MapInfo Products KnowledgeBase

Product: All Products
Version: All
Platform: All Windows Platforms
Category: Installation

Summary:
MapInfo fonts showing up as alphanumeric characters -- how should fonts be reinstalled?

Question:
When MapInfo TrueType symbol fonts are not displayed properly in a map, the problem is likely to be somewhere in the Windows' registry and/or the Fonts folder. Font information is stored in a confusing variety of files, folders and registry settings -- and some of the files are hidden by Windows!

A good shortcut to try in many cases is to use a StreetPro or StreetInfo CD, if available, run the Setup.EXE in the root directory, and choose the option "Install Fonts Only" in the fifth dialog box (fourth dialog in the Data Installer setup). This will make the appropriate registry entries and copy the .TTF font files to Windows' FONTS directory.

Hidden files of the same name but an ".FOT" extension may also be installed to the Fonts directory. It appears that these are index files that are only relevant for Windows 3.1, so their presence or absence should not matter for any Windows 9x/Windows NT application.


Answer:
If a StreetPro CD is not available, or if the Windows registry is too badly mixed up for this installation to work, there are several steps that can be tried. Generally these should only be done as a last resort, if un-installation and reinstallation of the MapInfo product (MapX, MapXtreme, MapInfo Professional, etc.) does not make the fonts available.

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Note that one of the steps below involves modifying the system registry. While the changes are minor, it is certainly possible to cause serious problems with Windows, up to and including trouble restarting windows, by making the wrong changes in the registry (if not familiar with running REGEDIT.) It is always a good idea to export a backup copy of the current registry to a safe location (Registry>Export Registry File>Export Range=All) before making any registry changes.

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Choose Start>Settings>Control Panel>Fonts. This will bring up a list of all the fonts currently listed in the Windows registry and stored in C:\WinNT\Fonts (or C:\Windows\Fonts for Win9x systems). Note that this will not display all the files in the Fonts folder -- for example, the .FOT files associated with each MapInfo font will not be listed.

1. If having trouble with the MapInfo fonts on a particular computer, but another computer on the same network has the fonts installed correctly , share the Windows Font folder on that computer. Then, choose File>Install New Font... from the Fonts control panel, on the computer with font trouble, click the Network button, and choose the MapInfo fonts from the other computer, with the "copy fonts to Fonts folder" option -- Windows will make a copy of the relevant files and will also make the appropriate changes to the registry.

If a separate computer with the fonts already installed isn't available, use the following ZIP archive:

MIFonts.zip


2. If this doesn't work -- select all the MapInfo fonts and choose File>Delete. Then try step 1 again.

3. If this still doesn't work -- select all the MapInfo fonts and choose File>Delete. Run the Registry Editor (Start>Run, type "regedit" and press [Enter] ). Find the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts

[or for Windows 9x, the equivalent HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Fonts]


If any of the following entries [or the same filenames with a .TTF extension] are displayed, delete them:

"TTMIAR__.FOT" "MapInfo Arrows Font (true type)"
"TTMICG__.FOT" "MapInfo Cartographic Font (true type)"
"TTMIMI__.FOT" "MapInfo Miscellaneous Font (true type)"
"TTMIRE__.FOT" "MapInfo Real Estate Font (true type)"
"TTMIOS__.FOT" "MapInfo Symbols Font (true type)"
"TTMITC__.FOT" "MapInfo Transportation Font (true type)"
"TTMIOG__.FOT" "MapInfo Oil&Gas Font (true type)"
"TTMIWE__.FOT" "MapInfo Weather Font (true type)"

Then, reboot Windows (this is pretty important -- in some cases, changes to font registration will mysteriously not take effect until a reboot.) Finally, try step #1 again.

Last Modified:
Document URL: http://testdrive.mapinfo.com/techsupp/miprod.nsf/kbase_by_product/7B6FB1C7CF6BC6C685256BAC00530C0F

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