Windows Fonts
Windows fonts or fonts on a Windows system, are stored in the windows
folder in a folder named fonts. When you install a font, it is important
to understand that they belong to the system and not to any one particualar
application or program. The reason fonts are centralized to the system is
so that every application that uses fonts can access them and not have to
have their own fonts (that would raise the cost of the products and fill
your hard drive with unneccessary redundancy by way of duplicate files).
Installing System Fonts
To install a font, you would think all you should have to do is copy the
font file (data) into the c:\Windows\Fonts folder, but in fact, you must
use the Windows font installer routine from the file menu in the fonts
folder. To install a system font, go into the Fonts folder.
You can navigate into the system Fonts folder by two different methods. The
preferred is to go into the Control Panel (Start -> Settings ->
Control Panel) and double-click the Fonts icon. This essentially takes you
to the c:\Windows\Fonts folder as though you navigated to it from the My
Computer icon, which is the second method of getting to the Fonts folder.
- Open the Fonts folder
- Select 'File' from the top menu
- Select 'Install New Font' option
- Choose the font file you want to install
Special Considerations
Downloading From The Internet
When downloading fonts from the internet, they will most likely be packaged
into a compressed archive file format (store many files in one downloadable
archive file). These archives are usually what are commonly called ZIP files,
because they have the .zip extension.
Before installing the font, you must uncompress the archive so that when you
browse for the file, you can select the TTF or .ttf file (TrueType Font),
and not the archive file you downloaded. Uncompress the archive by right
clicking the archive and choosing to decompress or unarchive.
Font File Location
When browsing for the font file you want to install, the dialog box that
Windows uses is not the same as the one you use to open most files from other
applications such as Word or Excel. From this dialog box, you cannot choose
the 'Desktop' from a shortcut in the drop down menu like the other dialog
box. Giving this, if you saved the font file in a place like the desktop,
you will have to know how to browse to it. In Windows 9x, it is the
c:\Windows\Desktop folder. On Windows 2000 and XP, it is C:\Documents and
Settings\username\Desktop, if you are on a network with a roaming profile,
you will have to save it locally, just as you don't have the Desktop option,
you not have a Network option either.
A simple solution is to put the file in the c: drive, install the font, and
then delete the font file. You can download to your Desktop, uncompress into
a temporary folder, then cut the folder to the c: drive, install, delete the
folder.
Simple Instructions
- Download the Font file or archive to the Desktop
- Uncompress the file by right-clicking and choosing the 'Extract to ...' which is a folder named after the name of the archive file. The archive contents (and font file) will be inside this folder.
- Right click the folder and choose 'Cut', go to the C: drive and right click in the white and choose 'Paste' (remember the name of the folder). Keep this window open.
- Go to the Fonts folder (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Fonts), choose 'File' and then choose 'Install New Font', navigate to the C: drive and then into the folder you just pasted there, choose the font, and install it.
- Close up the Fonts folder then you are back to the other window where you pasted the folder. Now, delete the folder you pasted there, and delete the archive file from your desktop (right click and choose 'Delete').