Removing foreign language fonts

I feel for you bro. I really do.

Running the script that support-ing came up with takes mere seconds though and does the job admirably.  I have modified mine slightly (I'm UK English) because as he points out, he is using a German based PC. So a couple of changes for me were all that were required. I then just drop a "too many fonts" folder containing the .bat file into my C:\ root, right click it, select "open elevated command prompt here", in the command prompt window type "2mf.bat c" click "y", spin round three times on my chair (that's just a fun bit, not essential, by the way!!) and all foreign fonts have been moved to the "too many fonts" folder in my C:\ root. I even added  all the "Adobe" extra unusables to it now.

Now I can live with that if (a) SP1 when it shows its face re-installs them all. (b) When I do an sfc /scannow they get re-installed*(and they do!)* .

Why "customers" should have to jump through hoops to get something to work "their way" is, in Anglo-Saxon******* , f@@k@n stupid though

One slight caveat I discovered, a "foreign" font called Meiryo (typo?) . If you install Office 2010 pro trial (I'm assuming all others), it complains if this one is missing, so I threw it back into the fonts folder for the install then ran the 2mf.bat script again to remove it (and others that re-appeared) . Strange that Office made by ummm Microsoft falls in to the category of "third party apps. may not recognise that fonts are hidden" on a system made by ummmm, Aah! Microsoft. Do I get the feeling of left hand not knowing etc. etc.??

*** Don't look, it's not a supported language!!

And the reason I originally started this post that turned into a minor rant is... MainType is an excellent  font manager for Windows AnniM. Well worth the spondolicks.

Well, That's My Two-penneth Worth

What is the latest direction from Microsoft on this problem.  One of my concerns, apart from the fact that I have absolutely no need for many fonts, is the total lack of a clear explanation of font management as per Windows7.  For example, I have a number of fonts which I wish to add (they have to be there to be displayed in other applications, right!).  Are these fonts flagged to distinguish them from "system" fonts?  Also, I note that in the menu bar on the font display page there is an option to "Delete" a font.  Can both "system" and "user installed" fonts be deleted?  If you do delete a "system" font and sometime later need to get it back again, how do you do it?

I am one to plead with Microsoft to fix this $%&^$# font issue. I'm not technical. I'm neither a programmer, a developer, nor a system administrator. I'm a user. Wading through all of those fonts in a font selection screen in apps such as FrameMaker, CorelDraw, or PhotoShop, is a royal pain, time consuming, and confusing. It also precludes my installing many of the fonts that I've been using simply because adding them would make the list even longer and harder to work with. If there is a fix, I don't want to have to even think about going to the command line to do something about it. All of these proposed work-arounds are all well and good, but they aren't for the average user. Isn't the whole idea of a computer to make our lives and our work simpler, easier, and faster? In that respect, Microsoft is going in the wrong direction.

AGREED WHOLEHEARTEDLY. We just upgraded to Windows 7 Professional and Corel Draw X5 at my job; I had been under the impression that Corel Draw would have a "windows 7-friendly" GUI and would "get it" when Windows said certain fonts were hidden. Turns out NO. WINDOWS ISN'T TELLING ANY OTHER APPS THAT CERTAIN FONTS ARE HIDDEN. So as a graphics designer I'm tearing my hair out trying to make sure that no one in our staff uses any of the fonts I couldn't uninstall, just because I don't want any font compatibility problems down the road. I don't know WHAT on earth MS was thinking (or if they even were - I've had my doubts about Microsoft's though processes ever since the abominable MSOffice 2007 "ribbon" interface came out) but something as simple and basic as a lousy font file should NOT BE THIS DIFFICULT FOR THE END USER.

I can barely wait for the first service pack to come out (the last rumor I heard has that release pegged somewhere in early 2011) and so help me there had better be something connected to removing these foreign language fonts -ALL OF THEM!!!!!

• out of Windows 7 in it, or at the very LEAST ensuring that when Windows says "Hey, you can hide this font" that it GETS HIDDEN. This has become a real issue at my job and is a thorough, major annoyance. I may well have to shell out the $50 for MainType out of my own pocket if it really does get the job done as described.

Well, BillyXXX, as you say, "Problem solved!" But it's just one more instance of having to buy a third-party application just to make a Microsoft piece of s.... s.... software! work properly, or work at all. I recently upgraded to Win 7 Pro, quite reluctantly I might add. I was reassured that I could make my legacy apps (expensive apps!) work by using XP Mode - which is why I had to upgrade to Pro. What a headache that was. And talk about jumping through the hoops.

I am one to plead with Microsoft to fix this $%&^$# font issue. I'm not technical. I'm neither a programmer, a developer, nor a system administrator. I'm a user. Wading through all of those fonts in a font selection screen in apps such as FrameMaker, CorelDraw, or PhotoShop, is a royal pain, time consuming, and confusing. It also precludes my installing many of the fonts that I've been using simply because adding them would make the list even longer and harder to work with. If there is a fix, I don't want to have to even think about going to the command line to do something about it. All of these proposed work-arounds are all well and good, but they aren't for the average user. Isn't the whole idea of a computer to make our lives and our work simpler, easier, and faster? In that respect, Microsoft is going in the wrong direction.