Windows Vista desktops here I have a strange font problem, there are shortcuts to fonts in the fonts folder and when I try to delete them explorer.exe crashes.
I did delete them from the registry - but they still show in the folder.
If an application tries to use that font (IE he gets an email in outlook that has helvetica in it) then the application crashes. It really seems to be the font files that are causing the crashes, I want to delete them, but when I try, explorer.exe ends.
I tried to dir the folder folder in command prompt, but the shortcuts don't show up , I can't del them either.
I'm really at a loss as to what to try next to get rid of them, any assistance would be appreciated.
Thanks
Steven
On one of the Windows Vista desktops here I have a strange font problem, there are shortcuts to fonts in the fonts folder and when I try to delete them explorer.exe crashes.
I did delete them from the registry - but they still show in the folder.
If an application tries to use that font (IE he gets an email in outlook that has helvetica in it) then the application crashes. It really seems to be the font files that are causing the crashes, I want to delete them, but when I try, explorer.exe ends.
I tried to dir the folder folder in command prompt, but the shortcuts don't show up , I can't del them either.
I'm really at a loss as to what to try next to get rid of them, any assistance would be appreciated.
Thanks
Steven
ASKER
Thanks
Doing an sfc now. No viruses according to ESET Nod32 - it gets an in-depth nightly scan along with all the other PCs on the network, the staff are pretty well educated, and we seldom get infections. I also did a cleanup with ccleaner.
It really seems to be helvetica that's causing the stuff to crash. It's just that deleting it also makes it crash :(
The shortcut refers to one of our network drives that the designers store all their fonts on, Even when the drive is disconnected the shortcut stays and explorer crashed when trying to delete it.
Doing an sfc now. No viruses according to ESET Nod32 - it gets an in-depth nightly scan along with all the other PCs on the network, the staff are pretty well educated, and we seldom get infections. I also did a cleanup with ccleaner.
It really seems to be helvetica that's causing the stuff to crash. It's just that deleting it also makes it crash :(
The shortcut refers to one of our network drives that the designers store all their fonts on, Even when the drive is disconnected the shortcut stays and explorer crashed when trying to delete it.
A couple of things based on your last comment.
1. Network drives. Use the NET USE command to delete network drives. Then use:
NET USE /PERSISTENT:NO to turn off persistence. Make sure there are no drives (use NET USE by itself to list drives). Then restart, do not map network drives and test.
2. SFC Scan. If that fails to correct the problem, you may need to do a Vista Repair Install. See the article below for a reference on Vista Repair Install.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html
.... Thinkpads_User
1. Network drives. Use the NET USE command to delete network drives. Then use:
NET USE /PERSISTENT:NO to turn off persistence. Make sure there are no drives (use NET USE by itself to list drives). Then restart, do not map network drives and test.
2. SFC Scan. If that fails to correct the problem, you may need to do a Vista Repair Install. See the article below for a reference on Vista Repair Install.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html
.... Thinkpads_User
If the desktop was not formatted in few years, a clean format would be good. This will clean up the PC with just like a new configuration, it might increate the speed too, then you no need to waste the time to troubleshoot here and there.
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When you have completed the virus scan, run System File Checker. Open an admin command prompt and run SFC /SCANNOW and allow to complete. Run it again if errors remained after the first run.
Now restart the computer and test.
... Thinkpads_User