Missing Menu Commands in the Fonts Folder
Article ID: 133725
Article Last Modified on 5/7/2007
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
- Microsoft Windows 95
- Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
This article was previously published under Q133725
SYMPTOMS
When you open the Fonts folder in Windows Explorer, the following commands
may be missing from the Fonts folder menus.
On the
File menu:
- Open
- Print
- Install New Font
On the
View menu:
- List Fonts By Similarity
- Hide Variations (Bold, Italics, Etc.)
CAUSE
This behavior can occur for any of the following reasons:
- The System and Read Only attributes are no longer set for the Fonts folder. The Fonts folder must have its System and Read Only attributes set to work correctly.
- The Fontext.dll file may be missing or damaged, causing the menus to contain only the commands for a generic folder.
- The Desktop.ini file may be missing or damaged. Note that you do not see the Desktop.ini file when you view the Fonts folder. To see the file, open an MS-DOS session and view the Windows\Fonts folder.
RESOLUTION
To restore the correct commands for the Fonts folder, follow these steps:
- At a command prompt, switch to the Windows folder by typing the
following command:
NOTE: If Windows is installed in a folder other than the Windows
folder, adjust these instructions accordingly.
- Type the following command:
- Shut down and restart Windows.
NOTE: You cannot set the System attribute for the Fonts folder within the graphical user interface.
If the commands for the Fonts folder are not restored, the Fontext.dll
file may be missing or damaged. To replace the Fontext.dll file, use the
steps in the appropriate section below.
Windows 95/98
- Restart Windows in MS-DOS mode.
- Change to the Windows\System folder.
- If the Fontext.dll file exists, rename it Fontext.old.
- Extract a new copy of the Fontext.dll file from the original Windows
disks or CD-ROM to the Windows\System folder.
For information about using the Extract tool, please see the following
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files
- Restart Windows normally.
If the issue persists, the Desktop.ini file may be missing or damaged. To
replace the Desktop.ini file, follow these steps:
- Restart Windows in MS-DOS mode.
- Change to the Windows\Fonts folder.
- If the Desktop.ini file exists, rename it Desktop.old.
- Extract a new copy of the Desktop.ini file from the original Windows
disks or CD-ROM to the Windows\Fonts folder.
For information about using the Extract tool, please see the following
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files
- Restart Windows normally.
Windows NT 4.0
- At a command prompt, delete the Desktop.ini file in the Winnt\Fonts
folder.
- Delete the Fontext.dll file in the Winnt\System32 folder.
- Expand a new Desktop.ini file from the I386 folder on your original
Windows NT 4.0 CD-ROM to the Fonts folder on your hard disk.
- Expand a new Fontext.dll file from the I386 folder on your original
Windows NT 4.0 CD-ROM to the Winnt\System32 folder on your hard disk.
For example, use the following command:
expand d:\i386\fontext.dl_ c:\winnt\system32\fontext.dll
- Restart the computer.
Windows 2000
- Boot into Safe Mode
- Rename the fontext.dll in the %SystemRoot%\System32 to fontext.old
- Rename the fontext.dll in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Dllcache to fontext.old
- Copy an extracted copy of the fontext.dll file to both folders.
- Reboot to Normal Mode.
Additional query words: 4.0 win95 win98 win98se winnt winme winmil
Keywords: kbfaq kbprb kbui KB133725