Fonts directory and Application Data directory: reinistalling Win98SE, should I restore these?

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
That isn't the command you want.You want to remove the System attribute
from the folder, not from the files within the folder.

E:\attrib -s FONTS

Thanks. That worked!

Don't delete the folder. While it *appears* that all of the fonts have
been automatically installed to your new system, they haven't. Those
files you see in the C:\Windows\FONTS folder aren't really there. Those
are mirrors of what's in the other fonts folder.

Not that I would ever doubt you, but are you sure?
When I reboot the PC, and the external drive is powered off, my real Fonts
folder shows the full list of my fonts, the identical number of fonts as on
the copy.

Sorry, I was under the impression that a mirroring effect was going on,
that you had already found that when the USB drive was disabled, a
different set of fonts was shown in the C:\Windows\FONTS folder. When
you reinstalled your system, especially if you reinstalled all the same
applications, you will have also reinstalled all the same fonts as you
had before. I was just suggesting that before you delete the backup
fonts folder, you make *sure* that you really have them all installed.
If the backup folder no longer has the System attribute (there's only
one "backup fonts" folder, right?), you can be fairly certain that what
you see in the current FONTS folder is real.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Tuttle" wrote in message
...
"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
That isn't the command you want.You want to remove the System
attribute
from the folder, not from the files within the folder.

E:\attrib -s FONTS

Thanks. That worked!

Don't delete the folder. While it *appears* that all of the fonts
have
been automatically installed to your new system, they haven't. Those
files you see in the C:\Windows\FONTS folder aren't really there.
Those
are mirrors of what's in the other fonts folder.

Not that I would ever doubt you, but are you sure?
When I reboot the PC, and the external drive is powered off, my real
Fonts
folder shows the full list of my fonts, the identical number of fonts
as on
the copy.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
Sorry, I was under the impression that a mirroring effect was going on,

I think there was, but it resulted in permanently installing extra fonts to
the PC, to the real C:\Windows\FONTS folder.

When
you reinstalled your system, especially if you reinstalled all the same
applications, you will have also reinstalled all the same fonts as you
had before.

I had installed, and therefore backed up, additional fonts that did not
come with Windows or my applications. I think they are now also on the PC,
even though I didn't explicitly install them this time.

I was just suggesting that before you delete the backup
fonts folder, you make *sure* that you really have them all installed.
If the backup folder no longer has the System attribute (there's only
one "backup fonts" folder, right?), you can be fairly certain that what
you see in the current FONTS folder is real.

Okay, thanks. Good advice.

In future, to make a backup of my fonts would it be better to drag just the
visible *contents* of the font folder, rather than the entire folder? And
would the same advice apply to backing up my Windows\Favorites and
Windows\Desktop foldesr, that I should not backup the entire folders because
they are also "special"?
(after all these years of using and installing Win98, there is still lots
for me to learn)

I didn't suggest you alter any attributes but the folder attributes
but I see you have it sorted.

Yes, back up the contents next time.

....Alan

--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/index.html

In microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion, "Tuttle"
wrote:


In microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion, "Tuttle"
wrote:

"Alan Edwards" wrote in message

Remove the System attribute on the false folder.

I opened a DOS window, opened that drive, cd'd to the copied Fonts
directory, then did this:

E:FONTS attrib -s *.*

It returned a whole bunch of failure messages, like the following:

Not resetting hidden file E:\fonts\VGASYS.FON
Not resetting hidden file E:\fonts\MARLETT.TTF
etc. ...


What next?
Should I just delete the entire directory? I no longer need this backup, as
I have reinstalled my system.
In future, to make a backup of my fonts would it be better to drag just the
visible *contents* of the font folder, rather than the entire folder?

(Thank you for your help)

Yes, backup the contents.
Yes, the same applies to Favorites, though a simpler backup is
IE-File-Export

No idea why you would backup the Desktop but the same rule should
apply there or you will pick up Desktop.ini again.

....Alan

--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/index.html

In microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion, "Tuttle"
wrote:



In future, to make a backup of my fonts would it be better to drag just the
visible *contents* of the font folder, rather than the entire folder? And
would the same advice apply to backing up my Windows\Favorites and
Windows\Desktop foldesr, that I should not backup the entire folders because
they are also "special"?
(after all these years of using and installing Win98, there is still lots
for me to learn)

I currently have over 4500 unique fonts and font families, from lots of
different sources. By unique, I mean different foundries and different
filenames--but that includes 20 or 30 different flavors of Garamond, for
example. I have probably five or six different full backups--you can
never have too many backups! I never consider the active FONTS folder
*the* storage for my fonts.

Now, I run Windows XP, and except for horrendous loading times for some
Adobe products (which insist on enumerating fonts rather than using the
Registry) I usually have all of my fonts installed, both TrueType and
TypeOne versions (plus the smattering of OpenType.) But you can't do
that in Win9x, you can't usually have more than a few hundred fonts
installed before things get hinky. And there *are* times, when I find it
more convenient to pare the list down to a few hundred for certain
projects on my XP system.

Which is why I use Bitstream Font Navigator, both to make it easy to
search for fonts that match some submission (I do advertising graphics),
and to make it easy to uninstall and install fonts. I also have Adobe
ATM, and occasionally have to use it, but I find Font Navigator to be
more user-friendly. The version of Font Navigator I have came with a
WordPerfect Office suite, and I'm not sure it's still included in modern
versions.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Tuttle" wrote in message
...

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
Sorry, I was under the impression that a mirroring effect was going
on,

I think there was, but it resulted in permanently installing extra
fonts to
the PC, to the real C:\Windows\FONTS folder.

When
you reinstalled your system, especially if you reinstalled all the
same
applications, you will have also reinstalled all the same fonts as
you
had before.

I had installed, and therefore backed up, additional fonts that did
not
come with Windows or my applications. I think they are now also on the
PC,
even though I didn't explicitly install them this time.

I was just suggesting that before you delete the backup
fonts folder, you make *sure* that you really have them all
installed.
If the backup folder no longer has the System attribute (there's
only
one "backup fonts" folder, right?), you can be fairly certain that
what
you see in the current FONTS folder is real.

Okay, thanks. Good advice.

In future, to make a backup of my fonts would it be better to drag
just the
visible *contents* of the font folder, rather than the entire folder?
And
would the same advice apply to backing up my Windows\Favorites and
Windows\Desktop foldesr, that I should not backup the entire folders
because
they are also "special"?
(after all these years of using and installing Win98, there is still
lots
for me to learn)

Ver interesting. Thanks.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
I currently have over 4500 unique fonts and font families, from lots of
different sources. By unique, I mean different foundries and different
filenames--but that includes 20 or 30 different flavors of Garamond, for
example. I have probably five or six different full backups--you can
never have too many backups! I never consider the active FONTS folder
*the* storage for my fonts.

Now, I run Windows XP, and except for horrendous loading times for some
Adobe products (which insist on enumerating fonts rather than using the
Registry) I usually have all of my fonts installed, both TrueType and
TypeOne versions (plus the smattering of OpenType.) But you can't do
that in Win9x, you can't usually have more than a few hundred fonts
installed before things get hinky. And there *are* times, when I find it
more convenient to pare the list down to a few hundred for certain
projects on my XP system.

Which is why I use Bitstream Font Navigator, both to make it easy to
search for fonts that match some submission (I do advertising graphics),
and to make it easy to uninstall and install fonts. I also have Adobe
ATM, and occasionally have to use it, but I find Font Navigator to be
more user-friendly. The version of Font Navigator I have came with a
WordPerfect Office suite, and I'm not sure it's still included in modern
versions.

Further information:

Yes indeed, you were absolutely right. There was a mirroring effect
occurring, but in the opposite direction from what we thought. We thought
that the true FONTS folder on the PC was mirroring, and I even thought it
was automatically installing, fonts from the backup copy of FONTS on the
external drive, it wasn't. The reason the number of fonts was identical in
each folder was that the active FONTS folder on the PC was somehow causing
the backup copy to display the same total and same list of fonts.

After removing the System attribute from the backup copy, and deleting its
Desktop.ini, and rebooting, now the external fonts backup is a normal
folder. Lo and behold, that backup now shows far more fonts than before. It
did not list them in the total previously, and I could not see them, because
the active FONTS folder on the PC was somehow hiding them and causing the
backup to display identical information.

Weird stuff. Thanks very much for your help, and thanks to Alan Edwards for
his help.

What was it in the backup fonts folder that caused this weird mirroring? Was
it the System attribute or the Desktop.ini file?


"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
Sorry, I was under the impression that a mirroring effect was going on,
that you had already found that when the USB drive was disabled, a
different set of fonts was shown in the C:\Windows\FONTS folder. When
you reinstalled your system, especially if you reinstalled all the same
applications, you will have also reinstalled all the same fonts as you
had before. I was just suggesting that before you delete the backup
fonts folder, you make *sure* that you really have them all installed.
If the backup folder no longer has the System attribute (there's only
one "backup fonts" folder, right?), you can be fairly certain that what
you see in the current FONTS folder is real.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Tuttle" wrote in message
...
"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
That isn't the command you want.You want to remove the System
attribute
from the folder, not from the files within the folder.

E:\attrib -s FONTS

Thanks. That worked!

Don't delete the folder. While it *appears* that all of the fonts
have
been automatically installed to your new system, they haven't. Those
files you see in the C:\Windows\FONTS folder aren't really there.
Those
are mirrors of what's in the other fonts folder.

Not that I would ever doubt you, but are you sure?
When I reboot the PC, and the external drive is powered off, my real
Fonts
folder shows the full list of my fonts, the identical number of fonts
as on
the copy.

"Alan Edwards" wrote in message
...
Yes, backup the contents.
Yes, the same applies to Favorites, though a simpler backup is
IE-File-Export

Right, but that requires manual intervention. Backing up the Favorites and
Fonts directories were simply part of my automated backup. I'll have to
rethink how that's done. It's awkward selecting all the folder contents to
backup without their container to hold them.

No idea why you would backup the Desktop but the same rule should
apply there or you will pick up Desktop.ini again.

My Destop often includes new files awaiting my review. That way I see them
as a reminder. Perhaps that's not the best use of the Desktop.

No reason you can't backup the "containers" as well as their contents.
But, in many cases, you shouldn't restore the containers, just the
contents.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Tuttle" wrote in message
...
"Alan Edwards" wrote in message
...
Yes, backup the contents.
Yes, the same applies to Favorites, though a simpler backup is
IE-File-Export

Right, but that requires manual intervention. Backing up the Favorites
and
Fonts directories were simply part of my automated backup. I'll have
to
rethink how that's done. It's awkward selecting all the folder
contents to
backup without their container to hold them.

No idea why you would backup the Desktop but the same rule should
apply there or you will pick up Desktop.ini again.

My Destop often includes new files awaiting my review. That way I see
them
as a reminder. Perhaps that's not the best use of the Desktop.