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I tried to back up my C:\Windows\Fonts folder by copying it. That gave me a "Fonts - copy" folder. I deleted that folder and now the properties of the original "Fonts" folder have changed.

I believe this to be causing problems with some programs, specifically Chrome.

On a normal system, when I look at C:\Windows\Fonts folder through File Explorer it has a little "A" on it. The properties window shows only the one tab, "General." And when I go to the command prompt in C:\Windows and type dir, "Fonts" does not show up as a file or a directory. Is it a link of some sort?

But on the messed-up system, C:\Windows\Fonts does not have the little A on the folder, the properties window shows three tabs ("General", "Sharing", and "Security"), and when I use the command prompt "Fonts" does show up as a folder.

I've tried "Restore default font settings" in Control Panel's "Font settings" window, but this does not seem to restore the properties of the "Fonts" folder.

How can this be fixed? Is there a way to reestablish the original C:\Windows\Fonts folder properties without reinstalling the OS?

Ben N
  • 42,308
bigLarry
  • 851

1 Answers1

1

It sounds like your Fonts folder lost its desktop.ini, which is part of what makes it special. Open an administrative command prompt, navigate to C:\Windows\Fonts, then type the following commands:

  1. echo. > desktop.ini to create a blank file named desktop.ini
  2. notepad desktop.ini to open that file in an administrative Notepad instance

Paste the following into that Notepad window, then save:

[.ShellClassInfo]
CLSID={BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}

Log off and back on. If that didn't fix your problem, then the Registry lost its entries for the Fonts shell folder, which is another component that makes it special. Open a new instance of Notepad (not administrative) and paste this into it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}]
@="Microsoft Windows Font Folder"
"System.Software.TasksFileUrl"="Internal"
"AppID"="{50d69d24-961d-4828-9d1c-5f4717f226d1}"
"InfoTip"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
  6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
  00,53,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,\
  2d,00,32,00,32,00,39,00,32,00,30,00,00,00
"LocalizedString"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,\
  6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,\
  00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,\
  2c,00,2d,00,32,00,32,00,39,00,38,00,31,00,00,00
"System.ApplicationName"="Microsoft.Fonts"
"DisplayName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,\
  00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,\
  5c,00,66,00,6f,00,6e,00,74,00,65,00,78,00,74,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,\
  00,2d,00,31,00,39,00,39,00,00,00
"System.ControlPanel.Category"=dword:00000001
"Icon"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\
  00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,66,00,\
  6f,00,6e,00,74,00,65,00,78,00,74,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,31,00,30,\
  00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
  00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,66,00,6f,00,\
  6e,00,74,00,65,00,78,00,74,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}\Hierarchical]
@="0"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
  00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,66,00,6f,00,\
  6e,00,74,00,65,00,78,00,74,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:a0000000
"WantsForParsing"=""

(I just exported the branch of my Registry that deals with the Fonts special folder. You can check that against the appropriate branch of a clean Registry if you're paranoid.)

Save the file with a .reg extension, then double-click it in Explorer. Confirm the Registry merge and restart your computer.

Ben N
  • 42,308