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Windows XP refusing to install Open Type Font (OTF)

Anonymous
2010-05-20T00:46:06+00:00

I've been trying to figure out why this won't work for some time to no avail. OTF fonts are supposed to have native XP support, but everytime I try to install various OTF fonts, whether I install through the folder or copy paste, and no matter how many different places I download them from, it gives me the error message "Unable to install (font) (OpenType) font. The font file may be damaged. Check with your font vendor about obtaining a new file". I have not been able to find any reason why this will not work and I would appreciate any advice that can lead me towards solving this issue so that I can use these fonts I need.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-02-15T17:16:10+00:00

    We had a similar issue and it seems to be a memory problem. The Open Type Fonts (OTF)s run through a device driver to render, while Truetype Fonts (TTF) do not.

    Windows is setup with a preset ceiling for the amount of memory these drivers can take. If you have a lot of printers, devices or a fancy video card with a big driver (which was our case), the memory will run out and the OTF driver won't be loaded.

    You can try to trim down the amount of memory you're using by going through what's installed, or you can simply up the ceiling by editing the registry key.

    To do this, open Regedit (as an administrator) and browse to the following location:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

    Look for the "SessionImageSize" key. If it doesn't exist, create it as a REG_DWORD and set it's value to 20 (decimal).

    This will make the ceiling 32MBs after you restart the computer.

    Depending on the purpose of the machine and the number of devices installed, you can try increasing the amount further.

    40=64MB

    60=96MB

    80=128MB

    I suggest not going above 64MB unless you have more then 2GB of RAM.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-05-24T03:38:58+00:00

    I found that after I'd installed the OTF fonts, MS Word wouldn't read them.  I'm not sure that Windows XP and or MS Office does a great job at handling PostScript fonts (which mine were).

    Other applications on my PC could see the OTFs and they had varying degress of success using them.  GIMP could read them but they displayed and printed with some aliasing.  Inkscape did a better job of handling the fonts and printing them as smooth lines.

    My Guess is my problem was Windows XP / Postscript Interpreter related.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-02-14T10:32:27+00:00

    The problem appears also when you try to install the font from a network drive. Copy the OTF or TTF font to your local drive and try to install from there. This solved the problem under Windows Vista for example.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-01-15T02:16:19+00:00

    i have same problems...thank for share

    http://www.diedelweiss.com

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