Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Professional (3rd Edition)

When I'm running a specific program, I can't see the correct foreign-language fonts in dialog boxes, display menus, and within my documents.

You might have this problem if the program you are using doesn't understand how to use Unicode fonts. Unicode fonts are extended fonts that have support for the multiple languages built in to them. To work around this problem, you can try the following procedure:

Note that only non-Unicode programs are affected by alterations to the system locale, and you might be prevented from altering the locale setting if you don't have administrative privileges or if the network policy settings conflict.

Text Columns Out of Alignment

Sometimes when I read email or another document that contains columns of text or numbers, they are out of alignment.

You can have this problem if the document was formatted with a monospaced font and you're viewing it in a proportionally spaced font. Select the text in question, and change the font to Courier, Courier New, or some other monospaced font. If your program doesn't allow altering the font of selected text, it might allow you to change the font of all displayed text. Email programs often fall into this category. Look for the relevant option setting within the application. For example, in Outlook Express, you choose Tools, Options, Read, Fonts.

Document from Another User Is Displayed Improperly

I received a complex document that doesn't look right at all. I suspect something is wrong. The text is readable, but I suspect either the author of the document must have had too many drinks or some technical glitch must have happened.

This problem is yet another symptom of the document's font or of fonts not being installed in the system that's displaying it. The document probably looks just fine on the computer that its author was using. If you're not going to be printing it or proofing it for layout but care only about the textual content, don't worry about it. If you need to print the document or proof it for line breaks, layout, page arrangement, and so forth, it's imperative that you have the document's font or fonts on your computer. Have the author send you the fonts, or purchase them if they are not free. Then install them as explained in this chapter. Finally, reopen the document.

Another option is to have the author send you another version of the document with embedded fonts. Many fonts can be embedded in your documents so that they will be available on other machines, even if the typeface was not installed originally. Not all Fonts allow this. To find out about this feature plus a myriad of other pieces of data, download the Microsoft Font properties extension from http://www.microsoft.com/typography/property/property.htm. This fonts extension tool adds a number of tabs to a font's properties dialog box, including whether or not the font can be embedded (permanently and/or temporarily) and whether the document can be edited or opened read-only.

Note that even if the correct fonts are not available in the system, most layout programs indicate what they are supposed to be. To find out, click any text in question, and look at the program's toolbar. For example, Microsoft Word indicates in the Standard toolbar the name of the font in which the text is formatted. That's the font you're going to need to have in your system to see the text displayed properly.

Dialog Box Fonts Are Unreadable

Fonts in all my dialog boxes look very weird or unreadable.

You can have this problem for a couple of reasons. First, ensure that the regional settings are correct for your area (see "Document From Another User Is Displayed Improperly"). Next, choose Control Panel, Display, Appearance and click Message Text. Look to see what font size you have chosen for dialog box messages, and change it if necessary.

Dialog boxes that programs display can also get weird if you have removed necessary system fonts such as MS Sans Serif and MS Serif. Check the Fonts folder to see that they are available. Replace them from another system if necessary.

Icon Fonts Too Large or Small

My icon fonts are too small (or too large).

If your screen fonts (such as text under icons on the desktop or in Explorer windows) are the wrong size, you can change the system fonts to another size. Choose Control Panel, Display Properties, Settings, General, and look for the fonts setting. Then choose another size. You might have to reboot. Also see the note in Chapter 23, "Tweaking the GUI," about LiquidView from Portrait Displays (http://www.portrait.com), which can increase the size of many of the smaller fonts, icons, and graphic elements that make up the User Interface.