Need help with a situation

[dmrick44]

I have MainType installed but even after reading many topics in the Manual, am unable to figure out what to do about a situation.
One of my favorite programs is named "Bulk Rename Utility". You can use it to not only rename large groups of files/folders... but also search for any file or folder containing character strings.

I am able to make searches anywhere in my computer with no problem EXCEPT when I search my entire C: drive. The search shows where it is searching at the bottom of the screen. Every time it it reaches the C:/Windows/Fonts folder, it show that it is searching inside it and a few seconds later, the program crashes.

My Fonts folder contains 1389 files (Fonts). In the "old days" this would raise havoc, but I'm using Windows 10 (64bit) and I'm told it can handle a lot of fonts. I am wondering if... when Bulk Rename Utility tries to search the Font folder, if it runs into a problem because of the number of files inside one folder. The people at BRU have given up on trying to solve my problem. I offered to send them a copy of my Fonts folder, but can't get them to respond to any plea for help.

I'd like to try and solve this issue by decreasing the number of fonts in that folder. One problem is that that the files have different names than the names that show up in MainType. The Fonts folder has always been a problem since it was created... Windows protects this folder and strange ways and one can get themselves into a fix in a hurry.

I'd like to reduce the fonts down to just the protected System fonts, and then see if the BRU crashes. If it doesn't, I want to start adding fonts until I cause it to crash.

MainType is also a bit complicated (from what I've read) in that it supposedly keeps a copy of all fonts in a "Vault"... so that you can delete a font and then later access it and again install it. Once you delete a font, it should show up in the list of fonts with a "red" button before it's name. I'm rather sure that this lets you later re-install it. If, when it deletes a font, it doesn't remove it from the Fonts folder, then I can't use this method to solve my problem.

I have tried to find out if there's a way of knowing which fonts in the list are System fonts. The documentation says that MainType protects system fonts and will not delete them... but again, messing with fonts in the Font folder has created many problems in the past.

The fonts in my computer are the fonts that Windows and other programs have added, along with fonts that I purchased many years ago. These are in my C: drive inside 5 folders... • Fonts Corel Type 1 •Fonts Corel •Fonts_Expert •Fonts_Explosion... and •Fonts Railroad. From what I've read in the MainType manual, these fonts are, therefore, inside those folders as wells as inside the Fonts folder and now inside the MainType Vault. I have no idea of how you find or access the "Vault".

If any of you are quite familiar with MainType, and think you can explain how to solve things... step-by-step... then I would indeed be grateful.

Thanks,
Dale R.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

No doubt the fonts are protected by Windows to prevent them being renamed or deleted.

Why do you need to change the filenames? What matters for applications is the font name, not the file name.

[dmrick44]

I thought I mentioned why, but let me explain. The problem is that when I do a search of my C: drive using BRU, it shows its progress at the bottom of its window... that is, which folder it's searching in. When it gets to the Windows > Fonts folder, the program crashes. I can have it search just the Fonts folder and it doesn't crash. What I'm doing is trying to figure out why it ALWAYS crashes when I search the entire C: drive and it gets to the Fonts folder. What I am thinking of doing is using MainType to uninstall all of the fonts except the System fonts. Then, if the BRU search doesn't crash during a search, I'll start adding the fonts back in to determine what causes it to crash. I am not renaming any fonts.

I mentioned the how programs like MainType display a font name that it gets from inside the font file, and not the actual name of the font file. For example I have several fonts where their file names are simply numbers... like 21205___.TTF. The actual name that programs (and Windows) will display is something completely different. This means that if I move a group of fonts to some other place like a thumb drive, I won't be able to know what fonts I actually have. Anyhow, this is not important if I can simply use MainType to uninstall fonts... then see if the BRU software crashes. If it doesn't then it has likely either found a font that crashes it, or that there may be too many fonts in the font folder.

I posted this because it is DANGEROUS to mess with fonts inside the Windows > Fonts folder. For example, if you move a font into some other folder, Window still won't let you delete the file. I just need to know...

1) If I uninstall a font using MainType, does it actually remove the font from the Windows > Fonts folder. I suspect that it must because if you copy a new font into the Windows > Fonts folder, Windows will display it in locations like word processors.

2) MainType... as far as I can tell... doesn't show an indication as to which fonts are "System" fonts... and according to the manual, it won't uninstall a System file. If that is indeed true, then I will go ahead with my plan of determining what is crashing Bulk Rename Utility.