Protected system fonts

[Stan Brown]

Trying to clean up my Fonts folder by hand, I created a folder under
Documents called "Suppressed Fonts" and copied BatangChe to it
("Move" wasn't an option, only "Copy".) I then right-clicked on the
file in the Fonts folder, selected Delete, and confirmed.

Error message: "Batang & BatangChe & Gungsuh & GungsuhChe cannot be
deleted because it is a protected system font"

WHY?? I had this with XP, too, and never got an answer. What on
earth is the purpose of Korean fonts in an English-language Windows
installation?

It's not just that one, either. There's Batang Regular, and
DotumChe, and MingLiu, and many others. (I haven't tried many others,
but I have tried those.) At 15 MB a pop, give or take, in the
aggregate they're wasting a lot of space.

It's not the end of the world, but it's irritating to have those junk
fonts in all my menus and adding time to my backups.

 

[Stan Brown]

Trying to clean up my Fonts folder by hand, I created a folder under
Documents called "Suppressed Fonts" and copied BatangChe to it
("Move" wasn't an option, only "Copy".) I then right-clicked on the
file in the Fonts folder, selected Delete, and confirmed.

Error message: "Batang & BatangChe & Gungsuh & GungsuhChe cannot be
deleted because it is a protected system font"

WHY?? I had this with XP, too, and never got an answer. What on
earth is the purpose of Korean fonts in an English-language Windows
installation?

It's not just that one, either. There's Batang Regular, and
DotumChe, and MingLiu, and many others. (I haven't tried many others,
but I have tried those.) At 15 MB a pop, give or take, in the
aggregate they're wasting a lot of space.

It's not the end of the world, but it's irritating to have those junk
fonts in all my menus and adding time to my backups.

Okay, I Googled (which I should have done before posting), and found
an explanation. It's annoying, but at least it's an explanation.
From

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-
desktop/removing-foreign-language-fonts/60f5ac05-182e-438f-88e4-
2a7432d8e161

It's a six-page thread, of which so far I've read only the first, but
here's the explanation that makes sense:

--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Social Answers" apparently means that when Microsoft doesn't have an
answer (among the support people anyway) they hope someone else will
come up with one. Well how about this one....

If you look in the \Windows\Fonts\ folder you will see four strange
non-font files, e.g.
Directory of C:\Windows\Fonts
07/13/2009 11:32 PM 26,040
GlobalMonospace.CompositeFont
07/13/2009 11:32 PM 26,489
GlobalSansSerif.CompositeFont
07/13/2009 11:32 PM 29,779
GlobalSerif.CompositeFont
07/13/2009 11:32 PM 43,318
GlobalUserInterface.CompositeFont

These are not font files, they are text tables/lists referencing many
or all of the other font files in the folder. There is one directory
table for each of four general font styles: 'Monospace', 'Serif',
'SansSerif', and 'UI'.

Now the key here is that these text files describe how to display
_any_ of the Unicode characters in that chosen style, by referencing
which fonts contain the definitions of various ranges of Unicode
characters. So if a program wanted to display a "Naskapi Waa" the
directory says that that character is one of those in
<!-- Canadian Aboriginals 1400-167F -->
<FontFamilyMap
Unicode="1400-167F"
Target="Euphemia"
Scale="1.0" />

What programs you ask? Why, programs using Microsoft's Windows
Presentation Foundation, and probably .Net and SilverLight, etc. etc.
For the convenience of those programs (which don't want to know
nothing 'bout fonts) the programs can just say "SansSerif" and "West-
Cree Pwi", thank you.

For convenience, theirs, not yours, they want to guarantee that a
complete set of all Unicode characters is available on your system,
hopefully less than four times over (for the four styles).

So... it's a "system font" because of this cross-referencing to build
up the entire Unicode character set by using all these separate font
files. They don't want you to delete it because, well, who knows
what might happen to all those programs dependent on displaying a
"Pwoo" (it doesn't look as bad as it sounds).

Hey, it's only 366 megabytes and 63 fonts on each system, right?
Don't you feel good knowing that "Phags-Pa Aspirated Fa" (a script
not used since 1368) is available on every Windows 7 system?

 

[Ed Cryer]

Okay, I Googled (which I should have done before posting), and found
an explanation. It's annoying, but at least it's an explanation.
From

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-
desktop/removing-foreign-language-fonts/60f5ac05-182e-438f-88e4-
2a7432d8e161

It's a six-page thread, of which so far I've read only the first, but
here's the explanation that makes sense:

--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Social Answers" apparently means that when Microsoft doesn't have an
answer (among the support people anyway) they hope someone else will
come up with one. Well how about this one....

If you look in the \Windows\Fonts\ folder you will see four strange
non-font files, e.g.
Directory of C:\Windows\Fonts
07/13/2009 11:32 PM 26,040
GlobalMonospace.CompositeFont
07/13/2009 11:32 PM 26,489
GlobalSansSerif.CompositeFont
07/13/2009 11:32 PM 29,779
GlobalSerif.CompositeFont
07/13/2009 11:32 PM 43,318
GlobalUserInterface.CompositeFont

These are not font files, they are text tables/lists referencing many
or all of the other font files in the folder. There is one directory
table for each of four general font styles: 'Monospace', 'Serif',
'SansSerif', and 'UI'.

Now the key here is that these text files describe how to display
_any_ of the Unicode characters in that chosen style, by referencing
which fonts contain the definitions of various ranges of Unicode
characters. So if a program wanted to display a "Naskapi Waa" the
directory says that that character is one of those in
<!-- Canadian Aboriginals 1400-167F -->
<FontFamilyMap
Unicode="1400-167F"
Target="Euphemia"
Scale="1.0" />

What programs you ask? Why, programs using Microsoft's Windows
Presentation Foundation, and probably .Net and SilverLight, etc. etc.
For the convenience of those programs (which don't want to know
nothing 'bout fonts) the programs can just say "SansSerif" and "West-
Cree Pwi", thank you.

For convenience, theirs, not yours, they want to guarantee that a
complete set of all Unicode characters is available on your system,
hopefully less than four times over (for the four styles).

So... it's a "system font" because of this cross-referencing to build
up the entire Unicode character set by using all these separate font
files. They don't want you to delete it because, well, who knows
what might happen to all those programs dependent on displaying a
"Pwoo" (it doesn't look as bad as it sounds).

Hey, it's only 366 megabytes and 63 fonts on each system, right?
Don't you feel good knowing that "Phags-Pa Aspirated Fa" (a script
not used since 1368) is available on every Windows 7 system?

Is there a font in there for classical Greek?
I know there is for modern Greek, but ancient Greek was far more
complex; lots of iota subscripts for vowels, acute grave and circumflex
accents over vowels, sigma at end of word different from one elsewhere,
aspirate sign over initial vowels.

Ed

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Hey, it's only 366 megabytes and 63 fonts on each system, right?
Don't you feel good knowing that "Phags-Pa Aspirated Fa" (a script
not used since 1368) is available on every Windows 7 system?

Well, how else are you going to read my grand epic novel?